By Curtis Rockwell/Sports Director

PEARL — When he took the mound before the all important rubber match with Pearl River Central Thursday morning, Saltillo starting pitcher Will Goodson had thrown less than 16 innings in just six appearances for the Tigers so far in 36 games this season.
But when he left the hill almost seven full frames later, he had cemented his place in the history annals of one of the perennial state baseball powers in the state of Mississippi.

Goodson almost tossed a complete game, no-hit shutout to earn the win in a 5-0 Saltillo victory in the third and deciding game of the Class 6A state championship series, as the Tigers won back-to-back state titles.
He had to leave the game with two outs in the top of the seventh because of a state-mandated pitch count limit, but his teammate Lanston Kent came on to seal the deal by quickly recording the final out to preserve the no-hit, whitewash.
“I was really hammering the heater, working the fastball in and out.” Goodson said, just after a jubilant celebration. “It was a tight zone, a good zone, and I was just working the fastball. Some of my off-speed wasn’t working too good, but the change-up and fastball were really working for me.
“My control wasn’t there sometimes, just leaving it up was an issue for a little while. But getting the fastball in the zone when I had to made the difference. I knew I was going to be pitching Game three, and I knew no matter what I was going to shut it down.”

For his work, Goodson was named the Most Valuable Player of the series.
It marked the seventh overall state title for the Tigers, who also won back-to-back crowns for the third time in program history and second time in the past 15 years.
After PRC rallied for four runs in the bottom of the seventh Tuesday to pull out a dramatic game one 12-11 come-from-behind win, three Tiger pitchers limited PRC to just five hits and one run over the final 14 innings of the series. All of those came in a 3-1 SHS win in game two Wednesday.
Before his heroics in game three, the senior southpaw Goodson hadn’t even pitched in almost six weeks. But no one noticed much of a difference as he completely controlled a potent Blue Devil line-up that had its sites set squarely on a second state title in the past nine years.

“We haven’t faced a lot of left-handers this season, to be honest,” PRC head coach Buddy Turnage said. “We’ve seen a lot of hard-throwing right-handers, and even some crafty right-handers, but not a lot of left-handers.”

On paper, because of certain circumstances, PRC appeared to have the pitching advantage going into the final game, sending Cole Bounds to the mound. After all, Bounds came in at 7-1 overall after having picked up key wins in the past two rounds in similar rubber match situations against West Jones and George County in the Class 6A South State playoffs.
And, he was also one of the trio of starting pitchers for PRC in Region 4-6A play all season long because those teams play three game sets against one another.
Meanwhile, Saltillo, in Region 6-1A, only plays two games per week against its league foes.
And, Saltillo swept six straight games in the Class 6A North State playoffs to get back to the title tilt, again leaving no need for a third starter.
In the end though, Bounds ended up suffering his first loss this season to a Mississippi foe, and first defeat overall in exactly three months, since a 5-2 loss to Zachary, La.
And Goodson, despite his lack of recent work during his senior season, stamped his name into Saltillo lore with the most impressive outing of his Tiger career just when it mattered most in his final game.