By Stan Caldwell/Sports Writer

HATTIESBURG — With its season on the line, Oak Grove needed to conjure up some of that old Warrior magic.

And right on cue, that’s just what happened. 

The Warriors kept their season alive in the first round of the Class 7A playoffs, with a tough 4-3 victory over Gulfport Saturday night in Game 2 of the best-of-three series at Harry Breland Field, forcing a deciding game Monday back at Gulfport.

Oak Grove (19-9 overall) rode a gutsy pitching performance from sophomore right-hander Gage Thompson to even the series. 

“Gage did a really good job for us,” said Oak Grove coach Chris McCardle. “He’s done that all year. He’s a bulldog out there. He threw a lot of strikes and kept them off balance. We’re very fortunate enough to come away with a win, and Gage did it for us.”

Gulfport, the South State champs in Class 6A last season, dropped to 18-12.

“We were prepared for a three-game series,” said Gulfport coach Jamie McMahon. “We play three-game series on the Coast, and it’s a grind for us, but we’ve got a No. 3 started and a couple of other guys ready to go.”

Thompson (8-0) scattered nine hits, struck out seven and walked just one in an economical 95-pitch effort.

However, it was Gulfport that struck first in the top of the first inning. With one out, senior Prince Cottonham singled to leftfield, but was forced out at second on a ground ball to third off the bat of senior Ethan Surowiec.

Admiral cleanup hitter Niko Williams took a 2-2 pitch to the wall in right-centerfield to drive in the run, but he was thrown out at the plate trying for an inside-the-park home run.

“Coming up to bat, my approach was to see the ball up and get on top of it,” said Williams. “I knew I was going to get to third, and when I saw my coach waving me around, I went for it. 

“It was one of those situations where coming around third I had to either take a long step of two short steps. I took a long step and kind of tripped a little bit, and that came back to bite me. But you’ve got to be aggressive in these kinds of games.”

Oak Grove answered with a tying run in the bottom of the inning off Gulfport starter Joel Smith. 

Sophomore E.J. Booth drew a leadoff walk, then he and senior Dewight Temple executed a perfect hit-and-run, with Temple poking a single through the vacated hole between second and third.

The Warriors then successfully executed a double steal, with Booth dashing home on a delay after Temple took off for second.

But Smith left runners at second and third  with a strikeout and a groundout, and the game settled into a pitcher’s duel.

“He’s been giving us a good effort every time out, especially here recently,” said McMahon. “He was really good for us tonight. A couple of little mistakes in that one inning cost us, but other than that, he dominated for us.”

The game hinged on the fifth inning, when Oak Grove scored three runs without a hit, but three walks, a wild pitch and two costly errors.

Junior Quron Barnett and Booth reached on walks to start the rally. Temple popped a bunt into no man’s land between the mound and first base that Smith fielded, but threw away on the play at first, resulting in a run.

A wild pitch plated another run, with Temple taking second, and he scored after stealing third, when the throw from home went over the third baseman’s head.

That’s when McMahon went to the bullpen for sophomore closer Thomas Stennis to put out the fire. Stennis pitched in the 2-1 win for the Admirals in Game 1 of the series Friday night, but the Gulfport skipper had no hesitation about turning to Stennis again.

“He can go every day,” said McMahon. “He stayed under his pitch count (Friday), and he can throw day-in, day-out. He wants to be out there, and we want him out there.”

Smith (6-2) went 5 1-3 innings, allowing just three hits, striking out five, but he also walked five and hit a batter.

Stennis rewarded McMahon’s faith by getting out of the fifth-inning jam with a pair of strikeouts, and the Admirals went right to work cutting into the Oak Grove lead.

With one out in the top of the sixth, senior Ethan Garner, at the top of the Gulfport batting order, smacked a single up the middle to get things going. Cottonham singled to right and the runners advanced to second and third when the ball was bobbled in the outfield.

Surowiec drove in Garner with a single to left to make it 4-2. Thompson struck out Williams, but junior Davis Ormes made it a one-run game with a single up the middle. However, Thompson got out of trouble with a groundout.

There were fireworks in Oak Grove’s half of the sixth, when McMahon was ejected for arguing a call on a bunt play off the bat of Barnett. 

With sophomore Jared Milsap at first after a leadoff walk, Barnett blooped a bunt that Stennis either caught or trapped at ground level. Stennis thought he had a double play when he threw to first to double Milsap, but it was ruled a ground ball with Milsap taking second.

Gulfport got a runner to second on a leadoff single by senior Javin Chldres and a two-out infield error. But Thompson nailed it down with a ground ball to third and a force to end the game.

“They have a great atmosphere here and they have a great team,” said Williams. “But we played for State last year, so we know this environment and know how to handle it. We’ve done really well with not letting the moment get too big, and I think we’ll be ready.”

While McMahon has Cottonham ready to pitch Monday, McCardle said injuries have limited Oak Grove’s pitching options for Game 3.

“We’re probably going Johnny Wholestaff on Monday,” said McCardle. “I don’t know who it’s going to be yet; we’ll just figure it out.”