By Staff
From staff reports
April 19, 2002
The hot hitting Meridian Wildcats continue their assault with the bats.
Meridian leads the all schools in Mississippi in extra base hits. The Wildcats now have 103 extra base hits. They have won 22 of their last 23 games going and will enter the 5A playoffs with a 28-5.
They open a best of three series with Petal today at 7 p.m. at John Moss Field.
The Wildcats have belted out an incredible 72 doubles, 12 triples and 19 home runs.
Catcher/pitcher Torry Bates and senior first baseman John Stevens key the hit parade. Both players have slugged seven home runs. Stevens got his seventh on Saturday against Southeast Lauderdale.
Bates has 20 extra base hits with 13 doubles and one triple. He also leads the team in RBI with 42 and is tied with Stevens for the most hits with 44. He is batting .453.
Stevens is at .427 with 11 doubles and 36 RBIs.
Richmond Alexander is also hitting .427. John Iverson is at .353 while Maurice Cole is at .373 with 12 doubles and two triples.
Jeff Byrd
Wildcat pitching pretty stout
Besides the their bats, Meridian has a standout pitching staff. The team ERA is an amazing 1.48. They have fanned 233 batters in 206 1.3 innings pitched.
Jason Spinks paces the team and he will be on the hill tonight against Petal. Spinks is 7-0 with a 1.09 ERA. He has also fanned 76.
Torry Bates is next at 7-1 with 1.35 ERA. He has struck out 33.
John Iverson is 4-2 with a 2.27 ERA and Tyler Maxwell is 5-2 with a 1.86 ERA. The pair have 44 and 43 strike outs respectively.
Jeff Byrd
Bradley leaving Mooreville
After taking the Mooreville Troopers to the Class 2A state football playoffs the last two years, Michael Bradley has resigned to take the head football job at Pearl River Central.
PRC, a Class 4A school located in Carriere, went 2-8 last fall. Prior to Bradley, Mooreville had not been to the state playoffs in 14 years. The Troopers went 9-3 in 2000 and 7-4 in 2001.
– Marty Stamper