OLIVE BRANCH — New Hope High School senior pitcher Brody Stokes revealed his keys to success Tuesday night.
There were eight.
“The biggest thing is playing alongside the best defense in the state,” Stokes said. “When I get down — and tonight there was a time I got down — they always find a way to get me out of the tight spots. It is a relief when you know your teammates are in there battling with you.”
New Hope played its third errorless game in the postseason, and Stokes was dominant down the stretch in a 6-2 win against Lewisburg in Game 1 of a best-of-three Mississippi High School Activities Association Class 5A North State semifinal-round playoff series at Albert Broadway Field.
The Trojans have opened the postseason with five-straight wins and have won 23 of 26 playoff games in the past three seasons. New Hope can advance to the North State finals for a fourth-straight season with a win at 7 p.m. Thursday at home.
“Lot of people doubted us this season,” New Hope junior catcher Will Godfrey said. “When we were 5-4, it looked like we were down. We just had to show some fight. We had to show we were going to compete this year and other teams weren’t going to be able to take us lightly.”
Emerging from that 5-4 start, New Hope has won 18 of its last 19 games. The Trojans have done it with limited offensive firepower. That changed slightly Tuesday night, as an offense that had produced 14 runs in four playoff games struck for six. New Hope had one inning of three runs or greater in its first four playoffs games. On Tuesday, the Trojans had their second with a three-run second inning.
“Scoring three runs was really huge for the whole team,” Godfrey said. “That really got the game going. It got us into a flow. The dugout had a lot of confidence after that.”
In the second, Sam Taylor and Thomas Stevens had back-to-back singles before Godfrey laced a two-run triple to the left-center field gap. He scored on a two-out single by J.D. Earhart.
“Coach worked with us away, and I think that really helped us a lot,” Godfrey said. “He set up a catcher in practice away and we worked one whole practice on taking the strike three pitch and hitting it away. That is what I was trying to do in that at-bat. It is something we haven’t been good at doing all year.”
Lewisburg (21-11) loaded the bases and failed to score in the first. After throwing 27 pitches in that inning, Stokes allowed a two-run double by Mason Givens in the third.
In its first four playoff games, New Hope had allowed one run.
“This was only Brody’s second playoff game,” New Hope coach Lee Boyd said. “He really didn’t have any struggles against Neshoba Central. He was in command that game. In the third inning tonight, he has two walks. We called time and I told him damage control. We just had to make sure to avoid the big inning. He really regained his composure after that inning.”
New Hope put the game away with a run in the fifth on a wild pitch and two runs in the seventh on an RBI walk and a sacrifice fly by Godfrey.
Stokes completed a five-hitter by retiring the final seven Patriots.
“I just try to listen to the criticism from my teammates,” Stokes said. “They tell me what to do to regain my focus. When you are rolling ground balls to players like Sam Taylor at shortstop, you are going to win.
“It has been a little different pitching for this team because we really feel lucky anytime we score a run, so to have a 3-0 lead tonight was big.”
New Hope had eight hits, including a multi-hit night from Payton Lane.
“I thought we had a really good offensive game,” Boyd said. “The runs early were important. But the main thing is we had better at-bats. We really had runners all over the place tonight. A year ago, bases loaded meant we were fixing to have six or seven runs. That is not the case with this team.”
Despite more station-to-station baseball and gratitude for scoring sprees, New Hope is back where it usually is. The Trojans are halfway toward a third state championship.
“We have to battle for each run,” Stokes said. “Still, this is a fun team to play for. I am thankful for some of the sophomores we have. Look at somebody like Thomas Stevens. He has done wonderful as a DH. I really feel comfortable with this team. We are going to get through this and keep trying to get it done.”
Much like his players, Boyd also saw a season teetering on the brink after back-to-back region losses to Oxford dropped New Hope to 5-4.
“The season really could have gone either way,” Boyd said. “You hope the kids reach back and cling to the tradition we have going here. We have pitched it well all season. Offensively, we are making progress. The thing about this team is they work at it. Every day, they are in there working at hitting, working at defense, working at getting better.
“You can step back as a coach and see how far you have progressed as a team. If you do that with this team, you see so many great things.”
For a second-straight week, New Hope will send staff ace Josh Stillman to his home mound for a chance to close out a series. Stillman didn’t start Tuesday so he would have a full week of rest for Game 2.
“That is called good fortune right there,” Boyd said.
n In other action Tuesday, Prairie View (La.) rallied for one run in the bottom of the seventh and another run in the eighth to edge Oak Hill Academy 4-3 in Game 1 of its best-of-three Mississippi Association of Independent Schools Class AA semifinal-round playoff series.
Game 2 of the series will be at 5 p.m. Friday. If needed, Game 3 would follow approximately 30 minutes after the previous game.
n In other MHSAA action, Ingomar scored the only runs it needed in the bottom of the first inning Tuesday in a 2-1 victory against Hamilton in Game 1 of its best-of-three Class 1A playoff series.
The Lions had the bases loaded in the second and two runners on in the third, but they didn’t score until a bases-loaded walk in the fourth.
Game 2 will be at 6 p.m. Thursday in Hamilton.
Follow Dispatch sports writer Scott Walters on Twitter @dispatchscott
Scott was sports editor for The Dispatch.
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