By TYSON MEEK/Sports Writer

TUPELO — Before falling 10-4 to Tupelo (blue) on Wednesday of last week in Game 10, the South Pontotoc Cougars made their way there with wins over Corinth (6-0) in Game 9 and Calhoun City (5-4) in Game 3 on Tuesday.

The Calhoun City game

On the opening day of the NEMCABB Cham-pionship round played in Tupelo, the Cougars of South Pontotoc faced off against the Wildcats of Calhoun City.

After leading the majority of the game the Cougars (visitors) defeated the Wildcats (home team) 5-4 in what turned out to be a close game.

Head coach Bryan Buckner was fairly pleased with the way his team performed.

“We played good early, although I hate that we couldn’t put it away,” he said.

“However, I am proud of the way they put the ball in play, which is something we have struggled to do this summer.”

The Cougars struggled against a hard throwing Wildcat pitcher in the top of the first inning, but were able to get one run on the board.



A single by third basemen Devan Martin brought Seth Roye across home plate.

Good pitching by South’s Dusty Foster shut the Wildcats down in the bottom of the first inning letting the Cougars hold on to a lead of 1-0.

South Pontotoc’s bats came alive in the top of the second, but only one run was scored to extend their lead to 2-0.

Jonathan Duncan and Ryan Long both got on base with a single.



However, it was a single by left fielder Matt Adams that scored a runner for South Pontotoc.



Once again good pitching and defense by the Cougars stopped the Wildcats from scoring any runs in the bottom of the second inning.



In the top of the fourth inning South Pontotoc added another run to their lead.

Again, singles by Duncan and Long got just enough runners on base for a single by Adams to score a run, giving the Cougars a lead of 3-0.

The Wildcats were again shutdown quickly by the Cougars in the bottom of the fourth leaving Calhoun City still scoreless after four innings.



Another run came for the Cougars in the top of the fifth inning.

The Cougars got two runners on base with first basemen Dalton Butler being walked, and a single by Nathan Newell.

Ethan Reynolds then hit a single that scored Butler giving the Cougars the lead of 4-0.

The Wildcats were held scoreless by the Cougars again in the bottom of the fifth inning letting the Cougars hold on to their comfortable lead.

Singles by Long, Benjamin Bowen, and Adams weren’t enough when good defense by the Wildcats stopped the Cougars from adding anymore runs to their lead in the top of the sixth inning.



The Wildcats rallied against the Cougars in the bottom of the sixth inning when they finally scored some runs and cut South Pontotoc’s lead to 4-3.

In their final at bat of the ball game, South Pontotoc added one more run to the lead that they had held the entire game.



After Martin got on base with a double, another double by Newell scored Martin giving the Cougars the lead of 5-3.

The Wildcats tried to continue their rally in the bottom of the seventh, but good pitching by the Cougars’ closer, Newell, only allowed one run and the game closed with the Cougars winning 5-4

.

South Pontotoc ended the game with five runs on 13 hits, and 3 errors.



The winning Cougar pitcher, Foster, ended the game with three strike outs, and only two walks.