By CURTIS ROCKWELL/Sports Director

LUCEDALE — George County is headed back to the South State championship round for the first time in six seasons.

The Rebels held off visiting West Jones Monday night 8-4 in the rubber match of that Class 6A South State semifinal series. Head coach Brandon Davis and his squad bounced back to win the final two games of the three-game affair after being shut out by the Mustangs 3-0 at home in the series opener.

“This certainly feels better than being at the house,” Davis, the veteran Rebel skipper, said. “This team has doesn’t have the individual talent that we have had in the past, but we have a solid group of young men with integrity and work ethic.”

And those characteristics showed up just in time Monday night in order for GCHS to keep its season alive. Seemingly in control with a 5-1 lead heading into the fifth frame, GCHS watched as West Jones tallied two runs in the top of the fifth and one more in the top of the sixth to cut the deficit to 5-4 and make things much more interesting at Claude Passeau Field.

But alas, the Rebels responded immediately with three runs of their own in the bottom of the sixth stanza to quell the Mustang uprising and secure the win.

“I told them ‘if we don’t score we will not win’,’ Davis added.

Jacob Eubanks singled to lead off the bottom of the sixth, and later came around to score on a ground ball off of the bat of Ben Davis that West Jos misplayed into an error. The Rebels made it 7-4 when the Mustangs kicked around a Gage Reeves grounder to plate Davis, and Tripp Lightsey wrapped up the scoring with an RBI-single to make it 8-4.

“Eubanks, a senior, led the inning off with that single to left and it opened the floodgates after that,” Davis continued.

The Rebels took the seemingly commanding 5-1 lead with a five spot in the bottom of the fourth to erase a 1-0 deficit and take a lead they would never relinquish.

Ben Davis had a run-scoring triple in the rally and Lightsy added an RBI-single as well, and GCHS added a run on a passed ball as well as a two-run error by the Mustangs.

Sophomore Carson Pierce started on the hill and worked the first four frames to pick up the win for GCHS. Standout Rebel reliever Canyon Reeves came on in the fifth and completed the shift to earn a save.

The side-winder Reeves took the mound in all three games in the series and saved the two wins. He hurled a little over one inning in game one, two frames in game two and then three more in game three.

Lightsey and Ben Davis guided GCHS at the plate in the latest win, registering three hits apiece. Lightsey had the two RBIs and a double, while Davis had a triple and a double amongst his trio of hits.

Next up for George County is a trip to Carriere Friday night to open the Class 6A South State finals against Pearl River Central. It marks the first trip to this round for the Rebels since 2018.