Moss Point gets first win over Panthers in '13
MOSS POINT-- The Moss Point-Pascagoula rivalry proved once again Friday that no outcome is guaranteed no matter how big of an underdog one team is.
Moss Point stunned Pascagoula 7-5 in baseball Thursday night, giving the Tigers their first win over their hated rival in all major sports during the 2012-13 season.
It also ended a seven-game losing streak for the Tigers this season
"Everybody always wants to make a big deal because it's Pascagoula, but we were struggling," Moss Point coach Marc Turner said. "I put the challenge out in front of (the players) and they stepped up and accepted it. That's all I can ask from them."
Moss Point stands at 5-12 and 4-5 in Division 7-5A while Pascagoula, the defending Class 5A champion, drops to 8-8 and 6-3.
Senior Lige Mims moved from shortstop to pitcher to get the final six outs for the save
Mims, who pitched six in
nings Tuesday against Picayune in a 7-0 loss, struck out Andrew Crane swinging in the seventh for the final out to set off a celebration in the middle of Lasseter Field.
"It's a great accomplishment for not only me, but my team," Mims said. "In football season, when they beat us, everybody was up and we were ready for them. We worked harder and we said we were going to get them in the next sport."
Abron Sipp led Moss Point at the plate with a pair of singles and two RBIs. Tarin Cole also had two singles and one run batted in.
Pascagoula falls into second place behind East Central, which beat Gautier 29-1 Friday night to improve to 12-4 and 7-2.
Pascagoula coach Richie Tillman was obviously displeased after the game.
"The bottom line is they wanted it a whole lot more than we did, and it obviously showed tonight," Tillman said.
The Moss Point players seemed to respond to a late-night practice that Turner had after the Tuesday loss to Picayune.
"We went back to the basics this week in practice," Turner said. "We had a long practice after the Picayune game Tuesday night. We stayed out here for about an hour and a half, and we got some things together."
Starting pitcher Benny Curry lasted four innings for Moss Point, giving up three runs, two earned. He stuck out one and walked a pair to allow the Tigers to grab an early lead.
"That was huge," Turner said of Curry's effort. "He threw 58-60 pitches and he was very efficient. He's got better stuff than that, but we just kind of pulled it together tonight."
The first four Tigers reached base to start the game and the initial run crossed home on Curry's RBI single to right field.
Cole followed with his own RBI single to right and Sipp pushed another run across on a nicely placed fielder's choice grounder to shortstop to give Moss Point an early 3-0 advantage.
Pascagoula starter Andrew Dunn had trouble with his control during his two innings of work, allowing Moss Point to put one on the board in the second when Antwon Mitchell scored on a wild pitch to make it 4-1.
"Our starting pitching wasn't where it's been," Tillman said. "Thank goodness our reliever, Allen Cowart, came in and did a great job. We just didn't get the hits when we needed to."
Dunn allowed six runs, five earned, on five hits while walking two and hitting one.
Moss Point had another three-run inning in the third with Cole, Sipp and Kyle Turner providing singles to help push the advantage to 6-1, a lead that Pascagoula couldn't overcome.
The Panthers scored twice in the sixth on Moss Point reliever Thomas Nettles, but Mims came in to close the door.
"I had to go in, pitch strikes and get out of the inning as quick as possible and keep my team up," Mims said.
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