By CURTIS ROCKWELL/Sports Director

PEARL — Saltillo is playing in its third prep state baseball championship series in the past four years.

And, the Tigers are battling another “Southern Six” squad for the title once again for the third time in four years.

However, Saltillo will experience something new Wednesday night as it faces George County in game two of the Class 6A state championship match-up here at Trustmark Park. And that’s because, in both 2021 and 2023, the Tigers lost the opening game of the series.

But thanks to an almost inexplicable comeback Tuesday night, that wasn’t the case this season.

Trailing 3-0 and without a hit yet with two outs in the sixth stanza, the Tigers rallied for four unanswered runs to close out the contest and pull out a 4-3 decision in eight innings.

“Game one hasn’t been good to us here the last two times, so this was huge to get this one.” Saltillo head coach Eric Reynolds said.

In 2021, Pascagoula bombed Saltillo in game one of the Class 5A state championship affair 12-1, before the Tigers bounced back to take two straight over the Panthers and captured the last of their five overall state titles.

Then, also in the Class 5A state title tilt two years later in 2023, East Central’s T.J. Dunsford twirled a complete game two-hitter in the series opener as the Hornets took a 4-1 win.

And although the Tigers again responded well fighting back to take game two 2-1, East Central smacked Saltillo 11-0 in game three to secure back-to-back state championships.

However, having played in seven state championship games over the past four years, Tuesday’s contest was without a doubt the most bizarre one yet for the Tigers as they produced such a stunning come-from-behind effort when all seemed lost with the Rebels ahead by three runs with just four outs remaining.

“I just kept telling the guys to just maintain focus, maintain the fight.” Reynolds added. “When it breaks loose, it’s going to break loose. We were able to scratch and claw, tie it up in the seventh and got some clutch hits.”

Saltillo’s Smtyhe McCoy delivered the final nail in the comeback coffin at the Rebels when he slapped a one-out single in the bottom of the eighth to end the game and complete an almost inexplicable turnaround.

George County got an impressive performance on the mound from starting pitcher Preston McAdory, as he worked six solid one-hit stanzas, striking out nine in the process. At one point, he set down 11 straight Tiger batters.

But when he walked the lead off batter up 3-1 in the bottom of the seventh, the Rebels turned to one of the top closers in the state in Canyon Reeves. The Tigers never flinched, however as three batters later Ethan Arriola’s two-run double knotted things up at 3-3 and send it into the decisive extra session.
“McAdory was pitching great and we felt good about the reliever we had in and give credit to Saltillo they fought for every pitch, got some really big hits, and they beat us tonight,” George County head coach Brandon Davis said. “Tomorrow is going to be tough. They have momentum right now, so we’ve got to rebound.”

Game two is set for Wednesday night at 7 p.m.