Prior to taking on the Brookhaven Panthers Wednesday evening,the Southaven Chargers defeated the Lawrence County Cougars 7-1 inan afternoon contest at Moyer Field as part of the McComb SpringClassic. Highly-ranked Southaven, a perennial 5A championshipcontender, broke open a tight game with three runs in the fifthinning, to wrap up a hard-earned win.

Behind the pitching of sophomore righthander Casey Williams, theCougars made a game of it for a while. After a timely double playgot Williams and the Cougars out of a big first-inning jam,Southaven managed to grab a 1-0 lead on a wild pitch in the top ofthe third.

Lawrence County answered in the bottom of the inning, when KleinHarbour singled home Drew Haley, who had reached on an error. LCHSsecond baseman David Gilbert also had a hit in the inning. Gilberthad two of Lawrence County’s four hits in the game, with Harbourand Williams getting the other two.

Southaven took the lead for good in the fourth with a singlerun, then sealed the game with three more in the fifth, and two inthe sixth. LCHS miscues and bad luck played a role in the inningsthat sealed the Cougars’ fate.

“We were in a good ball game,” Coach Clark explained. “Ourpitcher was throwing well and we had a shot at one of the bestteams in the state. But they got a couple of seeing-eye hits in thefifth and, after that we sort of fell apart defensively.

“It wasn’t all bad. We don’t believe in moral victories,

but it is good to know that we were able to play pretty evenlywith such a fine club. Hopefully, that bodes well for ourfuture.”

The emergence of Williams as a starting pitcher certainly bodeswell for Clark’s squad. The sophomore fell to 2-2 with the loss,but the two losses have been to Terry and Southaven, two of the topteams in the state. Williams has given Lawrence County a chance inthose games.

In five innings Wednesday, Williams gave up five tough-luck runson six hits, and struck out two.

“Casey’s done a good job for us this year,” commented Clark.”He’s still got some growing up to do, but he’s got a chance to bea good one. He’s kept us in every game he’s pitched.”

Fellow soph Marlon Stanfield threw the final two innings. He wastouched for two unearned runs in the sixth, then shut the Chargersdown in the seventh. Stanfield struck out one and allowed onehit.

Though appreciative of his team’s effort, the Cougars’ lack ofoffensive consistency left the Clark concerned. “We’ve gotten sixhits in the last two games, after knocking the cover off the ballin the two games before that.

“And, quite honestly, the pitching hasn’t at all beenoverpowering in these games that we’ve struggled in. We’ve got tostart showing up with the sticks every night if we have any hopesof playing past the regular season.”