MONTICELLO-Wesson, Bogue Chitto and North Pike were among the winners in a very busy day of high school baseball action at Lawrence County’s Jimmie Davis Park. The first of five games began at 10 a.m., and the final game didn’t end until 10 p.m. in the opening day of the Southwest Mississippi Spring Break Baseball Classic. Games will be played throughout the week, beginning at 10 o’clock each day.

In the first game of the day, Natchez Cathedral scored on a game-ending balk to edge Franklin County 5-4. In game two, Bogue Chitto was in control most of the way in a 10-4 win over Hazlehurst. In the middle game, North Pike overcame an early 3-run deficit to beat Loyd Star 9-3. Game four saw Cathedral rally for 7 runs in its final at-bat to claim its second win of the day, a 9-5 victory over South Pike. In the day’s finale, Wesson plated 7 runs in a wild third inning to edge the Magee Trojans 7-6.

“We had a very good day at our ballpark,” said Lawrence County coach Cory Keyes, whose program is hosting the big spring break event for the fourth straight year. “The weather was great and the crowds were excellent. We hope this is the start of a great week.”

CATHEDRAL 5, FRANKLIN COUNTY 4

The opening game went right down to the wire with Natchez Cathedral scoring the winning run on a balk call with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning. Franklin County had knotted the game at 4-4 with 2 runs in the top of the sixth, then left the potential lead runs at second and third in the top of the seventh.

Benard Selmon led the Bulldogs with 2 hits, including a double. Hoby Mullins, Derrick Brumfield, Will Moffett, Conner Quinn and Dematre Collins each had 1 hit. Bryce White gave Franklin County 4 gutsy innings of mound duty. Ethan Verdin and Derrick Brumfield pitched well in relief.

Second baseman Craig Bradley had 2 hits for Cathedral. Pate Shirley hit the only homerun of the entire day. Sam Parker, the Green Wave’s third pitcher, earned the win.

BOGUE CHITTO 10, HAZLEHURST 4

Trailing 1-0 through 3 innings, Bogue Chitto put up 10 runs in its final four at-bats to tame Hazlehurst. The Bobcats put up their big score despite getting only hits, as Hazlehurst pitchers were hit with control problems.

Shortstop Landon Roberts led Bogue Chitto with 2 hits. His 2-run single in the seventh put the game securely in the Bobcats’ claws. Brock Roberts and Brooks Ingle also had hits.

On the mound, right-hander Cameron Price was rock-solid. He went the full seven innings, scattering 6 hits and striking out 5.

John Bridges led Hazlehurst with 2 hits, including a double. Jarvis Warner, Johnkil Skipper, Darrius Washington and Frank Thigpen also hit safely. Nick Smith was the starter and loser for the Indians. He worked four strong innings before running into trouble in the fifth.

NORTH PIKE 9, LOYD STAR 3

Loyd Star put up 3 in the first-inning against young North Pike righty Cade Killingsworth, but got only two more runners on base after that. Levi Redd, Peyton Flowers, and Seth Farmer all had singles in that first-inning rally. Caleb Yarborough also added a single. Flowers and Canon Travis shared pitching duty for the Hornets.

North Pike bounced back from that early deficit, scoring 4 runs in the bottom of the second, 1 in the third, and 4 more in the fourth, to put the game away. LD Coney, Reed Taylor and Dallas Smith each had 2 hits for the Jaguars. Levi Wishart and Jacob Gill also had hits.

Southpaw Dallas Smith pitched the final 4 innings for North Pike and was outstanding. He retired 12 of the 13 batters he faced, allowing only a walk, and struck out 4.

CATHEDRAL 9, SOUTH PIKE 5

South Pike led Cathedral 5-2 through 4 innings, but the wheels…or wings…came off on the Eagles in the fifth. Cathedral scored 7 runs in the fifth, on only 2 hits. South Pike pitchers issued 6 bases on balls in the frame.

Catcher Ty Brown had 2 hits for Cathedral. Kaderious Varnado had 2 hits for South Pike. Gabe Smith was the winning pitcher in relief.

WESSON 7, MAGEE 6

The final game of the evening was perhaps the most entertaining one. Magee scored 2 in the top of the second, and 3 in the top of the third, to grab a 5-0 lead. It looked as though the Trojans were in total control, as tall Magee right-hander Drake Roberts blew through the Wesson lineup in the first 2 innings.

Then, Magee’s defense fell apart. In the bottom of the third, Seth Lofton’s Cobras took advantage of 6 Trojan errors to put up 7 unearned runs. Jase Alexander and Mack Smith had RBI hits for Wesson in the inning but most of the damage was self-inflicted by the Trojans.

Magee rallied for 1 in the final inning, and had the bases loaded when the game ended on a sharp grounder to Alexander at second base.

Alexander, Smith, Taylor McLeod, Matthew Burns and Justin Boone had hits for the Cobras who improved to 2-5 with the big win. Freshman right-hander Preston Middleton was excellent in a complete-game effort. He scattered 6 hits.

Roberts led Magee with 2 hits and suffered the tough-luck loss. The loss was the first of the season for the Trojans, who fell to 4-1.