Magnolia Heights beat Starkville Academy 6-1 to win the MAIS Class AAA, Division II State championship series.

The Chiefs took game one 1-0 in Senatobia last week.

“(Magnolia Heights) is a great team and they were better than us (Wednesday),” SA head coach Neal Henry said. “They have been better than us two days. We fought all the way to in. Stuff just doesn’t go your way sometimes. You just have to fight through it.”

There are some positives to take away from this season for the Volunteers though.

In Henry’s first year the Vols won 14 games, 11 games a season ago and went 23-11 this season.

The Vols only lose three players. Ryan McKell, Alex Holtcamp and Ryan Mann were the only three seniors.

Mag Heights will only lose two seniors, so for those of y’all looking ahead to next year, these two teams may battle for the title again next year.

What is even more remarkable is no seniors pitched in this series. 2013 should be interesting for sure.

He didn’t have enough to get the 21st out and gave a walk-off grand slam to childhood friend Tee Payne and Starkville lost to New Hope 4-0 in Class 5A baseball playoff action.

“It’s just one of those things,” SHS head coach Danny Carlisle said. “He hit it good. A grand slam or a single it doesn’t matter.”

The Jackets (21-8) had only two hits, while the Trojans (23-7) had three hits.

High recruited junior Landon Boyd was on the mound for New Hope and got himself out of trouble in a couple of innings.

He struck out Pear River singee Nathan Pugh to end a threat in the fifth inning.

“He threw some good stuff,” Pugh said. “We got ourselves out. We were swinging at pitches that weren’t strikes.”

Game two is Saturday at 3 p.m. at  Yellowjacket Stadium, Carlisle Field.

Drew Pellum went the distance giving up one hit. He also homered and the Vols played stellar.

SA will play Magnolia Heights in the title series. Game one will be in Senatobia on Tuesday as the double header will be in Starkville on Thursday.

Game one is Friday at Hatley at 5 p.m.

They will return to Maben on Saturday for a 2 p.m. game two. An if necessary game will follow.

The Volunteers decided to do it another way and pounded out 17 hits to beat Heritage Academy 11-10 in game one of the first round of the Mississippi Association of Independent Schools postseason at Trip Carson Field.

The play of the game was when Heritage’s James Clark was called out at the plate after trying to tie the game at nine a piece on a base hit. SA catcher Colby Runnels blocked the plate and home plate umpire called Clark out without a tag being necessary.

“Colby did exactly what we teach him to do,” Henry said whose team is now 22-9 for the season. “Drew (Pellum) makes an outstanding throw on a ball in the gap and we made a play. You have to make plays to win these kinds of games.”

Runnels had a feeling that there might be a play at the plate when he saw which outfielder got the ball.

“I saw Drew get it and I know (he) has a good arm,” Runnels said. “He gave me a good throw and I guess I did a good job of blocking up the plate.”

That play sparked the Volunteers who got two insurance runs in the seventh inning when Alex Holtcamp had a two RBI single.

The Patriots (18-13) had their chance in the home half of the inning and got the game down to one run at 11-10, but Hunter Bolin got Clark Atkins to hit a ball back at him with runners on first and second and Bolin flipped it to first for the final out.

“(I was) feeling the energy from their crowd rooting against me and feeling the energy from our dugout and crowd rooting for me,” Bolin said.
Heritage struck first when M.J. Harwick capped a three-run first inning with a two-run home run to make it 3-0 after one.

The Volunteers fought back in the top of the third and plated five to take a 5-3 lead.

SA sent nine batters to the plate and used four hits. Starting pitcher Ryan McKell finished the scoring with a two-run double.

“Heritage took the momentum early,” Henry said. “They put three runs on in the bottom of the first with a big home run. I told our guys ‘to stay patient and play the type of baseball that got us here.’”

The Patriots added a run in the fourth to make it 4-1. The Vols answered with two runs of their own in the top of the

fifth on a RBI single by Pellum and a sacrifice fly by Bolin.

“It (was hot Tuesday), baseballs are flying out here,” Henry said. “When we got a few guys on in the first inning, I knew we were going to be (OK).”

Heritage did not go away and took an 8-7 lead after scoring four times in the home half of the fifth inning.

“Heritage played a great game,” Henry said. “Totally different team than what they were at the first of the year.”

The Vols came right back and put up two runs in the top of the sixth to regain the lead for good.

Holtcamp got the win on two innings of work and two strikeouts. Bolin got the final two outs and got the save.

