4A: St. Stanislaus Rock-a-Chaws (26-3, 8-1) def. Amory Panthers (27-7, 6-4)
What a school year 2009-2010 was for St. Stanislaus. State runner-up in boys basketball, state champions in football, soccer, and now, baseball. The sharpest uniforms and coolest nickname in the state faced off against the Panthers from Amory, a team that played a pair of tough 3-game series just to get to Trustmark Park.
Game 1 of this series was also the first game of the championship week, and it set the tone for the games to come. It was quick, just an hour and a half to complete, and it was close, decided by a late-game run. The pitching matchup was forecast to be the best of the entire week. Boomer Scarborough (11-1, 0.52) for the Rock-a-Chaws against Amory’s Will Cox (14-0, 0.46). However, both pitchers got knocked around far more than their microscopic ERAs would suggest. Scarborough got rocked in the 3rd, giving up three runs on three base hits, as the Panthers took advantage of an error in the field by Scarborough. In the 4th, one more for Amory. With two outs, back-to-back base hits by Zach Randolph and Justin Rone plated Tanner Poole to make it 4-0 Panthers. In the bottom half, St. Stan would finally get to Cox in a big way, pounding out six hits and scoring four runs to storm back and tie the ballgame.
Scarborough would settle down for the Rock-a-Chaws and allow only one hit in the final three innings. A visibly tired Cox, reportedly suffering from a back strain, battled through to pitch the duration, but with his velocity down significantly from his norm, the Stanislaus hitters finally chipped away and broke the tie. In the 6th, Zander Romano was hit by a pitch for the second consecutive time. After stealing a base and advancing on an error, Romano would make Amory pay, scoring the eventual game-winning run on a two-out base hit by Bo Brennan. St. Stanislaus, trailing at one point 4-0, came back to take Game 1 by a score of 5-4.
Game 2 was played under the lights two days later, but it seemed that Amory was still suffering the sting from their Game 1 collapse. The bats went cold against Justin Vaughn, who tossed a complete game, four-hit shutout. The Panther defense committed two 
errors, leading to two unearned runs, and Drew Pickle allowed 10 baserunners in 4 2/3 innings. Slumping shoulders, hands on hips, deep sighs… the body language said it all for Amory on this night. They had missed their golden opportunity to take a game and potentially throw Cox again in a deciding Game 3, and now they were being swept out of Trustmark Park in shutout fashion.
St. Stanislaus again took the game thanks to a 4-run inning, this time in the top of the 5th. After quickly retiring the first two batters of the inning, Pickle got 
into, well, a pickle, allowing the next five Rock-a-Chaws to reach base, including back-to-back two-RBI hits by Romano and Mitch Theologos. The celebration was on from there, as the fans from Bay St. Louis began some of the loudest chants of the week. We wouldn’t expect anything different. With three championships in one year, they’ve had plenty of practice. The Rock-a-Chaws may be just outside the conversation for Mississippi’s best baseball team this year, but they have to be at the top of the debate for athletic program of the year 2009-2010.
Game 1 R H E LOB
Amory 4 8 2 7
St. Stanislaus 5 8 1 3
WP- Boomer Scarborough (12-1): 7.0IP, 8H, 4R, 3ER, 1BB, 9K, 1HBP
LP- Will Cox (14-1): 6.0IP, 8H, 5R, 4ER, 7K, 2HBP
SSC- Zander Romano: 1-1, 1B, 2HBP, 2R, 2SB; Jacob Lindgren: 2RBI 3B, R; Bo Brennan: 2-3, 2 1B, RBI
AMY- Drew Pickle: 2-4, 2B, 1B, 2RBI
Notes- Amory led 4-0 in 4th.
Game 2 R H E LOB
St. Stanislaus 6 9 0 7
Amory 0 4 2 4
WP- Justin Vaughn (6-0): 7.0IP, 4H, 0ER, 1BB, 5K, 1HBP
LP- Drew Pickle (7-4): 4.2IP, 7H, 5R, 4ER, 3BB, 4K
SSC- Jacob Lindgren: 2-3, 2 1B, BB, R; Zander Romano: 1-3, 2B, BB, 2RBI, R
AMY- Drew Carter: 2.1IP, 2H, 1R, 0ER, 1K; Zach Randolph: 1-2, 1B, BB
St. Stanislaus Three Stars
1) Zander Romano – 1B
2) Justin Vaughn – P
3) Boomer Scarborough – P, SS
Amory Three Stars
1) Will Cox – P, 1B, SS
2) Zach Randolph – C
3) Drew Pickle – 1B, P
Game One Scoresheets
St. Stanislaus, Amory
Game Two Scoresheets
St. Stanislaus, Amory
* Scoresheets were for my personal broadcasting purposes. They may not be completely accurate.
