PEARL – A very short sacrifice fly gave West Lauderdale the MHSAA 4A state championship Saturday at Trustmark Park. The Knights defeated Corinth in the decisive game of the best-of-three championship series 3-2 for the school’s 14th state title, all with Jerry Boatner as coach.

With the score tied 2-2 and one out in the seventh, John Ross Briggs singled, stole second and went to third on an error. Jake Mason lifted a popup to short right, only a few feet beyond the infield. When second baseman Spencer Lee had to go to his knees to make the catch with his back to home plate, Briggs took off from third and scored.

“It was an in-the-moment kind of thing,” Briggs said of his decision to go. “I kind of had a feeling in my heart that I could get there. I wanted to be aggressive.”

Boatner, who was coaching at third, did not send Briggs. “He was on his own. I was watching the play. I didn’t know he was going, but I’m glad he did,” Boatner said.

Kameron Partridge then retired three straight batters in the bottom of the seventh after giving up a leadoff single to Treven Knight, the losing pitcher.

Corinth took a 2-0 lead in the first with both runs scoring on a two-out single by Baylor Frazier. The Warriors would have scored more if West Lauderdale right fielder Jeremy Davis had not made a perfect throw to the plate to gun down Kerrigan Maness attempting to score from second on a single by Alex Trice.

West Lauderdale tied the game in the third with two unearned runs that scored when Cole Hurst hit a ball off Knight’s glove. Hurst went 2-4 to finish the series 7-10 and the season with a batting average over .500.

Partridge was the winner, allowing one hit in 3 2/3 innings of relief. “Jake Mason was struggling, and in my opinion, this boy (Partridge) has been our best pitcher. He throws strikes and he can throw the curve ball when he’s behind in the count. It was a no-brainer for me,” Boatner said of his decision to change pitchers in the fourth.

“I felt really good warming up in the bullpen,” Partridge said. “All my stuff was working in the bullpen, so I felt really confident coming in.”

Knight was the hard-luck loser despite not giving up any earned runs. He allowed five hits, fanned four and walked one. He was the winning pitcher for Corinth in decisive playoff games against Houston and Pontotoc.

Boatner said none of the previous 13 championships were tougher. “I know since 2000, this was the toughest one. We usually win in two straight,” he said.

Corinth was attempting to win its first state title since 1956. 

“It was a hard-fought battle, but we ran out of bullets at the end,” said Warriors’ coach Rob Scarbrough. “We had some chances to score early but didn’t get the job done. We made some critical misplays.”

Corinth won the series opener 4-3 Wednesday despite committing five errors and being outhit 11-5. The Knights evened the series with an 11-7 victory Thursday.

West Lauderdale finishes 33-3, and Corinth 29-10.