Saltillo explodes for 14 runs to sweep the Tigers past Ridgeland, into 5A North Championship
RIDGELAND — All Saltillo needed was one big inning.
The Tigers scored nine runs in the top of the second and added on four more in the third to get past Ridgeland 14-4 to sweep the series the Third Round MHSAA Class 5A Baseball playoff series at Titan Park on Saturday night.
Saltillo (27-6), the defending Class 5A state champion, advances to the Class 5A North State Championship series next weekend and will face the Neshoba Central-New Hope winner.
“We talked before the game to stay within our swing and the last few ball games we’ve tried to do too much,” said Saltillo coach Eric Reynolds. “Main focus was barrel the ball up and we hit the ball hard all night.”
In the nine-run second inning the Tigers sent 12 batters to the plate, and recorded eight hits. Drake Douglas started it off with a RBI double to right center then Cade Hamm, Gavin McGee, Luke Wood and Mason Easterling all followed with RBI singles. Matthew Roncalli capped the scoring with a two-run triple to right to give Saltillo a 9-1 lead.
After Ridgeland cut the lead to 9-2 Saltillo followed with four runs in the third highlighted by a two-run double by Wood to extend their lead to 13-2.
Hamm added a RBI single in the fourth to give the Tigers the 14-3 lead.
Every Saltillo batter reached base at least two times and all but one had at least one hit.
Evan McCarthy had three hits with two RBI’s to lead the Tigers offensively. Hamm also had three hits, while Wood, Easterling and Roncalli all had two hits for Saltillo.
Connor McHenry (8-1) got the win on the mound for the Tigers lasting four innings, scattering four hits, four runs, walked two and didn’t have a strikeout.
“Connor didn’t have his best stuff, but he got the job done and we’ve been here before so hopefully this right gets us started for the next two weeks,” Reynolds said. “Evan is seeing the baseball really well and so is Luke, so we spent a lot of time working on barreling balls up and being aggressive on the bases and tonight it worked and now we move on.”
Jarvis Woody (10-3) took the loss on the mound for Ridgeland. The Titans finish the year 22-12.
“Made too many mistakes tonight and they capitalized,” said Ridgeland coach Chris Peden. “They are a really good team and defending state champs for a reason.”
