Parker Dobson pitches St. Martin past Oak Grove 3-1 in 6A Playoff series opener

HATTIESBURG – They say that charity starts at home, and that was the case for Oak Grove Friday night in the Warriors’ 2022 playoff opener.

The Warriors were not-so-cheerful givers, as they gave up two runs without allowing a hit on either occasion, as St. Martin took full advantage of Oak Grove mistakes in a 3-1 victory in the first round of the Class 6A baseball playoffs.

The Yellowjackets improved to 18-11 overall, and they can clinch the best-of-three game series with a win at home on Saturday. Oak Grove (16-10) must win to force a deciding third game back at Harry Breland Field on Monday.

“We just gave them the first run of the game,” said Oak Grove coach Chris McCardle. “But, realistically, you’ve got to put more balls in play than we did. Their guy did a good job, of course, but we’re better than what we showed offensively tonight.”

It was a sweet homecoming for St. Martin coach Kary Bridges, who starred for the Warriors in the late 1980s and later served Oak Grove as a coach following a 10-year-long professional career.

“We win on pitching and defense; that’s what we have to live on,” said Bridges.

The Yellowjackets have gotten it done all season with pitching and defense, and those elements of their game shone brightly against the Warriors.

Junior right-hander Parker Dobson weathered a rough start and was dominant down the stretch, retiring the last 11 batters he faced and 15 of the last 16.

“He’s thrown a lot of games like that for us this year,” said Bridges. “Probably some nerves early, and some excitement from Oak Grove’s part. They came out and had some good swings early, then he settled in.

“I thought he got stronger as the game went on. His velocity on his fastball was up a little, and he’s done that all year for us.”

Oak Grove smacked some balls hard, especially in the early innings, but most of them found their way into the gloves of Yellowjacket outfielders. But Dobson’s mix of pitches tamed the Warriors over the last four innings.

“I was a little concerned, yeah,” said Dobson. “I was trying to do too much at the beginning. Once I kind of slowed it down, then I found that groove. I got in a big groove there. My fastball was running pretty good, but I had all three working, my fastball, my curve and the slider.”

Dobson (7-1) allowed just three hits, struck out seven and the only free pass he allowed was a hit-batter to lead off the bottom of the fourth inning, a baserunner that was quickly erased on a double play.

McCardle said hitting the ball hard didn’t mean much offensively for the Warriors.

“We had seven strikeouts and 10 fly balls,” said McCardle. “That’s 17 of 21 outs that were non-competitive outs. You can’t score if you don’t put the ball in play, and we’ve got to do a better job at the plate.

“They had the defense played well, so, sure we hit some balls hard, but they’re still fly balls. You’ve to cut that in half and hit some balls on the ground.”

Junior right-hander Brodie Wedgeworth kept Oak Grove in the game, despite flirting with trouble most of the night. And some of that trouble was of his own making.

St. Martin got right to work in the top of the first. Senior Dane Dutil was hit by pitch leading off. He took second on a wild pitch, went to third on a sacrifice and came home on another wild pitch.

“I don’t usually have nervous breakdowns when I’m on the mound,” said Wedgeworth. “I try to just stay cool out there. I may have been overthrowing a little bit.

“Every time a man gets on base, it just pushes me to try to get an easy out, a strikeout, a pop fly, something like that.”

Wedgeworth got out of further trouble with a pair of strikeouts, and the Warriors greeted Dobson with a single by senior Foster Mitchell and an RBI double by senior Jack Sikes.

But Dobson left Sikes at third with a flyball for the third out, and he also left a runner at third in the second after sophomore A.J. Maddox lined a two-out double to leftfield and took third on a passed ball.

St. Martin regained the lead in the fourth, again without a hit. Sophomore Lake Fincher led off by reaching second on a throwing error in the infield. Wedgeworth got an out, but a wild pitch moved the runner to third.

Dobson drew a walk, the only one by either team, and the Yellowjackets quickly executed a successful double steal, with Fincher scoring while the runner was out going to second.

“We kind of laughingly call it Jacket Ball,” said Bridges. “We’re not going to come out and pound out 10 or 12 hits very often, so we have (manufacture runs) like that. That’s the way we’ve played now that past couple of years.”

The ‘Jackets got an insurance run in the sixth. Dobson reached second on a two-out throwing error and Tyler West got the run home on a single to right. Wedgeworth (2-2) went the distance, striking out seven and walking just one.

“He did exactly what we asked him to do,” said McCardle. “First game of a series, you’ve got to have your starting guy go as many innings as he can. We’ve got a lot of guys who can get back up there and pitch for us. So, we’ll be all right.”

Given the lead after the top of the fourth, Dobson cruised the rest of the way, with five strikeouts and three harmless flyballs before ending the game on a grounder to second.

After the game, legendary former Warrior coach Harry Breland spoke to the Warriors, and his message was to relax and let the game come to them.

“He just told us we need to stay loose with it,” said Wedgeworth. “Just stay back, relax and hit the ball. You can’t tense up when you’re up there at the plate. Basically, just calm down and play loose.”

Three years ago, the Yellowjackets had home-field advantage against the Warriors in the second round of the playoffs, lost the first game at home, then won at Oak Grove and won the rubber game in the series at home.

“I’m well aware of who that is over there,” said Bridges. “We know they’re going to come out ready to play (Saturday). They’ve won a lot of series like that, losing the first game at home, then coming back to win the next two. So, it’s not over yet.”

Saturday’s game is scheduled for a 7 p.m. start. If necessary, Monday’s game is set for 7 p.m., although with rain in the forecast, that time may be changed