'I wasn't stopping him': Inside East Central baseball's Game 1 walk-off victory

PEARL — East Central coach Bo Long isn’t afraid to take risks and his belief in taking chances didn’t waiver in Game 1 of the Class 5A championship against Neshoba Central.

Robert Brandt Dickerson ripped a ball past first base in the bottom of the eighth with two outs. There was no way Long wouldn’t send Andrew Marble home after he got a great jump off first base.

“I wasn’t stopping him,” Long said. “It would have probably cost us the game, not just because we wouldn’t have scored the winning run. It would have been such a huge momentum swing their way if they threw us out to end that inning.

“When the ball left the bat and it got by the first baseman they were throwing us out or we’re winning right here. There was no doubt. We were going to take that chance right there.”

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Long’s gamble paid off as Marble reached home to secure the Hornets the Game 1 victory on Tuesday at Trustmark Park. Marble finished 3-for-4 and Dickerson went 2-for-4 with the game-winning RBI.

“I can’t believe it,” Dickerson said. “I just got up there in the box, hunting a fastball, he threw me one and I just ripped it down the right field line.

“Andrew is a great player. He’s fast. I knew once I got it through that he was going to take it home. I just knew it.”

East Central led 2-1 in the sixth inning and Southern Miss commitment TJ Dunsford was dealing early. The junior held the Rockets to two hits with eighth strikeouts in five and ⅓ innings.

However, after a pitching change in the sixth, reliever Eli Smith gave up an RBI single to Garrett Martin and Neshoba Central tied the game. The sequence was an example of the Rockets finding a way to score with only three hits, meanwhile the Hornets had 11 before Dickerson’s walk-off.

“It’s crazy because we had 12 to 13 hits tonight and we just couldn’t score runs,” Long said. “We struggled real bad to get runs across the plate tonight. They’re good. (Neshoba Central) is competitive and scrappy. Man, their pitchers pitched real well.”

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Rockets freshman Jon Parker Hancock had seven strikeouts and allowed one earned run in 4 ⅔ innings. He kept East Central at bay long enough for Neshoba Central to have a chance.

Marble will get the start in Game 2 at 7 p.m. Thursday. He has a 9-2 record with an 0.86 ERA and 84 strikeouts in 13 appearances. Dickerson knew the importance of the 1-0 series lead with Marble available  for Game 2. The Hornets are one win away from their first state title since 2008.

“It’s huge, especially in a big stadium in the state championships,” Dickerson said. “I can’t express it. It’s just huge."

This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Inside East Central baseball's Game 1 walk-off victory vs Neshoba Central