Steven Williams pitched McComb to a complete game 3-2 victory over Summit on Monday and forced a decisive game in the 11-year-old sub-district tournament in McComb.
Williams threw six innings, struck out four hitters and worked through countless jams to earn the win.
Summit beat McComb 9-4 on Thursday and the two will play again at 6:30 p.m. today.
“Every run, every out and every pitch mattered,” McComb head coach John Dale Dumas said.
The biggest hit of the game didn’t even score a run. McComb’s Ty Forman lined the first pitch of the fourth inning right back up the middle. The ball connected squarely on the ankle of Summit starter Carr Young.
The strike swept his feet out from under him and knocked him out of the game, both on the mound and at the plate.
Forman reached safely, beating the throw from the charging second baseman. He later scored on Williams' RBI single. Bryce Temple drove Williams in for the second run of the fourth inning and what proved to be the winning run.
Summit coach Ritchie Culotta said he expects Young to be able to play in tonight’s game.
Summit struck first and last, but wasn’t able to put more than those two runs on the board.
Dakota Gresset scored both runs for Summit, circling the bases in the first after a single and scoring on Young’s RBI single up the middle.
Gresset homered to center to lead off the sixth inning and draw the score to 3-2, as well as add a little trepidation in McComb’s minds.
Dumas stuck with Williams on the mound, even in the late stages of the game.
“He carried us that far,” Dumas said, “and he carried us through.”
After a groundout, a hit batter and a single put runners on second and third with one out.
Williams coaxed a popup to the shortstop in the short left field grass before a grounder back to Williams ended the game with a toss over to first for the final out of the sixth.
McComb’s first run scored in the third when Marquell Carroll reached on a walk and was driven in on a grounder to second by Drake Flowers.
SUMMIT 12s TAKE UPPER HAND
The Summit 12-year-old All-Stars eliminated Pine Hills 11-1 on Monday night to set up tonight’s final night of the tournament.
Summit faces Franklin County at 6 p.m. and will have to lose twice for Franklin County to win the title. If necessary, the second game will be played at 8. Summit beat Franklin County 7-0 on Saturday.
On Monday, Summit’s Justin Tanner pitched five innings and had a no-hitter through four before allowing two hits in the fifth. He struck out five in the game.
Jackson Cole led off the game with a home run for Summit. Dusty Brock hit a three-run homer in the third, and Brock Roberts followed it with a two-run shot of his own to make it 8-0 in the third inning.
Summit scored three more runs in the fifth to finish with 11 and nine hits.
McCOMB 10s PLAY FOR SUB-DISTRICT
The defending state champion McComb 10-year-old All-Stars return to action at 6:30 tonight in Tylertown.
McComb hasn’t lost in the tournament, so it will have two shots to win sub-district if it loses the first game.
The McComb All-Stars are currently undefeated and have to get beat twice. McComb began the tournament Thursday with a 7-2 victory over Walthall. Friday night, the team defeated Magnolia 39-0 in two innings, and on Saturday, the team defeated Summit 24-1 in four innings.
McCOMB 8s LOSE DISTRICT OPENER
The Brookhaven All-Stars defeated the McComb 8-year-olds 14-10 on Monday night to win the first game in the best-of-three series.
McComb will travel to Brookhaven tonight for Game 2 at 6:30.
McCOMB 7s KEEP UP TORRID PACE
The McComb 7-year-old All-Stars have kept official scorer Jacob Reed busy for the past four games of the tournament. McComb has scored 104 runs in four games, and entering Monday night’s game against Wesson hadn’t allowed a run, but had scored 74 of its own.
McComb beat Wesson 30-3 to set up a shot at the district title with Summit tonight at 6:30.
McComb beat Summit once this tournament and would have to be beaten twice by the Summit All-Stars.
Summit defeated Copiah on Monday to advance to face McComb.
Adam Leonard and Austin Fortinberry each had four hits for the McComb All-Stars. Leonard had a double and three singles, while Fortinberry had two doubles and two singles.
Kran Howell and Kole Alford each went 3-for-4 with two doubles.
Dawson Flowers and Bo Gatlin also went 3-for-4. Flowers had a double and two singles, while Gatlin singled three times.