SA had two players with four hits in Stephen Robertson and John McReynolds. McReynolds also had a double. Runnels added three singles and reached base four times. Bolin had two singles.

Volunteer Field will be the site of game two at 5 p.m. on Thursday with a third game if necessary to follow.

“We got two games to win one,” Henry said. “You just have to take one game at a time. You can’t try to win both of them in the first game.”

This is the first time since 2006 that Starkville Academy has been in the playoffs and the first for Henry as a head coach. He was an assistant for Madison Ridgeland Academy when they made the postseason in 2009.

It is a best of three series with the winner getting the team that advances from the Magnolia Heights/Hillcrest Christian series.

The Vols come in with a 21-9 record while the Patriots enter with a 20-12 mark and a six-game winning streak.

Henry is confident in his squad and hopes experience from his older players can get the job done.

“Two years ago we won 14 games,” Henry said. “Last year, we won 11 games and this year we are up to 21 (games). We play with a lot of experienced guys that have played for two and three years in this league. The playoffs will be something new to them, but like I was telling them (Monday), it is just another baseball game.”

Starkville Academy and Heritage matched up in the first game of the season with the Vols taking the game 4-3.

“We played them every year,” Henry said. “Our guys know their guys, and their guys know our guys. Columbus is only 30 minutes away. Some of them live in Starkville and drive to Columbus; some of them live in Columbus and drive to Starkville.

“They have been playing against each other since they were little. I have a pretty good idea. When (teams) start off, they are different teams than how they are now. We are going to expect them to be at their best and compete and we’ll do the same.”

When it comes to which player needs to step up, Henry couldn’t single out just one player. He wants his team as a whole to step up and lead.

“I preach to our team a lot that I am not looking for any specific players, just the experience, which would be pretty much our whole team,” Henry said. “They have played in tight games since they were 10th and 9th graders. It’s time for them to step up, get the job done and get us to next week.”

For Henry and SA, it has been pitching and defense that has been the highlights. Henry does not expect that to change in the postseason and wants his team to continue to focus on those two aspects of the game.

“That is what we have based our whole year off of,” Henry said. “That is how we got to 21 wins and that is how we got to where we are. That will definitely be factors on how we do.”

Game two will be at Volunteer Field Thursday at 5 p.m. If necessary, a third game will follow.

Hillcrest Christian lost Wednesday giving SA just one more win to get.

Gabe Myles tossed a pair of touchdowns to help Jamie Mitchell and the Starkville Yellowjackets complete spring football with a 17-8 win over the Columbus Falcons on Tuesday night.

The Yellowjackets scored on their first possession when Myles found Preston Baker for a 65-yard touchdown strike.

“I’m anxious to see the film as always, I’ll grade a lot more off of that,” said Mitchell who guided the Yellowjackets to the Class 5A State Championship game last season. “Offensively, I think we did some really good things in the first half. The second half we kind of tried to protect Gabe a little bit and we backed off Baker a bit. Defensively, I thought we were really good and we are going to have to be.”

Mitchell saying the defense was ‘good’ is a drastic understatement as they stymied the Falcons most of the night. In fact, SHS held Columbus to just 64 yards of total offense.

The Falcons were 5-of-19 for 18 yards through the air and had 32 rushes for 46 yards.

For Starkville, Myles led the team through the air going 10-of-19 for 181 yards, two scores, and one interception.

“He’s got to be the leader of our football team,” said Mitchell of his talented quarterback. “That’s not really his way. He’s more of a lead by example guy but we need him to step forward and be that vocal leader. He’s going to be the best player on the field on most Friday nights.”

The top target through the air was senior receiver Baker, who caught three footballs for 104 yards and a score and with the likely absence of the injured Jimmy Saulsberry, Baker and the rest of the receiving core must step up.

“We’ve got some more talented wideouts,” Mitchell said. “(Quavarious) Robinson did some good things (Tuesday). Rice got a lot of reps (Tuesday night). Princeton Jones had a great catch in the end zone. We’ve got some guys that can play that haven’t really had a chance. They are now going to get their chance.”

Overall, the outing was just what Mitchell was looking for and hopes his team finds its hunger for a championship over the summer.

“I’d like to see more (hunger), but this team has been through a lot,” he said. “We lost a great person and a great player in Devin (Mitchell) and we’ve been banged up this spring. They’ve been through some stuff that has challenged our character. We’ve got to find our hot button and get going a little bit in the want-to department.”

Check Thursday’s SDN for Danny Smith’s preview.

Check Thursday’s SDN for Danny Smith’s Preview