By By Marty Stamper/The Meridian Star
March 30, 2001
West Lauderdale rallied from a 4-1 deficit to take a 5-4 win over Neshoba Central Thursday night at Knights Field.
West took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second as Trent Posey led off the inning with a double. The run came home on a double steal.
The Rockets then struck for three runs in the top of the third. Wes Turner's fly ball to left-center dropped in for a leadoff single. After a walk to Scott Fieber, Jacob Townsend reached on an error to load the bases.
An infield hit by Tim Fieber tied the game at 1-1. Consecutive run-scoring fielder's choices by Cody Morrow and Kyle Miller gave Neshoba a 3-1 lead.
The Rockets went up 4-1 with a run in the top of the fourth. Anthony Steele reached on an error to start the inning. An infield hit by Chris Owen chased Knight starter Ryan Clay who gave up four runs, only one of which was earned.
Posey came on in relief and gave up a run on Scott Fieber's single, but left the Knights in striking range at 4-1 when a much bigger inning seemed possible.
Posey (3-1) struck out eight in four innings. He gave up one hit and two walks, one of which was intentional.
The Rockets also thought they had a pair of catcher's interferences in the fourth inning, but neither was called.
West got a run back in the bottom of the fourth as Van Wilson beat out a two-out infield hit and scored on a double by Bo Davis.
The Knights then took a 5-4 lead with a three-run fifth frame. Richie McAllister and Josh Snider led off the frame with back-to-back doubles with McAllister having to stop at third while seeing if Snider's two-bagger to deep center field was caught.
Snider's hit chased Rocket starter Tim Fieber and Clay promptly greeted reliever Dontay Miller with an RBI-single. Snider tied the game at 4-4 when he scored on a wild pitch.
Posey then laid down a bunt that enabled the eventual winning run to score.
The Rockets loaded the bases with two outs in the top of the sixth, but Posey got Tim Fieber to hit into a fielder's choice to end the inning.
Posey and McAllister both went 2-for-3 to lead the Knights as they improved to 17-1. Snider, Posey, Davis, and McAllister each had a double.
Turner had two singles in a 2-for-4 effort to lead Neshoba, 11-7. The Rockets had no extra base hits.
Neshoba hosts Aberdeen tonight at 7 p.m. in Division 2-4A play, while West Lauderdale hosts Newton County tonight at 7 in Division 5-3A action.
Marty Stamper is a sports writer for The Meridian Star. E-mail him at mstamper@themeridianstar.com.