Jackson Prep got out to a pretty quick start to put an end to Parklane Academy’s baseball season on Saturday afternoon.
A leadoff homer put a damper on the last home game of Parklane head coach Ken Jackson’s farewell in game two of the MPSA AAA Division I State Championship series.
Prep scored at least two runs in each inning on its way to a 21-5 win and a state championship.
“This was one of those games,” Jackson said. “They swing the bat well and we knew that.
“I was hoping for an opportunity to get through the first two innings and to be able to survive and have a shot late. We knew it was going to be a big hill to climb.”
Luke Maddox hit the leadoff home run for Prep to dead center field. It was one of three homers on the day for the Patriots.
A walked batter came around to score after a bobbled turn on a potential double play gave Jackson Prep an extra out, which the Patriots used to put two runs on the board.
Prep added six more in the second with a two-run single followed up by two straight doubles. Pioneer starter Shelby Johnson walked the next batter on four straight and was given the early hook by Jackson.
The Pioneers managed to get some back in the bottom of the second.
Five straight hits started the inning as the back end of the order provided a spark.
Russ Brown led off with an infield single. Chance Schmidt followed him with a two-run homer to left field to make it 9-2.
Blake Brown, Alex Langhart and Justin Leggett each singled. Langhart drove in Brown and Leggett blooped in a single before Jackson Prep’s coach Chuck Box came out to slow down the Pioneers attack. He got the umpire to push the players back into the dugout and visited with starter Michael Porter.
The slowdown worked as Josh Smith drove in a run with a groundout before Barlow turned a 5-4-3 double play to end the inning, with Parklane down 9-4.
Prep scored four runs in the third and six runs in the fourth on seven consecutive hits. The fifth straight chased Brown from the game and Alex Price entered to get the final out of the fourth.
Parklane only managed to score on a home run in the third by Eric Boyd. Being down 13-5 it was a bittersweet shot, he said.
The home run also put him tied for second at Parklane for the most homers in a season with 11.
“It wasn’t meant to be,” Boyd said. “You battle back and you think you’re in it, but it’s hard to keep momentum.
“They had it today.”
Prep’s Nick Schneeberger hit a two-run homer to center in the fifth to cap the scoring at 21-5.
While the state championship didn’t go as expected Jackson said he was proud of this year’s team.
“They’re going to realize how special this season is,” he said. “We accomplished a lot this year.”
The farewell as Jackson leaves to be an assistant at Southwest Mississippi Community College could have gone better, but the tears shed at the end of the game wasn’t much different than the rest of the week, which included him being hired at Southwest and his daughter Maggie’s graduation on Friday.
“I’m happy on one side for getting hired, but I’ve been doing this for a long time and I like to think I’ve had a part in developing this program.”
“So yeah it’s been an emotional week.”
As far as Boyd’s concerned, Jackson means as much to Parklane as Jackson has meant to him.
“He’s a great coach and he’s done a lot for me personally,” Boyd said. “This is his legacy. It’s going to be tough without him here, but Southwest got a good coach.”
