By Staff
DIVING CATCH n Meridian's Ryan Bennett makes a diving catch in shallow right field that lead to a double play during Meridian's opening game of the state tourney. Photo by Paula Merritt/The Meridian Star
By Robby Atkinson/The Meridian Star
July 21. 2001
Three Meridian pitchers combined to hurl a no-hitter as Meridian advanced in the 2001 Babe Ruth 13 year old tournament with a 15-1 victory over Columbus at Scaggs Field.
"I was really pleased with the effort our guys gave tonight," Meridian head coach Larry Vick said. "Our pitching came up in a big way also."
Drew Snider, Ricky Gardner, and Corey Hart combined for the no-hitter of Columbus.
Meridian used the bats very early in the contest by scratching for a run in the first inning of play. Ryan Bennett led the game off with a walk and later scored a Columbus throwing error to give Meridian the 1-0 advantage.
Meridian continued their offense in the second inning by scoring three runs on a couple of hits. Michael Pogue started off the inning with a single and later crossed the plate on a wild pitch by Columbus starting pitcher Alex Robertson. Another run came in to score on an RBI single by Bennett to give Meridian a 3-0 lead. Drew Snider followed with a sacrifice fly to centerfield to score Clark Bullock from third base to increase the Meridian lead.
Meridian exploded in the very next inning with even more offense. Bennett drove in one of the runs on a double. Snider also collected an RBI on a single to build an already huge Meridian lead. Tyler McMullen also knocked in a run in the third inning.
Meridian secured the win in the fifth and final inning on a pair of singles to take the win over Columbus. Rodney Warren had an RBI single in the inning and Bullock also smashed in a run for Meridian to cruise to a 15-1 decision.
Warren led the offense for Meridian with a pair of doubles and a single. Snider had two hits to go along with his incredible pitching performance.
Meridian advances to the winner's bracket game tonight with Gulfport at Scaggs Field with game time set for 4 p.m.
* Meridian 12, Leakesville 2: Meridian opened up the day by taking care of Leakesville in five innings behind plenty of offense. Meridian scored three quick runs to open up a 3-0 lead on Leakesville.
Ryan Bennett led the inning off with a single and later scored on a single by Nathan Peden to give Meridian the lead. One other run scored on an error while the other crossed the plate on a wild pitch to boost the Meridian All-Stars.
Meridian had their biggest inning in the second inning of action with a triple by Tyler Vick that plated three runs. Vick later scored on a single by Corey Hart to keep the momentum flowing. Ricky Gardner sealed the win with a two RBI double in the third.
Leakesville will square off with Vicksburg in the early morning game set for 10 a.m.
* Gulfport 17, Corinth 3: Gulfport opened the tournament with an easy win over the Corinth All-Stars.
Gulfport was led in offense by Tyler Ladner who had three hits in the game. Ladner also showed some speed by stealing three bases in the win. Mark Noble also had a pair of singles and Steven Barnett had two hits and three RBI's for the Gulfport All-Stars.
Jacob Daniel pitched five innings for Gulfport and striking out six batters in the game.
Corinth was paced in offense by Curtis Glidewell who had three singles. Tyler Davis also had two singles. Corinth falls into the losers bracket game with Columbus set for 1 p.m.
* Gulfport 22, Vicksburg 3: Gulfport used a 21 run sixth inning to take care of Vicksburg in the second round of the tournament.
Gulfport had only nine hits in the game.
The story of the game was the Vicksburg pitching staff, which allowed ten walks and also had six hit batsmen to hurt their cause.
Vicksburg did have one bright spot in James Jackson who had two hits including an RBI triple and a single. Brandon Hall also had a single in the loss for the Vicksburg Cobras.