By Stan Caldwell
stanmansportsfan.com
PETAL – It wasn’t the prettiest or most conventional no-hitter anyone will ever see, but a no-hitter is still a no-hitter, and Petal senior Eli Waters did just that for the Panthers.
Waters, a slim right-hander did not allow a hit and the Panthers played small ball to perfection in a 2-0 victory over Pearl Tuesday night in the opening game of their Class 6A first-round playoff series at Panther Field.
Petal (19-9) can book a date with D’Iberville next week in the second round with a win in Game 2 Friday night at Pearl. The Pirates (12-16-1) must win to keep their season alive and force a deciding third game Saturday at Petal.
“We told Eli before the game, if you come in, throw strikes and do the little things, then you’ve got a good chance to throw a good game for us,” said Petal head coach Jake Mills.
“The big thing for him is to get ahead in the count with the fastball or the breaking ball, whichever it was, and he did a good job at that. He competed and did a great job for us.”
The Panthers won despite committing five errors, which resulted in Pearl putting a runner on third base in three separate innings. But each time, Waters had an answer.
“When there’s a runner on third, it seems to hype me up more,” said Waters. “I just think to myself, ‘I’ve got to lock in here.’”
Waters struck out nine batters, walked two and hit one. He was able to get his curveball over for strikes, and that gave his fastball some extra juice and kept the Pirate batters guessing.
Waters noticed early on that the home plate umpire set a low strike zone and was consistent with it the whole game. Once he found that out spot, he was able to dictate the game.
“The curveball helped me a lot tonight,” said Waters. “I like to get it in there early in the count to keep them off-balance. I saw he had low zone in my first at-bat, and that was the spot I tried to hit.”
Waters was tested right from the get-go. With one out in the top of the first inning, junior Tanner Moore reached on a fielding error. A wild pitch and a passed ball got the runner to third, but Waters got a strikeout and a groundout.
The third out, though, came immediately after some blind luck for the Panthers.
Pearl senior Andrew Arrant hit an opposite-field flyball to rightfield that had RBI double written all over it, except that it tailed away just enough to land squarely on the foul line. Arrant then grounded out on the next pitch.
“When you look at our roster, and for all but two of our guys, this was their first playoff game,” said Mills. “And that’s OK. Still, It’s very uncharacteristic of us to make five errors in a game.
“Moving forward Friday when we go up there, that’s a good team over there, and we’re going to have to eliminate those things. Do the little things; we want people to earn what they get from us.”
Petal let an opportunity slip away in the bottom of the second off Moore, the Pirate right-hander.
Sophomore Tanner Beliveau smacked the first pitch of the inning to the base of the wall in left-centerfield for a double and advanced to third on a wild pitch.
Moore got a strikeout then loaded the bases on a pair of walks, but he got out of trouble on consecutive pitches, a hot smash into the glove of Arrant at shortstop and a comebacker to the mound.
But the Panthers broke through in the bottom of the third without a hit. Senior Keegan Giger drew a leadoff walk, stole second and third, then scored when Waters hit a groundout to the right side of the infield for the RBI.
“That’s something you mention, the little things,” said Mills. “We harp on that, on doing the little things all the time. And a little thing becomes a big thing.
“In 6A playoff baseball, the team that does more of the little things right is the team that’s going to be successful.”
Petal left runners on second and third in the fourth. Senior Cooper Nash hit a leadoff single inside the bag at third base, then with two outs, junior Cayden Burger reached on an infield single. But Moore was able to get a strikeout to end the inning.
The Pirates threatened again, loading the bases on a hit batter and two errors after one was out, one error coming after a relay on a double-play attempt went awry. But Waters got a three-pitch strikeout to get out of the inning.
And the Panthers scratched across an insurance run in the fifth inning, and again some good fortune helped Petal.
Junior Dylan Dykes led off the inning with a single, then Waters appeared to fly out to right. However, Moore was called for a balk, so the out was negated and Dykes trotted to second.
Moore was able to pick Dykes off second, but Waters drew a walk, and Beliveau once again pounced on the first pitch, driving a single to right.
“I knew I needed to get the runner over,” said Beliveau. “My philosophy is grip it and rip it. Once we get past this first playoff game, the nervousness seems to go away an then it’s just baseball.”
Freshman pinch-runner Easton Giger had to hustle to beat a fast throw from the outfield to make it to third, but he slid safely headfirst into the base when the throw was off-line. He then scored on a sacrifice fly off the bat of senior Jeremiah McKinney.
Beliveau didn’t waste any time in the batter’s box. He faced just seven pitches in four plate appearances, swinging at the first pitch three times and on the second pitch in his other at-bat.
Pearl got yet another runner to third in the sixth, on an error with one out, then a botched pickoff attempt resulted in a two-base error. And again, Waters delivered, getting an infield fly and a grounder to the mound.
Petal threatened again in the bottom of the sixth, loading the bases on a one-out single by Burger, then a hit batter and a walk after two were out. But a groundout ended that threat.
No matter. Waters, sitting at 104 pitches going into the seventh inning, needed just 10 to retire the Pirates in order to nail down the win and the no-hitter.
“I try not to think about it,” said Waters. “ I just try to do the same things I always do and not let the moment get to me.”
Prep Baseball Linescore
Class 6A First Round
Tuesday at Panther Field
Petal 2, Pearl 0
Pearl 000 000 0 – 0 0 0
Petal 001 010 x – 2 7 5
PEARL (12-16-1): LP – Tanner Moore. Also pitching – Andrew Arrant.
PETAL (19-9): Dylan Dykes 1B; Tanner Beliveau 2B, 1B; Cooper Nash 2 1B; Cayden Burger 2 1B. WP – Eli Waters, 9 Ks.
