Sumrall head coach Larry Knight wanted to see his team perform well in all three phases of the game. He got that tonight, especially from his two Haydens. Junior pitcher Hayden Nored struck out 12 while junior outfielder Hayden Barrett accounted for three RBIs in an 8-1 victory over Jackson Academy.

"I felt like we put all three phases together tonight: pitching, defense, and hitting. It was timely hitting too. We had the big inning there in the fourth, and we're able to build on an early lead," as Knight explained, "It is what we needed from the standpoint that we won our last game and we didn't want to go back-and-forth [with wins and losses]. Very positive pitching performance and we did what we had to do to score runs tonight."

Nored started the game off with a quick strikeout on the first batter, then two infield outs made it a three up, three down inning for the Bobcats. Sumrall could not put a run on the board in the bottom of the first to keep things knotted up 0-0.

Sumrall opened things up in the bottom of the second and never looked back as three walks and a single from Kris Sivley brought in the first run of the evening. More pitching struggles from Jackson Academy gave more opportunities for Sumrall, as they scored three more runs to go up 4-0.

"They had a good approach to the plate tonight," said Knight, "we need guys to take some walks and put the ball in play. Hopefully, that forces some errors and I think tonight they showed that."

The bottom of the fourth and fifth innings saw Sumrall put more runs on the board as Hayden Barrett came up with a timely hit to send runners home as Sumrall put up four runs in the fourth. A run in the fifth gave the Bobcats a commanding 8-0 lead. From there, the defense took over to stifle any comeback.

Our defense played well. Our guys love being at home and playing on this turf. They made some good plays. You get some of those choppers at third that is tough plays, but JC made a great play in the first inning on a dive down the line. We did a lot of good things from that standpoint of making plays that were tough ones and coming through with a win. It was a good night," when asked about the defense.

Nored finished his night in the bottom of the sixth, striking out the final two batters he faced to bring his total to 12 Ks.

"He threw well last week against Hattiesburg in a no-decision. It was good to see him throw like he did tonight. He's going to be one of our top pitchers this year and we are depending on him a lot. Even though he only pitched in two games last season, we felt like in his JV year and with the summer he's had that he would be one of our top guys. He showed it tonight. His velocity was good and he made some good pitches with his breaking ball. Twelve strikeouts in six innings, that is big," said Knight on Nored's performance on the mound.

Sumrall will head to Petal Thursday to compete in the Petal Tournament where they will face off with Taylorsville.

Notes

Weston Cooley and John Stogner finished the final inning for Sumrall as Jackson Academy scored one run in the seventh.