Chase Moore pitched six innings of two-run ball in relief for Northeast Lauderdale as the Trojans defeated Neshoba Central 7-5 in Saturday afternoon prep baseball action.

Both teams were looking to give their pitchers some work during this final regular-season stretch before the playoffs begin. Neshoba Central (15-6, 7-1) has a first-round bye in the Class 5A postseason, while Northeast Lauderdale (7-3 in Region 5-4A) will host a first-round playoff game after finishing No. 2 in its division.

“We’re running short on pitching, and Chase Moore did an outstanding job again,” Trojans head coach Josh Snider said. “He came in, threw strikes and pitched to contact for us. We swung it really well today and played great defense, so it was a good game all around.”

Rockets head coach Justin Stovall credited the Trojans for getting key hits when they needed to, to come out on top in the contest.

“Northeast can swing it,” Stovall said. “Offensively, both games we’ve played them this year, they’ve swung the bats well. They’re probably, one through nine, the best offensive team we’ve faced this year. We had eight hits and hit it pretty well at times but left some runners on base in key situations. 

“It could’ve been a different ball game, but the way I look at that game is, it’s a Saturday game with two good teams going at it, and we just came out a little bit short.”

Northeast Lauderdale got on the board in the bottom of the first when Dalton Rogers connected for a two-run home run. Neshoba Central responded in the top of the second inning when Joseph Breazeale drew a bases-loaded walk, Alec Thompson hit an RBI single and Zack Smith scored on a passed ball, giving the Rockets a 3-2 lead.

Neshoba Central would expand its lead to 4-2 in the top of the third when Smith grounded into a double play, scoring Beck Williams from third base. In the bottom of the fourth inning, the Trojans took the lead for good when Lane Gordon smacked a two-RBI single and Luke Harper and Dalton Rogers both singled in runs, putting Northeast Lauderdale ahead 6-4.

The Trojans plated one more run in the bottom of the fifth inning when Brock Butler connected on a solo home run.

Rogers started for the Trojans, going one inning and giving up three runs, two earned, on one hit with three walks. Moore got the win, pitched six innings of relief, yielding two earned runs on seven hits with one strikeout and two walks.

Cody Singleton suffered the loss for Neshoba Central, pitching 3 2/3 innings and surrendering six runs on eight hits with two strikeouts and three walks. Williams went the remaining 2 1/3 innings, giving up one run on three hits with one walk and one strikeout.

Offensively, Thompson and Singleton both went 2-for-3 for Neshoba Central, while Harper was a perfect 3-for-3 for Northeast Lauderdale. Rogers finished 2-for-4, and Butler went 2-for-3.

PLAYOFFS APPROACHING

Northeast Lauderdale hosts Philadelphia Tuesday for one more tuneup game before the postseason begins. Neshoba Central will host West Lauderdale Tuesday for its final regular-season contest of 2017. Both are looking forward to the playoffs, and both coaches feel good about their chances.

“As a team, this year, we’ve gelled together it seems like,” Stovall said. “Offensively, we have really picked it up this year compared to the past. We’ve got some pretty good leadership and have gotten great outings from our starters. From top to bottom, it’s been an all-around team effort, and that’s contributed to our success.

“Now is the time to get hot. Each team has a few games left going into the postseason, then everyone starts the same. … We feel good. We feel like if we continue to battle like we do on the mound and give us a chance like they have all year — and our bats can continue to stay hot and a few who have cooled off can get hot again — we feel like we’re going to be OK.”

Snider said he hopes the team works out a few of the kinks before Friday’s postseason opener.

“I feel really confident right now,” Snider said. “We have some bumps and bruises we need to get healthy before next Friday. We’re seeing the ball well at the plate, playing good defense and competing on the mound, and that’s all I ask, to go out and compete. That’s what we’re doing, and I always feel good going into the playoffs.”

ALL-STAR SELECTION

Harper was recently selected to the Classes 3-4A South roster of the Mississippi Association of Coaches’ All-Star game. Snider said it’s been fun to watch Harper grow as a player since he arrived at the school five years ago, and Harper and the other seniors have had a big impact on the Trojans’ success this year.

“When I first got here, he was a seventh grader,” Snider said. “I’ve been with him and these seniors since they were in seventh grade, and it’s very special to have him. It takes a lot of pressure off me, because they’re such great leaders. Some of the things I don’t have to worry about because I know it’s going to get taken care of by them.”

Harper said he was honored to represent his school in such a big game.

“It feels great,” Harper said. “I’ve always wanted to play in that All-Star game, and honestly, this year I didn’t think I would make it, but I did, and I feel great.”

For now, though, Harper said he’s focused on helping his team make a run in the playoffs.

“I feel pretty good,” Harper said. “I feel pretty confident because we’re a two-seed, so that gives us home field advantage. It’s always fun to play at home in the playoffs.”

NORTHEAST LAUDERDALE 10,

MERIDIAN 2

Time after time Saturday night, Northeast Lauderdale hit bombs that wound up in the gloves of Meridian High School defenders.

Just not in the third inning.

That’s when those hard-hit balls found gaps, and the Trojans pounded out a seven-run rally on their way to a 10-2 victory on Senior Night.

“No doubt, we hit the ball hard,” Northeast coach Josh Snider said after his team won for the 10th time in the last 11 games and improved to 16-9. “I can’t complain about the way they’ve been swinging it.

“We started a little slow, but we just told them to keep the same approach we’ve been using.”

Four of the Trojans’ nine hits went for extra bases, and three of those came in the third inning.

Trailing 1-0 going into the bottom of the third, Chase Moore got a rally started with a leadoff walk. Luke Harper had a one-out single, and both of them scored when Dalton Rogers tripled off the wall to put Northeast ahead for good at 2-1.

Hunter Hobson followed with an RBI single, Braxton Lee stroked a two-run double and Landon Harper had an RBI triple before the inning was over.

Northeast added a run in the fourth and got two more in the sixth, when Hobson and Lee both had base hits.

Hobson finished 2-for-4 with two RBIs and Lee was 2-for-4 with his double and three RBIs to pace Northeast Lauderdale, which topped Neshoba Central 7-5 earlier in the day Saturday.

Rogers had the triple, a run and two RBIs; Landon Harper had the triple, a run and an RBI; Moore doubled, scored and drove in one; Luke Harper had one hit and two runs; and Brock Butler singled and scored.

Butler was also the winning pitcher, going the distance without a single walk.

“Great job by Brock tonight,” Snider said. “Main thing was he threw strikes. He had the breaking ball working and did a great job of mixing things up.”

Butler struck out eight and allowed six hits — but three of those came in the final inning.

Ethan Clopton singled and doubled and drove in a run and Jaylon Fox was 2-for-3 with the other run to lead the Wildcats. Deangelo Anderson added a double and JeJuan Moffette had a single.

Clopton went three innings on the hill and took the loss, with Moffette tossing the final three innings.

“We got some bad breaks early and things got away from us,” Meridian coach Popeye Cole said of his squad, which lost for the 17th straight time and fell to 2-19.

The Wildcats are slated to host Southeast Lauderdale and Newton County Monday and Tuesday to wrap up their season.

Northeast is scheduled to host Philadelphia Tuesday before opening the Class 4A state playoffs next weekend.