Ethan Pulliam homered twice, but the Starkville High School baseball team fell behind early and lost 11-5 to Madison Central in the MHSAA Class 6A Tournament on Saturday night in Starkville.
Madison Central advanced to the Class 6A quarterfinals, where the Jaguars will face DeSoto Central.
Pulliam led off the sixth with a home run to left, but by that time Madison Central led 11-0. Pulliam then capped Starkville’s scoring by following a walk to Brennon Wright with a two-run home run to left field in the seventh. The other two runs, both in the sixth, came on an error and a ground ball after consecutive singles by Kieran Coleman, Ashton Bogard and Cole Kendrick loaded the bases.
Pulliam, Bogard, Kendrick and Chipper Hornburger each had two hits for the Yellow Jackets, who finished their season at 11-17.
Madison Central 9, Starkville 1: Koby Livingston’s grounder to short scored Hornburger in the third inning to account for the only run for the Yellow Jackets on Friday night in Madison.
Leadoff batter Jake Cook went 2 for 2 with a triple, three RBIs and two runs for the Jaguars, who scored in five of six at-bats.
Three Madison Central pitchers held Starkville to three hits, singles by Coleman, Bogard and Caden Tate.
MAIS playoffs continue
Starkville Academy, Oak Hill Academy and Columbus Christian Academy will continue their quests for MAIS titles when the playoffs resume this week.
Class 2A, District 1 champion Columbus Christian had a bye through the first round and will face Riverdale Academy in the quarterfinals. Game 1 of the best-of-3 series will be 3 p.m. Monday in Coushatta, Louisiana, with Game 2 at 3 p.m. Thursday in Steens. Game 3, if necessary, will follow.
In Class 4A, Oak Hill completed a sweep of Indianola on Thursday with an 18-5 rout in Indianola.
Colin Boyd, Cameron Dill and Garrett Edwards drove in three runs apiece, while Dill and Brian Buchanan each scored four times for the Raiders (14-12), who broke it open with seven runs in the top of the third.
Colin Boyd ripped a two-run double to left and then scored on a single by Edwards. An error off the bat of Buchanan allowed two runs to score, and Jake Glusenkamp capped the inning with a single to center to score two runs and give Oak Hill a 9-2 lead.
Dill, Edwards and John Ross Craven each had three hits as part of the Raiders’ 18-hit attack.
Oak Hill (14-12) will face District 1 champion Marshall Academy in the 4A North semifinals. The Patriots took two of three from the Raiders during the regular season, with Oak Hill winning the opener 4-3 and dropping the next two by 15-7 and 8-6 scores.
In Class 5A, Heritage Academy forced a deciding Game 3 against East Rankin with a convincing 10-2 win in Game 2, but East Rankin advanced with a 4-1 win in Game 3.
Sophomore Jack Ketchum drove in four runs and scored three for Heritage (18-17) in the opener, while Cole Ketchum, Spencer Singley and Carson Hollis had two hits apiece.
Caleb Hall went the distance for the win, striking out 10 in a six-hitter.
In the nightcap, Heritage outhit East Rankin 5-4 yet could not score after the top of the first when Hall led off the game with a home run. East Rankin scored two in the second, one in the third and one in the sixth to advance.
Starkville Academy will open its 5A North semifinal series against Simpson Academy at 6 p.m. Tuesday in Starkville. The series shifts to Mendenhall on Thursday, as the District 2 champion Cougars will host Game 2 at 4 p.m. with Game 3, if necessary, to follow.
