FLOWOOD — Northwest Rankin gets a massive region win at home.
Behind a big third inning along with the hitting of Nelson Barthel the Cougars held off Petal 6-5 in a key Region 3-7A matchup on Tuesday night at Wesley Scarbrough Field.
Northwest Rankin (20-4, 6-1 Region 3-7A) and Petal (16-9, 5-2) will meet again at Petal on Thursday night at 7 p.m.
“The big thing was Petal came out and punched us in the mouth, and we were able to respond and that was big,” said Northwest Rankin coach K.K. Aldridge. “I felt like after the first inning Jackson Meehan settled down on the mound and competed well.”
Petal jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the top of the first as Dawson Dykes scored off a sacrifice fly and Maddox Clark delivered an RBI double down the left field line.
Northwest Rankin cut the lead to 2-1 in the bottom of the first inning on a Drew Butler on a RBI single.
The Cougars scored three runs in the third as Butler scored on a wild pitch, Russ Ingram delivered an RBI double off the wall in right center field and later scored off a dropped fly ball in the outfield to give Northwest Rankin a 4-2 lead.
Barthel added an RBI single in the fourth to stretch the Northwest Rankin lead to 5-2.
Petal cut the lead to 5-3 in the sixth on as Trey Barnes scored on an single by Riels Holder.
Barthel lead off the bottom of the sixth inning with a solo home run to extend the Northwest Rankin lead to 6-3. Barthel had two hits to lead the Cougars offensively.
In the top of the seventh Clark had a RBI single and Easton Giger scored on a Barnes sacrifice fly for Petal to cut the Northwest Rankin lead to 6-5.
Jack Page got a strikeout to end the game and seal the win for Northwest Rankin. Southern Miss signee Jackson Meehan got the win on the mound for the Cougars lasting six innings allowing six hits, four hits, and had seven strikeouts.
“We hit some balls hard tonight, and Nelson’s solo shot ended up being the difference because you’re playing against a very good Petal team,” Aldridge said. “The seventh inning we made things interesting, but in a district like this every game is going to be tough and we found a way to win.”
Cooper Smith took the loss on the mound for Petal. Smith left the game in the third inning after getting hit in the head by a line drive but walked off the field on his own.
Holder had two hits to lead Petal.
“Proud of the way they competed at the end and showed fight all night. We had a chance in the middle innings to score runs but didn’t get that big hit,” said Petal coach Conner Douglas. “Couple errors tonight cost us runs, so we go to be more focused so we will bounce back on Thursday.”
