Mineola swept the high school baseball series with Quitman in a rescheduled game Monday night in Quitman. The Yellowjackets used the added value of lead-off hitting to build a 4-0 lead and hung on to take a 4-3 win.

Calem Redding opened the game by smashing a triple off the centerfield fence. He scored two batters later when Matthew Ballew pushed a perfect bunt to the right side for an infield hit. 

Quitman nearly answered in the bottom half. Davis Watson lined a single to right but was caught on the base paths between third and home trying to score off  Juan Rameriz’s triple. 

Ballew led off the top of the 3rd by lining a drive past Quitman’s Rameriz at shortstop. He advanced to third on a throwing error and scored when D.J. McDowell lifted a deep fly to center.

Mineola scored again in the 3rd. Carson Threlkeld walked and went to second on a sacrifice bunt by Cooper Finley. He took third on a passed ball and scored on a fielder’s choice by Lawson Ollive.

In the 4th, Redding once again led off with a base hit. He drilled a single to center, stole second base and reached third on a wild pitch. He scored easily on a passed ball.

Going into the 5th, Mineola led 4-0 and starter Beckham Bowker was demonstrating some mastery from the mound. 

He got the first Bulldog to go down swinging in the bottom of the 5th, but the ball scooted away to the screen and Mason Williams was on. A double by Lane Harkins through the 5-6 gap put Bulldogs on second and third.    

A ground ball off the bat of Clayton Meadows was fielded cleanly at third, but despite having caught the Bulldog baserunner between third and home, the Jackets took the ball to first base for the out. At the end of five innings the score stood 4-1, Mineola.

In the bottom of the 6th, Quitman’s Logan Davis cracked the best-hit ball of the game with a rocket single to centerfield. Redding came on to relieve Bowker.

Jonas Prather drew a walk and the Bulldogs had runners on second and third after two Yellowjacket throwing errors. Both runners came in to score after wild pitches.  

Each team put two baserunners on in the 7th, but no further scoring was at hand. Ballew came out from behind the plate to throw the bottom of the 7th for Mineola.