Panthers pick up ninth straight win

By By Jeff Byrd / sports editor
April 15, 2003
QUITMAN It hasn't gone quite like Quitman head coach Brett Rigby would've have liked but there is no argument about the end results. The Panthers will take a nine-game winning streak into the 4A State playoffs.
On Monday night at Panther Stadium, Quitman rallied from an early 4-0 deficit to beat Wayne County 6-5. The win moves Rigby's club to 19-9 on the season.
Next up will be a road playoff game on Thursday evening at No. 2 ranked and defending 4A State Champion Picayune. The Maroon Tide ended Quitman's school record season of 25 wins last year with a two-game sweep.
Two Panther errors helped set up the four-run first for the visiting War Eagles.
Wayne County capitalized with a two-run homer by Brandon Gatling followed by another two-run shot by Gordon Baygents to go up 4-0 off Panther starter Mack Creighton.
Creighton settled down after the rough start and pitched five scoreless innings to get the Panthers to the seventh inning.
By then, the Quitman bats had erased all of Wayne County's lead and managed to take the lead at 6-4.
The comeback began in the third when Dustin Hamrick doubled in a pair of runs cutting the deficit in half at 4-2. Matt Mollett and Blake Pippen came around for the runs.
A lead off double by Adam Neal in the fourth helped set up the next run. Mollett followed with a single and Pippen drove in Neal with a hard hit to right center to make it 4-3.
Quitman got its tying run in the fifth when Neal belted a two-out single to left scoring pinch-runner Cordero Laphand for the 4-4 deadlock.
The Panthers started the sixth in good shape with Mollett reaching for the fourth time in the game, this one, on his third walk. Pippen doubled for his second hit putting Panthers in scoring position.
Jonathan Russell then ripped a fly ball into right which was deep enough to send Mollett home with the goahead run at 5-4. Adam Harper then smacked a double into left-center scoring Pippin to raise Quitman's lead to 6-4.
Creighton was pulled and it was up to reliever Terrance Lafferty to pick up the save.
The War Eagles, however, took advantage of a hit batsman, a wild pitch and Quitman's third error of the game to cut the lead to 6-5 and have the tying run on second base.
After a walk to Dustin Freeman to put two on, Rigby moved to bring in Russell, the staff ace.
Bagents was walked intentionally to load the bases. Russell then struck out Brandon Jordon on a 2-2 slider.
He then got Wayne Reynolds to hit sharply to Hamrick at first base. Hamrick made the catch, ending the game.
The loss ends a difficult season for Wayne County. The team's head coach was killed in auto accident earlier in the year.
New coach Mike Gavin was proud of his team for coming through the adversity.
Hamrick led Quitman with two hits and two RBI. Pippen had two hits and two runs scored while Neal had two hits and one run.
Baygents and Gatling led Wayne County with a home run and two RBIs.
Quitman's second game with Picayune is set for Friday night at 6 p.m. at Panther Stadium.