By By Doug Barber / special to The Star
May 7, 2004
BILOXI A pair of nightmarish innings the fourth and seventh spelled the end to Mercy Cross' dream of a 2A state championship in baseball.
That dream, however, is alive for the Enterprise High School Bulldogs, who overcame a one-game deficit to win the three-game series with an 11-5 win on Thursday night.
Enterprise scored three runs in the fourth to take the lead, then added seven runs in the seventh to eliminate Mercy Cross in the second round of the 2A state playoffs at Thompson Field.
The Bulldogs (23-7) advance to the South State finals against North Forrest, a 9-8 winner over Seminary on Thursday. The series will open Saturday at North Forrest.
Todd Gollott's 11th homer of the season a two-run shot to center in the first gave Mercy Cross (14-19) a 2-1 lead.
But Enterprise snatched the momentum and the lead for good in the fourth. Pitcher Wade Weathers was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning.
Adam Simpson laid down a bunt but Mercy Cross pitcher Jared Kozlowski slipped while trying to field it and both runners were safe.
After a sacrifice bunt, Chance Kidd singled home both runners for a 3-2 advantage. Then Scott Moseley ripped an RBI double to left.
"I think once we got the momentum our left-hander Wade (Weathers) stepped up and threw it in the strike zone and kept them from getting
back into the game,'' Enterprise coach Jeremy Wilkins said. "We hit the ball well at our place (Tuesday) and it carried over into tonight. And I
think their little lefty got tired.''
Mercy Cross had a pair of opportunities to tie or reclaim the lead, stranding three runners in the fifth and two in the sixth.
In the fifth, Justin Pickich and Jackie Weaver drew back-to-back two-out walks. Rather than pitch to Gollott, Wilkins told Weathers to intentionally walk the Mercy Cross catcher. That put the tying runs in scoring position. Then Weathers fanned Josh Seymour to end the inning.
In all, Weathers (13-2) struck out 14 Crusaders.
"We weren't going to let (Gollott) beat us,'' Wilkins said. "We knew he was their best hitter. He's swung the bat pretty good in this series and
was swinging it well tonight.''
Enterprise broke the game open in the seventh, with Dennis Watson ripping a three-run double to center and Kidd following with a two-run
homer to left center.
Kidd went 3-for-4 with four RBIs. Scott Moseley added two hits and an RBI.
Gollott, who had an RBI single in the seventh, went 2-for-3 with three RBIs. Gollott, along with Kozlowski, is a Pearl River Community College
signee.
"They played a good game,'' Gollott said. "They came out and hit the ball. They got the hits when they needed to. We didn't do that good during the season but we played well in the playoffs.''
Mercy Cross coach Eric Neel said that Weathers was tough on the mound in this decisive Game 3 of the series.
"We made a couple of errors (in the fourth) but that is probably high school baseball,'' Mercy Cross coach Eric Neel said. "You have to hand it to their kid (Weathers) because he came out afterwards and shut us down.
"It was a heck of a series and a great season. I told the kids I thought we overachieved this season.''