Parklane watched Starkville Academy celebrate on the Pioneers’ turf Thursday after clinching a playoff berth in the first game of a doubleheader.
The Pioneers, led by a group of seniors paying tribute to their final home game, wanted no part in that.
Armed with firepower, Parklane stormed back to blow out Starkville 14-4 in the second game to clinch the South State regular season championship for the third straight year and the No. 1 seed in next week’s MAIS Class AAA Division I playoffs.
“We saw them celebrating after the first game — more power to them. It’s exciting and they got the No. 1 seed in their division — but that put a fire under us and that spark we needed,” said senior Shane McKinley. “I think that really got deep in some of the guys and came out and played better and hit the ball better.”
After being shutout 6-0 in the first game, Parklane wasn’t about to let a season it had worked so hard for slip away.
The Pioneers banged out 10 hits and made the most of four errors to 10-run rule the Volunteers in five innings.
McKinley, who went 0 for 4 in the first game, took charge in Game 2. He was 3 for 3 with two doubles, a single and five RBIs. McKinley nearly missed a grand slam in the third inning but cleared with bases with a double.
“After the first game, I told them the good thing about baseball is there is another game,” Parklane coach Michael Clements said. “We were still OK at that point. That loss didn’t hurt us at all. All we had to do was win the next game.”
Matthew Artigues had two singles and scored twice and Zach Smith chipped in with an RBI double. Smith picked up the win, allowing four runs on four hits in 31/3 innings. Allan Lampton closed it out, and Bradley Wall picked up his first hit of the season on a two-run triple in the fourth inning.
Starkville pushed across an early run in the top of the first but the lead never lasted. Artigues scored on a RBI single from McKinley to tie it at 1 and two errors helped Pioneers erupt for six runs, four of which came with two outs, in the second inning.
Parklane will play either Jackson Academy or Madison Ridgeland Academy on the road next Tuesday to open the playoffs. JA entered the week with a lead over MRA but was swept, including a pair of losses Thursday, to put MRA in position to steal the No. 1 seed from the North. MRA needs to win one game of a doubleheader today against Pillow Academy to secure the top seed.
An opening round matchup with JA would pair two of the top pitchers in the MAIS against each other — McKinley versus Ole Miss signee Matt Denny.
McKinley, who is 6-0 in district play this year, wouldn’t mind going up against the Dandy Dozen.
“I’ve heard a lot of good things about him. … I can only hope,” he said.
Meanwhile, Thursday’s win to wrap up the top seed hardly came as a surprise. After a 2-4 start to the season, Parklane has played dominant baseball the past two months. The Pioneers finished the season 20-7 and 15-3 in district play. They only lost one series, which came against Hillcrest Christian School, and swept perennial power Jackson Prep earlier in March. In the process, Parklane outscored its district opponents 153-63.
“We put ourselves in a position where it was OK to lose that game,” said Clements, referring to Starkville. “We played well enough during the season and won enough games. We bought ourselves some room to have a few losses.”
Parklane’s bats didn’t show up in the first game, nor did its pitching. Junior Matt McElveen, who had been sidelined for a month with a nagging shoulder injury, was rusty in his first start. He struggled to find the plate with four walks and allowed four runs on five hits in 11/3 innings.
Landon Mabile pitched 52/3 strong innings of relief, giving up a pair of unearned runs in the sixth innings.
“It’s good to know we still do have (McElveen’s) arm ready,” Clements said. “I feel confident he will bounce back and be ready to throw next week.”
