How Stone-Sumrall was decided before a packed house in Game 2 of Class 4A South State
When Larry Knight handed Andy Davis the keys to the Sumrall baseball program, he thoughtfully left it well-stocked with a veteran club that is long on pitching.
And Davis has driven the Bobcat machine — owner of five state championships — back to Trustmark Park in Pearl for the Class 4A State Championship Series, thanks to a pressure-packed 3-2 victory over Stone Saturday night in Game 2 of the South State finals.
Sumrall (31-3) advances to the state finals for the ninth time, facing West Lauderdale beginning with Game 1 of the Class 4A finals at 4 p.m. June 2. Stone finished its season 25-8.
“We’re going to make the trip; we’re going to see if it’s really 78 miles,” said Davis, whose staff has been wearing wristbands with the number 78, denoting the mileage from the field house at Larry Knight Field to Trustmark Park.
Knight, the architect of the Sumrall program, resigned last fall to join the staff as pitching coach at Jones College. But he was back to support the Bobcats, including his youngest son Andrew, who went the distance on the mound.
“Honestly, Larry’s been my best friend,” said Davis. “Him leaving, a piece of my heart left with him. We’re still close. For Andrew to do such a good job, it was emotional and with him being on the other side of the fence, I’m sure it meant a lot.”
Knight, a junior right-hander, weathered a rough start before settling in to smother the Tomcats. Stone picked up two runs in the top of the first inning and got nothing else the rest of the way.
“I found my slider, and they didn’t look too great on it,” Andrew Knight said. “I started counting on that, spotting it on the outside corner, then coming in with the fastball. I just got in a groove, got in a rhythm.”
Knight (8-1) allowed five hits, struck out 10 and walked one. His only issue was three hit batters in the first two innings.
“Big-time spot, big-time game, I just had some nerves and adrenaline,” Knight said. “I couldn’t find it at first. I was leaving everything up and couldn’t find that release point. But I settled down after that first inning.”
For Stone, one of the best seasons in the program’s history fell just a bit short.
“Gutsy performance from my guys tonight, and all year,” said Stone coach Sean Miller. “It’s not what we wanted; that’s not the conversation I expected to have. But hats off to Sumrall”
The Tomcats, buoyed by a boisterous crowd of their fans that made the trip to the Pine Belt, jumped ahead in the first. Gehrig Conard drew a leadoff walk, then Jon-Jon Burn was hit by a pitch.
Conard was forced out at third and Sumrall got another out on a flyball, with Burn advancing to third. Owen Spooner, running for catcher Triston Hickman, stole second and the throw from the catcher was high, allowing Burn to score.
Braiden Jones followed with an RBI single up the middle to make it 2-0.
Like Knight, though, Tomcat senior right-hander Cortez Dennis also had early trouble and it cost him two runs.
After getting one quick out, Dennis issued back-to-back walks to Hayes Raner and Marshall Phillips. A wild pitch moved the runners up a base, and Raner walked home when Dennis was called for a balk. Cade Dedeaux smacked the next pitch up the middle for a run-scoring single.
“The pressures of a game do a lot to kids, especially in high school,” Miller said. “You’ve got to settle in that first inning, and Cortez did that for us and pitched the way we expected.”
Knight gave Stone an opportunity in the second by hitting the first two batters of the inning.
However, the first base runner was caught stealing at second and the other was erased on an inning-ending double play.
After that, both pitchers were dominant. Dennis (4-3) allowed just three hits and he struck out seven, but he also walked five and had a hit batter. At one point, Knight struck out six consecutive batters.
“It was the hype, with all these fans here,” Davis said. “We’ve been working on a harder curveball for him, and he had to use that a pretty good bit tonight.”
The game turned in the sixth inning. Still tied 2-2, the Tomcats got two singles sandwiched around a strikeout to open the top of the sixth.
Knight got an out on a long fly ball and the throw from the outfield ended up in the glove of Sumrall second baseman Ty Little, and that’s where it stayed until the moment when the runner at second stepped off the bag and was promptly tagged out.
“He caught it and threw it in,” said Sumrall shortstop Marshall Phillips, who made the play happen. “I pretended to catch the ball and even deked the throw to the pitcher. Ty had it the whole time.”
Fittingly, it was Little who opened the bottom of the sixth with a solid single to leftfield. Dennis got a strikeout, but then gave up a walk, and Miller decided to go with his closer, senior Braeden Brewer.
However, Walker Long greeted Brewer with a single to load the bases, bringing 9-hole hitter Ethan Aultman to the plate. Aultman managed to poke a groundball through the drawn-in infield to allow Little to score.
The Tomcats did get the out at third, and a flyout to centerfield to end the inning, but the damage was done. Knight retired the Tomcats in order in the top of the seventh to nail it down for Sumrall.
“That’s what we do,” Davis said. “We put it in play, make things happen. (Stone) has a great team; that’s why they made it this far. They don’t make errors; they don’t give you anything free. It takes a hit here, a walk there, and then a flare and that’s how we score.
“We were going to safety-squeeze the first pitch with Ethan, and it was a ball. We were going to steal, and Ty had a good jump, but he took (the pitch), then took a good cut on a foul ball. Ethan doesn’t strike out much; we just needed something in play, and it worked.”
Although Miller saluted Sumrall for its triumph, he said he wants to get the Tomcats to the same level as the Bobcats as a perennial championship contender.
“We’re trying to build culture, like Sumrall and some of these other programs around,” Miller said. “I think we’re going in the right direction. We’re not satisfied; we’re never going to be satisfied until we’re the last team standing.”
The last time Sumrall saw West Lauderdale was in the 4A South State finals in 2019, which the Bobcats won in a dramatic Game 3 victory. The Knights moved back to the North in the most recent reclassification, and they made short work of Mooreville in the North Half Finals.
“Trustmark is their home away from home too,” Davis said. “We knew when they moved to the North that they’d probably be the team that would be getting there. We’re excited about the chance to play again.”
Resurrection 5, Stringer 3
The Resurrection Catholic baseball team clinched a spot in the Class 1A championship series with a win over Stringer in Game 3 of the South State series on Saturday in Pascagoula.
Stringer took a 3-2 lead in the top of the fifth, but RCS responded with three runs of their own in the bottom of the inning to regain the lead for good.
Sophomore Max Askew had a big afternoon for the Eagles, going 2-for-4 with a double and two runs scored.
Joe Scarborough also knocked in a pair of runs for Resurrection.
Sophomore Cole Tingler picked up the win on the mound in 5 innings, giving up three runs on three hits. He also struck out two batters and walked four.
J.T. Schnoor, who also knocked in a run at the plate, threw two scoreless innings to close out the game to pick up the save.
RCS will begin play in the Class 1A state title series at 1 p.m. on June 1 at Trustmark Park in Pearl.