It was a rainy, dreary night and Marshall Dexter was in no mood to do any hard running.
So he took a slow trot around the bases instead.
Faced with an ultimatum from manager Brady Jones of hit the ball or run the outfield warning track, the McComb Tigers responded with their biggest offensive output of the season in a 17-7, six-inning drubbing of the Forest Hill Patriots in McComb’s Region 5-5A opener Tuesday night at the McComb baseball field.
Dexter’s two-run home run over the left-field wall also plated Bradley Brock and keyed the 10-run mercy rule in the sixth inning.
It was Dexter’s first round-tripper of the season and one of three home runs hit by McComb (2-4, 1-0) on the night. Dominic May and Zach Rowell also homered for the Tigers.
“The coach got on us and told us if we lost this game, we’d be running the track,” Dexter said. “I didn’t want to do that. (The Forest Hill pitcher) threw it right down the middle and I didn’t miss it.”
McComb rallied from a 7-5 deficit with a 9-run bottom of the fourth triggered by Powell’s towering two-run blast that landed on the roof of the Tillman Furniture building well behind the left-center field fence. The shot scored Brock, who walked to open the inning.
From there, the Tigers took advantage of five more walks and two costly Forest Hill errors to break the game wide open.
Hunter Aultman drove in a run with a infield groundout and Landon Mabile plated another run with a bases-loaded walk.
The only other McComb hit in the fourth inning came on Dexter’s two-run double to right field that scored Rowell, who had reached on an error.
“Offensively, we came out (Monday) and had a good practice,” Jones said. “We had more of a simulated scrimmage and we worked on being more aggressive at the plate.
“That’s the hardest thing to teach high school kids, to be a man mentally,” Jones added. “We have a lot of young players out here and they’re trying to be men playing a little kid’s game.”
McComb got on the board in the first inning on doubles by Brock and Dexter to take a 1-0 lead.
Even with an 8-hit attack, one of the Tigers’ most profitable innings came in the second when they scored three times after two out without the benefit of a base hit.
May started the rally with a walk. He then stole second and went to third when the throw to second from the Forest Hill catcher sailed into center field. May came home when the center fielder’s throw sailed high over the catcher’s head for a second error on the play.
Aultman then reached when his pop-up to second base was dropped. After Mabile walked and Brock was hit by a pitch to load the bases, Aultman scored on a wild pitch to put McComb ahead 3-2.
Rowell then coaxed a walk to reload the bases and Dexter’s pop fly to third was dropped, allowing Mabile to score and make it 4-2.
Forest Hill scored a run in the top of the third to narrow the gap to 4-3, before May lined an 0-1 pitch over the left-field wall for his first varsity home run and a 5-3 McComb advantage.
The Patriots flexed their own muscles in a 4-run top of the fourth that included a mammoth 2-run home run high over the right-field wall to put Forest Hill ahead 7-5.
That proved to be the final time the Patriots would score.
After McComb tallied their nine runs in the fourth, the Tigers added another run in the fifth when Adrian Brown singled, advanced to third on two more Forest Hill errors and scored on Trey Terrell’s sacrifice fly to left-center that made it 15-7.
Rowell earned the mound win for McComb. He pitched five innings, gave up seven hits, walked four and struck out five.
Mabile pitched the final inning for the Tigers, striking out two.
