Just four more; that is how many more wins the Ethel Tiger baseball team needs to win a Class 1A State Championship, but there is business to attend to first. That business is the Nanih Waiya Warriors (20-6), whom Ethel must best in a best-of-three beginning on Thursday night at 6 p.m. in Nanih Waiya.
The Tigers defeated Sacred Heart last Tuesday night in Hattiesburg to advance to the quarterfinals against Noxapater this past Thursday, Friday and Monday. The win over Sacred Heart was in game three by a score of 5-4, giving the Tigers 20 wins on the season.
The Tigers had lost game one 10-3, but rebounded to take the Sacred Heart Crusaders in games two and three by identical scores of 5-4.
“I’m just so proud of this team,” said Tiger head coach Chris Schuster. “They have worked so hard to get here and they just never gave up. We have been close so many times, and to finally get over that hump is going to make the long trip back home the best bus ride ever.”
In last Tuesday night’s contest with Sacred Heart, Hayes Wood got the start and pitched 4.1 innings, allowing four hits, three runs and two walks while striking out two Crusaders. Tyson Steen pitched the final 2.2 innings to pick up the win, allowing one run (none earned) while giving up two hits and striking out four. The offensive leaders for the Tigers were Daniel McBride with a single; Steen with two singles, one run scored and an RBI; Blake McKinley with a single and one run scored; Wood with a single and one run scored; Alex Schuster with two single and one run scored; John Morgan Cummins with two singles, one run scored and an RBI and Cody Weeks with two singles and two RBI.
The Tigers traveled to Noxapater for game one of the best-of-three Class 1A South State Quarterfinals and dropped the contest 11-1. Steen got the start for the Tigers and pitched 2.2 innings, allowing eight hits, seven runs and no walks while striking out one. McBride pitched the final 1.1 innings and allowed three hits, three runs (two earned) and one walk while striking out three. The offensive leaders for Ethel were McKinley with a single and an RBI, Wood with a double, Weeks with two singles and McBride with a single and one run scored.
Ethel returned the favor at home on Friday night with a resounding 10-0 win over Noxapater to even the series at one game apiece. McKinley got the start and dominated the visitors in five quick innings, striking out 11 while allowing one hit, one hit batsman and no runs. The offensive leaders for the Tigers were McKinley with a single, two runs scored and one RBI; Steen with a double, one run scored and four RBI; Wood with one run scored; Cummins with a single, triple and three RBI; Chase Walters with one run scored; Daquan Mallett with a single, one run scored and one RBI and Schuster with three singles and three runs scored.
In Monday night’s series-clinching win over Noxapater, McKinley once again got the start and pitched seven complete, allowing a three hits, five runs (three earned), six walks and one hit batter while striking out nine. The offensive leaders for the Tigers were McKinley with a two-run home run; Wood with a double and one run scored; Steen with a single, double and three runs scored; Cummins with one run scored; Weeks with a double, one run scored and two RBI; Walters with a run scored and an RI; McBride with a run scored and an RBI and Mallett with a double, one run scored and two RBI. The Tigers are now 22-7 overall. “First of all you have to tip your hat to (Blake) McKinley,” added Schuster.
“We put the ball in his hand and he pitched 12 innings and gave up what, like two earned runs or so and struck out 20? You give the ball to a guy like that who says, ‘Coach, I want the ball,’ and by God, he is going to get that ball. He took that ball a pitched fantastic. Our bats really came alive and we scored 20 runs in two games, I just can’t say enough about that. Coming back on that bus ride after that first loss to them (Noxapater), I knew we still had Mr. Blake McKinley in our corner and I knew he would get a lot of outs for us. You give him four or five runs and he will win a lot of games for you.”
In two games McKinley pitched 12 innings, allowing four hits and three earned runs while striking out 20 Noxapater hitters. “I couldn’t be more proud of the guys for what they did,” concluded Schuster. “To come back from 0-1 against Sacred Heart and then back from 0-1 against Noxapater, you just have to tip your hat to these kids.”
