EHS wins South State opener
By By Jeff O’Rear / The Hattiesburg American
May 9, 2004
HATTIESBURG North Forrest finds itself in the exact same situation as last round, but it isn't exactly a place it wants to be.
The Eagles couldn't capitalize on scoring opportunities throughout the game on the way to dropping a 5-2 decision to Enterprise in the first game of the Class 2A South State Championship.
In the second round, the Eagles (18-15) lost the first of the best-of-three series against Seminary, before winning two straight to knock out the Bulldogs.
It was more of the same in the first game of this series, with North Forrest trailing the entire game, leaving nine men on base and leaving the bases loaded twice against Enterprise-Clarke (24-7).
"We didn't come to play tonight," North Forrest head coach Brian Freeman said. "Mentally, I dont think we were here. Missed opportunities killed us."
The missed opportunities for North Forrest started early and seemed to occur often.
The Eagles started star pitcher and University of Southern Miss signee Ben Wade. He (7-3) dominated the first two batters he faced, but a fielding error let Zeb Swain reach first. Wade then walked Anthony Rawson and Wade Weathers to load the bases.
Enterprise starting pitcher Adam Simpson hit a bloop single just behind second base that scored Swain and Rawson to give the Bulldogs a 2-0 lead.
The Eagles had a prime opportunity to score a few runs and take the lead in the bottom of the first. The bases were loaded for Kyle Bailey when
he drew a walk that brought Wade home with two outs. Marcus Howell came to bat with the bases still loaded but struck out and the Eagles missed
a golden opportunity.
Enterprise held a 2-1 lead after one inning.
Wade went back to his usual dominant form in the second inning. Wade struck out the first two batters of the inning, but gave up a single to Scott Mosley. Wade quelled the single by striking out Lance Irby to end the inning.
The Eagles tied the game in the second on a one-run single by Wade that scored Marion Sims to tie the score at 2-2. That was the last of the Eagles' offense for the night.
The Bulldogs took the lead for good in the third on a sacrifice fly by Weathers that scored Swain to put the lead at 3-2.
From there, the pitchers took over. In the fourth through sixth innings, Wade was perfect, retiring the side in each inning. From the last out in the fourth to the first out in the seventh, Wade retired 11 straight Bulldogs batters.
On the other side, Enterprise starter Simpson destroyed any kind of North Forrest scoring opportunities.
Simpson was working with two outs in the fourth with runners on first and second and promptly struck out Matt Williamson to end the threat.
"We just got great pitching out of three guys tonight," said Enterprise head coach Jeremy Wilkins. "We had a senior (Simpson) that gave us four great innings. Overall, the great pitching performance is what I'm most proud of."
Bulldogs ended the game by retiring nine straight North Forrest batters
while the offense showed back up in the seventh.
The Bulldogs were still clinging to the 3-2 lead until their bats woke up for four hits and two runs in the top of the seventh to put the game away.
Rawson's single to left scored Scott Mosely, then Weathers' single
scored Swain to put the Bulldogs up 5-2.
Weathers' pitching in the bottom of the seventh was dominant, striking out
the heart of the North Forrest lineup to end the game.
Weathers came in to pitch in the sixth and didn't allow a baserunner
while ending the game with five straight strikeouts.
While the Bulldogs used three pitchers, North Forrest stayed with ace
Wade for the entire game.
