RIDGLEAND — Oxford’s fantastic run through the MHSAA’s Class 5A playoffs came to an abrupt end with an 8-3 loss to Ridgeland in the North Half title game on Monday night. The win advanced Ridgeland to the 5A title series against Long Beach that begins tonight at Jackson’s Smith-Wills Stadium.
As good as the Chargers (19-12 overall) looked in their Game 2 win over the Titans (23-9) at home on Saturday, they were unable to duplicate that type of effort in the deciding game.
Errors were the root cause of the loss for the Chargers, who ended up committing six in the contest that led directly to five of the Titans’ runs.
Ridgeland’s first two runs in the first inning were both unearned, same with the single run in the third inning, while one of the three in the fourth ended up being unearned.
Oxford coach Chris Baughman couldn’t explain why his team was unable to field the ball better during the contest and help out starter Hunt Halford, who finished with eight strikeouts in the game. (May 17, 2011, Page 6)
