By CURTIS ROCKWELL/Sports Director

PEARL — Coming into Wednesday’s nights game two against Saltillo in the Class 6A state championship, George County needed a win to stave off elimination and play for its second straight state title this weekend.

And, in the third inning already up 1-0 the Rebels seemed in prime position to take a huge step towards extending their lead and take a big step towards securing that much-needed win as they loaded the bases up with no outs and had the heart of the batting order coming up.

However, Saltillo pitcher Wilson Rodriguez struck out the next three batters to get out of the inning as the Rebels failed to capitalize on the huge opportunity. Wilson then held George County hit-less over the final four frames as his Tigers rallied for a 3-1 win to sweep the series and secure the state title.

“Bases loaded no outs with three, four and five hitters that’s when you need to produce and their guy did a great job on the mound to keep us from scoring,” GCHS head coach Brandon Davis said. “Our pitchers pitched well and we bunted great we just didn’t get hits when we needed them.”

Starting with the first strike out to get out of that big jam, Rodriguez sat down 11 straight Rebel batters and allowed only a harmless walk in the sixth stanza down the stretch to pick up the win. The Itawamba Community College signee finished the season at 10-2, and in his final game in a Saltillo uniform he scattered five singles, and had 11 strikeouts.

“Just staying calm and composed on the mound is the key. Every pitch is a different pitch and just execute,” Rodriguez said. “Fast ball, curve ball, and slider was working for me. I’ve been around this team for four years and we never give up. We deserved this, we’ve put in work since day one to get here. Hard work pays off and winning a state championship my senior year is amazing.”

Saltillo head coach Eric Reynolds agreed that Rodriguez’s turnaround in the third frame was a big key in the win.

“The momentum shift was when we got out of the bases loaded jam,” Reynolds said. “The whole series was an emotional roller coaster of baseball. Got to stay constant and the team that handles the best comes out with a win and we did. It’s so hard to get here, win here, and we had confidence going in with Wilson on the mound and got a quality start out of him. This is a great rewarding feeling winning a state championship because of all the work that’s put in.”