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MMS Rebels Reach Tournament Finals

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PARIS — McKenzie’s Middle School Rebels were in action in the Area 5 Conference Baseball Tournament starting Thursday, May 2 at McNeil Park. They won their first two games before dropping yet another close game to the Inman Bulldogs. The Rebels bounced back in the loser’s bracket defeating Martin to earn a berth in the championship round of the tournament.

MMS 4, Houston County 1

They opened the tournament facing Houston County’s Fighting Irish in a close contest. The Irish scored first in the top of the first inning with a solo run to take an early 1-0 lead. Ty Anderson put McKenzie in the lead 2-1 on a two-run homer in the bottom of the first.  Excellent fielding and good pitching kept the Rebels out front during five scoreless innings until they plated two insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to take a 4-1 lead. MMS scored four runs on six hits with Anderson leading the hitting with two hits in three at-bats.

Braden Birmingham went the distance on the mound for the win giving up one run on one hit striking out five and walking five and had plenty of help defensively with McKenzie committing no errors in the field.

MMS 14, Camden 3

The Rebels next game came Saturday afternoon, May 3 against the Camden Middle Lions winning 14-3 in a lopsided affair.

Camden got on the board first with a run in the top of the first inning. McKenzie went on a hitting blitz in the bottom of the inning plating seven runs to take an early 7-1 lead. The Rebels scored three more runs in the bottom of the second to widen the lead to 10-1. Camden scored a pair in the top of the third inning to make it a 10-3 contest. McKenzie completed their scoring with four runs in the bottom of the fourth inning to lead by double digits.

MMS Rebels scored 14 runs on 10 hits in the game. Chaten Bivens, Landon Brown, Hayden Garrett, and Nolan Renfro all managed multiple hits for the Rebels. Tate Surber got the win working four innings giving up three runs on five hits while striking out four and walking four. Dawson Brush came in relief for the final inning.

Inman 6, MMS 5

The two wins put MMS against the one team they have not defeated this season on Sunday, May 5. Inman’s Bulldogs swept two regular season wins against the Rebels in a pair of close contests. This one was a marathon going nine innings before Inman finally won the contest.

A walk-off left MMS Rebels on the wrong end of a 6-5 defeat to Inman Bulldogs on Sunday. The game was tied at five with Inman Bulldogs batting in the bottom of the ninth singled on the first pitch scoring the winning run.

In the first inning, Inman Bulldogs started the scoring with a solo run in the bottom of the inning. McKenzie tied the game with a solo run in the top of the third inning and scored a pair of runs in the top of the fifth and seventh innings to lead 5-1. Inman knotted the game up at five in the bottom of the seventh inning on a three-run dinger.

Jackson Cassidy went 4-for-5 at the plate to lead MMS Rebels in hits while. Lane Anderson took the loss on the mound for the Rebels. He lasted three and a third innings, allowing six hits and five runs while striking out four. 

MMS 13, Martin 6

The Rebels bounced back later Sunday afternoon defeating Martin Middle in a loser’s bracket contest putting McKenzie in the championship round.

The Rebels drew the first scores with a pair of runs in the bottom of the first inning. Martin took a 3-2 lead with three runs in the top of the third inning. McKenzie took the lead for good with four runs in the bottom of the third inning and four more runs in the bottom of the fourth taking a 10-3 lead. Martin scored a pair in the top of the fifth inning but MMS added three more insurance runs in the bottom of the inning. Martin scored one last run in the top of the sixth inning to make it 13-6 in favor of MMS.

Dawson Brush earned the win for MMS Rebels. He surrendered three runs on three hits over four innings, striking out two. Both Ty and Lane Anderson along with Nolen Refro all put in work in relief out of the bullpen, steering their team towards the victory.

The Rebels collected ten hits on the day. Ty Anderson and Jackson Cassidy combined for seven of the ten hits for McKenzie.

McKenzie advanced to the championship round against Inman Monday and has to defeat Inman twice to win the tournament.

MMS, Rebels, Houston, Camden, Inman, Martin