There is nothing like playing with confidence. It cannot be defined, but anyone who watches a baseball team play with confidence, knows it. 

The Mineola Yellowjackets demonstrated that confidence in their 11-1 win over the visiting Quitman Bulldogs last Tuesday. The Jackets went on to secure a playoff spot with a second win over Quitman in a weather-rescheduled game Saturday morning in Commerce. 

The Yellowjackets leveraged some great efforts by seniors Ty Burch, Dalton Hamlin and Braydon Alley to pave the way Tuesday. Burch tossed five innings, giving up only one hit, striking out 11 and giving up five walks. He also hammered a double in the third inning, stole a base and scored twice. 

Hamlin cracked a two-out pitch to left which reached the wall on a short hop and drove in two runs. He also added to the four-run fifth inning with a single to left field. Hamlin came in to relieve Burch in the top of the sixth. He gave up one hit and struck out two.    

Alley was officially two for two on the night. His inside-the-park home run in the bottom of the first gave the Jackets a 2-1 lead. The home run was a hot ground ball driven straight up the middle which hopped over the glove of the Quitman outfielder as he closed to field the ball. Alley raced around the bases as the ball continued to run in the outfield. 

There were other contributions as well. Catcher Matthew Ballew threw out a baserunner at third in the opening inning. First baseman DJ McDowell scooped a long throw from Hamlin at short to record a very close put-out in the fifth.  

Ballew and McDowell played key roles in late Yellowjacket rallies. In the fifth, Ballew pushed a long bunt up the right side, into that dead-air gap between the pitcher, second baseman and first baseman. He drove in two runs with that bunt. 

McDowell closed out the game when he launched a two-run single which gave Mineola the final ten-run advantage.  

The defensive play of the game was made by Quitman’s Payton Sapp at second base. In the sixth, Sapp lunged two steps to his left and made a quick reaction play on a one-hopper which came sizzling off the bat of Jacket Preston Haskin.  

After the end-of-season home and away series between Mineola and Quitman, it is the Yellowjackets who will continue on having secured the final playoff spot.

Mineola will face Atlanta for bidistrict in a three-game series in Carthage. First game is Thursday at 6:30 p.m. and two games are set Saturday at 1 and 3 p.m.