By Dalton Middleton
Special to The Dispatch
Carter Bentley led way as Starkville cruised past Murrah 15-0 in an opening-round game of the Mississippi High School Activities Association (MHSAA) Class 6A playoffs Friday night at Carlisle Field.
Murrah evened the best-of-three series with a 12-11 win Saturday at Smith-Wills Stadium in Jackson. The Mustangs scored eight times in sixth inning and the game-winner an inning later.
Game three of the series will be at 6 Monday night in Starkville.
With two singles and a hit-by-pitch, Bentley was the perfect leadoff man Friday night. He started an 11-run first inning and scored twice in the first inning. With 13 batters reaching via walk or hit-by-pitch, Bentley said his offense was patient at the plate and was taking the at-bats the team needed to win.
“It was real encouraging,” Bentley said. “We’ve worked hard all week. Coach has put us in a good mindset to compete against a good ballclub and we competed. We were taking team at-bats. We weren’t giving away at-bats. We took every at-bat with seriousness and got the next guy up.”
In the 11-run first inning, the Yellow Jackets sent 17 batters to the plate with four hits, four walks, four errors, and three hit-by-pitches. To start the inning, Bentley, Demetrious Petty and Jack Perry all singled for Starkville.
The next batter, Carlos Kemp Jr., hit a fly ball to the right fielder, who dropped the ball for an error. That was the start of a disastrous inning for the Mustangs. Two of the next three at-bats also resulted in dropped flyballs. The Mustangs later went on to walk four straight Yellow Jackets to extend the lead to 11-0, and the first inning finally stopped when Austin Campbell grounded out to the second baseman.
Head Coach Travis Garner said it was pleasing to see his team put up a huge number in the first inning when they have struggled to take advantage this season when they were given those situations.
“I’m proud of our kids,” Garner said. “We took a week off from playing. They came out sharp and ready to go. We got out of a big jam in the first and then put an 11-spot up and let everyone relax. We are a young team. This was a lot of players first game in the playoffs.”
On the mound, Campbell dominated in all aspects. After giving up a leadoff single in the first and facing a runner on third with one out, he got out of the jam and gave an exciting fist pump to try and excite his team. He finished his complete-game shutout with five strikeouts and scattered four hits throughout the game.
Campbell said he was extremely nervous when the game started, but once the team gave him a lead, he was very comfortable on the mound. He said even with a huge lead, he treated every inning like a 1-0 ballgame and never let up.
“I was pitching for my boys,” Campbell said. “I am trying to compete every single pitch. I was trying to compete. It was a blessing to get out of the jam early. My teammates came through with some really big outs and I appreciated that. I had some first inning jitters. The biggest inning is the first inning. If you can get out of the first inning, you have a shot. I was lucky today to get out of it and it led me throughout the win.”
Up 11-0 in the third inning, Kemp Jr. led off the inning with a single. After the next two batters reached via hit-by-pitch, the Yellow Jackets scored two runs with a Campbell sacrifice fly and with Josh Arnett stealing home to give them a 13-0 lead.
In the fourth inning, Starkville put their junior varsity in to get some at-bats. The first two batters were walked and Starkville pushed a run across with a RBI single from freshman Jaden James. The next batter was hit by a pitch, and senior Tyler Stovall ended the game with a walk-off RBI walk to put the run rule into effect.
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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