In its first home baseball game of the season, Hattiesburg turned in what interim head coach Chris Bendenbaugh called its most complete performance of the year.
Behind a dominant first varsity start from EJ Cox and an offense that produced nine hits — including five for extra bases — the Tigers run-ruled North Forrest 11-0 in five innings Tuesday night in non-district action.
“We can’t be disappointed with that one,” Bendenbaugh said. “That’s probably the best complete team ball we’ve played all year so far. It was good to get that done in our first home game as well. Can’t let that go by without thanking the community for coming out for us.”
Hattiesburg set the tone immediately.
Cox opened the game by striking out two Eagles looking before inducing a flyout to end the top of the first. The Tigers then erupted for five runs in the bottom half of the inning.
An error by the North Forrest first baseman allowed Jacob Polk to reach to lead off the frame. A walk to Tyler Weatherspoon put two aboard with no outs before DJ Johnson delivered an RBI double to open the scoring. JB Bryant followed with a two-run double, and after Weatherspoon scored on a throwing error, Marcus Barnes added an RBI on a fielder’s choice to cap the five-run outburst.
With a 5-0 cushion, Cox settled in.
The right-hander worked four shutout innings, allowing just two hits and no walks while striking out eight. He consistently worked ahead in counts and mixed a fastball and curveball that kept North Forrest hitters off balance.
“My mindset is always to keep calm, collected, stay smooth and pitch with confidence,” Cox said. “Play with confidence. Hit with confidence. Do everything with confidence. On this field, this is where you shine. You’re at home. You show all the fans all the hard work you’ve done in practice.”
Command proved to be the difference.
“Definitely my spotting tonight,” Cox said. “Spotting my fastball and then changing it up, going to my curveball, just keeping the hitters off balance. They never expect what’s coming next.”
North Forrest managed just two hits against Cox and finished with 10 strikeouts as a team. When the Eagles did put the ball in play, Hattiesburg’s defense was steady behind him.
“If you’ve got your defense behind you, you can’t lose anywhere,” Cox said. “If you throw strikes and your defense is behind you, they’re going to get the outs for you.”
Bendenbaugh said Cox’s poise stood out, especially considering it was his first varsity start.
“That was pretty impressive for him to come out and do that on this kind of stage,” Bendenbaugh said. “Very proud of him. We felt comfortable with him after he pitched in relief against them last week. We didn’t see that performance coming, but we felt comfortable with what we’ve seen over the winter.”
The Tigers continued to add on throughout the game.
Andrew Jordan, batting third, went 2-for-3 with a double, a triple and three RBIs. Bendenbaugh credited a more relaxed approach at the plate.
“He’s finally relaxing a little bit up there,” Bendenbaugh said. “He was trying to do too much last week. This week he came in poised, knew he had a job to do, and he went and did it. He’s our guy, so it was good to see him be our guy.”
Johnson finished 2-for-3 with a double, a triple and two RBIs, while Bryant added a single and a triple to drive in three runs.
Hattiesburg scored 11 runs on nine hits and drew three walks. North Forrest’s defensive struggles compounded the damage. The Eagles committed three errors, and a pair of dropped fly balls extended innings and led to additional runs.
Cox viewed the start as a milestone but not a finished product.
“This being my first varsity start is definitely a big accomplishment,” he said. “But there’s always room for improvement. There’s never a 10-out-of-10 performance. That’s always the goal — to keep getting better.”
After Cox completed four innings, Hattiesburg turned the ball over to eighth-grader Kyleon Plump in the fifth. Plump worked around a leadoff error, recorded a flyout and struck out the final two batters to secure the mercy-rule victory.
“The message was really simple,” Bendenbaugh said. “That’s what we’re supposed to do. That’s who we are. We didn’t play to our competition — we just played our game. If we play that way every game, the result will take care of itself.”
For North Forrest, the loss dropped the Eagles to 0-3.
Head coach Adam Tumey acknowledged the challenge of facing Hattiesburg but emphasized the need for improvement.
“Not many positives right now,” Tumey said. “We’ve got to get back to playing dirtbag, gritty baseball. You see it in one or two guys, but it’s not enough.”
Tumey did highlight individual effort, including a center fielder in his second year of baseball who squared up a ball up the middle and a catcher new to the program who showed growth defensively.
“I thought my pitcher fought a little bit,” Tumey said. “But that’s a very good offensive team. When you’re struggling and they can hit it pretty good, it’s usually not going to be a very good night.”
Hattiesburg (3-2) will host Greene County on Thursday, while North Forrest will host Lumberton on Friday.
