Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 RAYMOND – Northwest was eliminated in the opening weekend of the state playoffs on Saturday at Joe G. Moss Field, losing to Hinds by 6-2 and 10-8 finals to end its season at 30-16 overall.

Hinds improved to 29-16 and advances to the state tournament May 8-10 in Booneville along with Northeast, Jones County and East Central – all first round winners in the best-of-3 series.

Hinds continued its dominance over Northwest in recent history and has now won 16 of the last 20 meetings overall. The Eagles have eliminated the Rangers from postseason play in three of the last six seasons.

Behind a complete-game, three-hitter in Game 1 from Casey Sutton, the Eagles took a 1-0 series lead on Friday night with a convincing 6-2 win. Sutton scattered five strikeouts and one earned run and needed just 98 pitches (73 strikes) for his team-leading third complete game of the season.    

Northwest threatened to break the game open early, advancing runners to second and third with no outs, but managed just one run on Kramer Hollenbach's sac fly that scored James Lear after a leadoff hit-by-pitch.

Matt Jones' solo blast to left-center in the third for Hinds tied the game at 1-1 after three complete.

The Eagles pulled ahead for the first time in the fifth, using RBIs from Chase Lunceford and Marshall Boggs, in addition to a wild pitch, to take a 4-1 lead.

After Tanner Densford's sac fly pulled Northwest within 4-2 in the sixth, Hinds' Jones struck again with his second long ball of the game, a two-run blast to left to put the Eagles up 6-2. 

Northwest had a chance to pull back in it in the eighth, using back-to-back singles by Stuart Chick and Hunter Austin with no outs, but stranded two runners in the frame without scoring a run.

Hinds out-hit Northwest 11-3 in the win, led by Brian Mills' three hits. The top of the Eagles' lineup combined to go 6-for-12 with six runs scored and four RBIs.

Scoreless into the third of Game 2, Quade Smith hit a leadoff triple and scored two batters later on an RBI-groundout to give the Eagles a 1-0 lead after three.

Hinds then broke it open in the fourth after two Ranger errors with two outs, scoring four unearned runs on two-run singles by Smith and Jones to take a 5-0 lead.

Northwest loaded the bases in the fifth on a pair of singles by Chick and Stephen Sexton and a hit-by-pitch drawn by Kody Kimbrough but managed just one run after grounding into one of its four double plays on the day. 

A pinch-hit, two-run blast by Gage Posey gave Hinds a 7-1 lead after six.

The Rangers, however, climbed back in it in the seventh, taking advantage of four walks and four singles and chasing a pair of Hinds arms, to knot the game at 7-7. Sexton's two-out double to left-center on a 1-2 count scored Hollenbach for the tying run. 

Hinds pulled back in front momentarily in the bottom of the seventh on Mills' sac fly, but Hollenbach would answer the Eagles' run with an RBI-single in the eighth to make it 8-8. 

After two quick flyouts in Hinds' half of the eighth, Luke Reynolds' triple kept the inning alive. Jones came up with the eventual game-winning hit a batter later on a 1-2 count, hitting a single through the left side. Caleb Upton pushed the final margin to 10-8 with an RBI-single two batters later.

Hinds pounded out 14 hits in the win, with the top of the lineup again proving to be the difference in going 9-for-19 with seven RBIs and five runs scored. Sexton led a 13-hit attack for Northwest by going 5-for-5. 

Austin Sanders tossed the final three innings, scattering four hits and a run, to improve to 7-1 in relief this year. Cody Waddell, who tossed 3.1 innings of relief for Matt Ferguson, allowed four runs on four hits to take the loss. 

Northwest ended its season with 30 wins for the third time in four seasons under Mark Carson.