Dalton Dulin
Northwest will play for a baseball state championship for the third time in the last five seasons.
6
Winner Hinds HINDS 40-5
1
Northwest NWCC 31-14
Winner
Hinds HINDS
40-5
6
Final
1
Northwest NWCC
31-14
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Hinds HINDS 0 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 10 1
Northwest NWCC 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 4 5

W: Derek Martin (6-0) L: Towles, Austin (4-2)

10
Winner Northwest NWCC 32-14
5
East Mississippi EMCC 29-16
Winner
Northwest NWCC
32-14
10
Final
5
East Mississippi EMCC
29-16
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Northwest NWCC 2 0 1 0 0 0 7 0 0 10 13 3
East Mississippi EMCC 0 1 2 0 0 0 2 0 0 5 9 2

W: Painter, Ian (4-2) L: Ryder Davis (1-1)

Game Recap: Baseball | | by Kevin Maloney

Northwest to Face #1 Hinds in State Championship

RAYMOND – Northwest will play for its third baseball state championship in the last five seasons on Saturday at 2 p.m. against No. 1 Hinds after the Rangers dropped a 6-1 decision to the Eagles but bounced back with a 10-5 win over No. 15 East Mississippi to advance in the loser's bracket.

Northwest moved to 32-14 overall with the split, its most wins since the 2007 NJCAA World Series season.

In a winner's bracket game to start the day, Hinds (40-5) scored all six of its runs in the second inning before freshman Hunter Lacefield entered for Austin Towles and stopped the bleeding and went on to finish the game in a gutsy relief effort.

Lacefield scattered two hits, no runs, five strikeouts and four walks over seven innings (104 pitches) in the longest outing of his career. His previous career-high was 4.2 innings against East Mississippi on April 22.

Except for Stephen Sexton, who went 3-for-4, Northwest couldn't get anything going offensively. The Eagles out-hit the Rangers 10-4 and capitalized off a season-high five Ranger errors. 

Northwest's lone run came by way of Sexton in the fifth who doubled and advanced to third and home off wild pitches.

The Rangers came back with a bang in an elimination game against EMCC at 6:30, getting back-to-back home runs from Stuart Chick and Dalton Dulin to take an early 2-0 lead after one.

After EMCC scored a single run in the second, Clay Casey went yard for the 12th time this season to make it 3-1. The Lions quickly tied it at 3-3 on JoVaughn McNabb's two-run blast to left.

Still tied at 3-3 into the seventh, Northwest exploded for seven runs off four hits and a Lion error to take a 10-3 advantage. Sexton, Cody Cooper, Jamell Newson, LeeMarcus Boyd and James Clark all had run-scoring hits in the inning.

EMCC cut it to 10-5 with a pair of runs in the bottom of the seventh on a sac fly and RBI-single from David Pimentel.

Peter Barton then closed things out with a scoreless eighth and ninth, allowing one hit and striking out three. Ian Painter (4-2) grabbed the win in 3.2 innings of middle relief of Colt Smith. 

Northwest out-hit EMCC 13-9, led by Newson's 3-for-3 effort (HR shy of the cycle) and two hits apiece from Dulin, Clark, Sexton and Cooper. Eight different Rangers had an RBI.

Northwest will face Hinds at 2 p.m. Saturday for the state championship. The Rangers must win twice to claim the title.