Fresh off of West Marion’s first sweep of Columbia in at least the last 18 years, the Trojans left Foxworth at 6:25 p.m. and were on the field for the first pitch at Columbia Academy at 7 p.m.
The Cougars (6-14) controlled the action through four innings, leading 1-0 going into the fifth, but the Trojans (13-1) put up four runs in fifth, three in the sixth and six in the seventh to beat the Cougars 13-2.
“When our bats finally woke up, they woke up,” West Marion head coach Derrick Jerkins said. “You have to give credit to the kid that started — Jacob Reid started for CA — because he pitched well. But once the bats woke up, that was big for us. We got a little momentum going. That’s what we’re trying to carry right now — momentum. We’re fixing to go through a tough part of the schedule, and hopefully we can take this nine-game win streak into (it).”
“Jacob Reid threw a tremendous ball game,” CA head coach Keith Stanley said. “We’ve been looking for another arm — we don’t have a whole lot of them with experience — so to see that from Jacob Reid was breathtaking. It was a really phenomenal performance against a really good lineup.”
After Reid came out, though, Stanley said it all just kind of crumbled for the Cougars.
“They jumped on us, and we just didn’t handle it well,” he said. “We acted like it was a 10-run lead and not a three-run lead.”
Preston Sauls and Mason Smith pitched in relief of Reid, with Stanley searching through inexperienced arms to find reliable pitchers for the stretch run.
Senior outfielder Miles Maliden ripped the first homer of his prep career — a grand slam — to lead the Trojans offense. Jayden Duncan cleared the bases with a double for 3 RBI, and Tre Broom brought home two runs with a single and three walks drawn.
Tuesday night the Trojans played host to Poplarville (10-6), who Jerkins said is ranked by a lot of people as a Top 25 team in the state. Prior to the game, Jerkins said he was hoping Poplarville would throw its ace because he knows the Trojans will have to be able to hit really talented arms in the postseason.
West Marion will have a full week off before taking on Tylertown (4-4, 1-2) on Tuesday. The Trojans will play at Loyd Star Thursday before hosting Tylertown Friday to complete the two-game series.
“Tylertown is greatly improved from the past, so we have to be able to take this momentum into next week against another tough district opponent,” Jerkins said.
