McComb baseball coach Brian Eby turned to his team and emphatically raised his voice after Hazlehurst’s six-run second inning.
Whatever he said must have worked.
The Tigers put up an 11 spot in the fourth inning to rally past Hazlehurst, 11-8, on Friday afternoon in the South Pike Tournament.
“A 4 o’clock ball game, I don’t think we were awake yet. I needed something to wake them up a bit,” Eby said. “It wasn’t anything I did. They did everything. They are the ones who came back.”
Sophomore first baseman Alex Woodall helped ignite the rally with a RBI double to left field to score Greg Swim. Later in the inning, he belted a two-run single to break a 6-6 tie. Woodall finished 2 for 3 with three RBI and two runs scored.
McComb sent 16 batters to the plate in the fourth and recorded only four hits but benefited from five walks and three errors.
“ It’s a big win for them,” Eby said. “A young team that loses that game, it could be a long season. A win like this, it could be a real exciting season.”
Adrian Brown picked up in the win in relief for McComb. He tossed two and two thirds innings and gave up two runs on three hits. Starter Gabe Misora struggled early and didn’t make it through the second inning. He allowed six runs on three hits.
On Saturday, McComb dropped a 9-4 decision to Perry Central. Swim was 3 for 3 with two doubles, two runs scored and three stolen bases. Jake Simpson took the loss for McComb. He struck out three in six innings of work.
centreville blanks Covenant Christian, 11-0
Cliff Hurst struck out eight in four innings of scoreless ball and Tyler Towles had a double and two RBIs to lead Centreville Academy past Covenant Christian, 11-0, on Friday night.
Randy Bell and Gage Chandler both had two hits and an RBI each. Colby Shaw added a hit and Hunter Devall drove in a run for the Tigers.
