By Maurice Singleton/Sports Writer

PASS CHRISTIAN – The Bay High Tigers 10-12 (6-2 district play) clinched the District 8-4A championship with a convincing 10-3 win on the road on Friday evening.

“It’s amazing,” said Tigers coach B.J. Corr. “To bring another district championship to Bay High is unbelievable. I’m so proud of these guys. We’ve got some good kids. That group of seniors went 1-22 two years ago and didn’t make the playoffs. Now, to win a district championship is awesome for them.

“They deserve it,” said Corr. “They’ve worked hard. They’ve earned it.”

The Tigers took a 6-0 lead after two innings with aggressive base running, solid pitching and some big plays at the plate to pull away from the Pass Christian Pirates.

Ethan Kingston got the Tigers going in the first inning with a single and then stole second base. Later in the first inning, Walker Seymour doubled to score Kingston from third. 

The Tigers would add five runs in the second inning as Xander Ladner got on base after being hit by a pitch. He then stole second and third on consecutive pitches. Ladner would eventually score on a pitch in the dirt to put the Tigers up 2-0. 

With one out in the second inning, Walker would get his second hit of the game with a single to score Carson Tallent and Ethan Kingston to put the Tigers up 4-0, but the Tigers weren’t done. Later in the inning, Paul Verdin would drive in Braden Necaise and Seymour for two more runs with a double.

“We steal (bases) a lot,” said Corr. “We try to put pressure on people. This bunch is good at it, and they’ve bought in to it. I don’t even give the steal signal; they’re just stealing every pitch when they get the jump. That’s on the players.”

While the Tigers were doing their thing at the plate, their pitcher Gabe Edkins was doing his thing on the mound. The senior went the distance and held the Pirates scoreless in the first four innings. He gave up only three hits on the night. And those three hits really didn’t cost the Tigers. It was the three errors that gave the Pirates the runs.

“He gave us a complete game and he was a dog tonight,” said Corr. “He was phenomenal tonight. He started the year kind of slow but he bounced back and he has been big for us down the stretch.”

Pass scored a run in each of the last three innings, but it wasn’t enough as the Tigers matched their effort with two more runs in the sixth and another in the eighth inning to close out their scoring. 

The Tigers have two more games before district play begins next week, at Quitman on Saturday and then they travel to Resurrection on Monday.