By Stan Caldwell
stanmansportsfan.com
PETAL – It is an ironclad rule of baseball that the team that commits the fewest errors is the team that usually wins.
And that was certainly the case for Petal in the Panthers’ Region 3-7A opener against Northwest Rankin. Petal committed four errors, along with a number of other unforced mistakes, and went down to a 4-0 defeat Tuesday night at Panther Field.
Petal dropped to 5-7 overall and 0-1 in region with its third consecutive loss, while the Cougars improved to 9-4 and 1-0.
“I liked our game plan going into this game,” said Petal coach Jake Mills. “But we’re facing a good team, and we told the kids in the pregame meeting that the team that has the least amount of freebies, as we call them, will probably win.
“And that stayed true. I think we had six walks or hit batters and four errors, that’s 10 freebies in my book. You can’t win in 7A baseball doing that.”
In fact, there was little margin for error at all for the Panthers against Cougar senior right-hander Wesley White, who handcuffed Petal on three hits in an efficient complete-game effort.
“He was good,” said Panther junior Tanner Beliveau. “It’s 7A baseball; you’re supposed to be good at this level. You’ve just got to go out there and compete, and we really didn’t do that tonight.”
White (3-1) needed just 90 pitches to do in the Panthers, striking out nine batters, walking just one and he had one hit batter.
Both teams used good defensive plays to keep the other off the scoreboard in the first inning.
Senior Bryson Jones opened the game with a single for Northwest Rankin in the top of the first off Beliveau, the Panther starter. Jones stole second base but was thrown out trying to steal third.
Petal also opened with a single in its half of the first when sophomore Easton Giger singled up the middle. But he was erased on a double play, and that may have cost the Panthers a run, as senior Dylan Dykes followed with a single.
But that was the last hit White allowed until the seventh inning.
“They throw strikes,” said Mills. “They fill it up and let their defense play. We come out in the first, and I thought we barreled him up. We had two hits, and, yeah, the double play got us, but still we barreled him up, then we don’t get another hit until the seventh.
“But when he’s in the zone and mixing his pitches up really well, he’s tough, And, again, they play great defense. That’s what they did tonight.”
Things started going downhill for Petal in the top of the first inning, when the Cougars scored an unearned run.
Senior Trey Davidson opened the inning with a single and quickly took second on an errant pickoff throw. He went third on a flyball to centerfield and scored on a slow roller to second.
Beliveau got himself out of trouble in the third, after Cougar sophomore Jackson Meehan drew a leadoff walk and stole both second and third.
After getting two out, Beliveau surrendered a hit batter, but picked the runner off, with second baseman Dykes getting the tag in before the runner could score from third.
But there was no getting out of trouble in the fourth, when three errors and three passed balls allowed Northwest Rankin to score two runs.
It could have been worse, as the Cougars got runners on first and third with only one out and two runs already in. That was when Mills went to the bullpen for junior right-hander Jayden Madison.
Beliveau (1-2) finished his 3 1-3 innings of work with three strikeouts, four walks, a hit batter and three hits.
“It was a crap effort,” said Beliveau. “I don’t know what else to say about it. It wasn’t good on my part. I let too many people get on base and didn’t do what I was supposed to on the mound.”
Northwest Rankin got the trailing runner to second on a stolen base, but Madison got out of the jam with a pair of strikeouts.
Madison was the only real bright spot for Petal, keeping the Panthers in the game with a solid performance, striking out six, walking just one and allowing one hit. The only negative was that the walk and the hit produced a run for the Cougars in the fifth inning.
Northwest Rankin bracketed the walk with a flyout and a strikeout, but senior Ryan Sturdivant pulled the first pitch he saw down the line and into the rightfield corner for an RBI double.
But Madison retired the last seven batters he faced to give the Panthers some hope in the late innings.
“That’s Jayden, he’s a worker,” Mills said. “The thing about Jayden is he’s going to come out here and go to work to be better, and it pays off. The guys who show up every day and work hard, their play represents it. He’s a guy we can count on in any situation.”
But there was no getting to White on this night.
Petal did get two runners on base with one out in the bottom of the fifth on a dropped third strike and a hit batter, but White got a pair of strikeouts to get out of trouble.
Freshman Fischer Howell finally got a hit off White to lead off the seventh, an infield single into the hole between shortstop and third base. But White got two popups and a strikeout to finish the game.
“They got on base and did a good job when they had runners,” said Mills. “Out of all their base runners tonight only four were hits. So, really, they were given the bases.
“Good teams, you let them get on, let them have freebies, and that’s what happens.”
The two teams will play the second game of the two-game series beginning at 7 p.m. Friday at Flowood.
PREP BASEBALL LINESCORE
Tuesday at Petal
Northwest Rankin 4, Petal 0
NWR 010 210 0 – 4 4 0
Petal 000 000 0 – 0 3 4
NORTHWEST RANKIN (9-4, 1-0 in 3-7A): Bryson Jones 1B; Trey Davidson 1B; Ryan Sturdivant 2B; Brady Saxton 1B. WP – Wesley White (3-1) 9 Ks.
PETAL (5-7, 0-1 in 3-7A): Easton Giger 1B; Britt Stringer 1B; Fischer Howell 1B. LP – Tanner Beliveau (1-2). Also pitching – Jayden Madison.
