South Carolina beats Mississippi for Junior Dixie Boys World Series title

It took the South Carolina Gamecocks only two games to win the College World Series.

In a different twist, a group from Surfside Beach, S.C., repeated that effort to claim the Junior Dixie Boys World Series.

After dropping the first chance to capture the title 4-1, South Carolina mounted an early offensive effort to rout Mississippi 11-4 in the final at Miracle Field Complex Wednesday.

With the win, the team repeats as champions. As 12-year-olds, the group claimed the Dixie Youth Majors World Series last year.

That experience helped them get the title this year, head coach Jon Yarbrough said.

“For these kids, there’s a tremendous amount of down time. We set up a routine we learned last year,” he said. “They weren’t intimidated by the surroundings.”

After getting shut down in the first game, South Carolina wasted no time in scoring against Mississippi in the second contest, grabbing two runs in the first.

Devin Melko reached on an infield single. After two outs, Tyler Dillon reached on an error.

Mississippi’s defense failed again during Dillon Johnson’s at-bat. Johnson hit a deep fly to right-center field, and the right and center fielders collided, letting the ball hit the turf.

That allowed Melko and Dillon to score.

Mississippi answered with one run in the bottom half of the first when Thad Roberts sacrificed James Windham home.

Mississippi’s defense came unglued again in the second. After Bryce McCord scored on a Colby Ard single, Sam McKinney bunted. Two throwing errors on the play allowed Ard to score and McKinney to reach.

“We made too many errors early on. We pressed a little bit,” said Mississippi head coach Drew Dewease. “We came out a little too fired up, too emotional and didn’t help our pitcher out.”

McKinney later scored on a Buck Bacot groundout to make the score 5-1.

South Carolina poured on two more in the third as McCord and Melko struck RBI singles in the frame, giving the Surfside boys a 7-1 lead.

Mississippi chipped away at the lead with one run in the third and two runs in the fourth.

In the third, Windham reached on an infield single, and wild pitches allowed the speedster to reach third.

That let a groundout from Bryce Fagan to score him.

After South Carolina scored another unearned run, the Petal boys notched two in the fourth. An error allowed Charlie Morgan to come home and Hunter Breland to reach. Breland was balked home when Finn Melko stopped in mid-pitch after his hat fell off.

But South Carolina tagged on one run in the sixth and two in the seventh to capture the title.

Mississippi forced the “if-necessary” game with a strong outing from Roberts, who allowed one run in seven innings.

The game turned in the first inning when South Carolina’s scheduled starter Dylan Thompson suffered an injury sliding in at home plate.

Thompson reached on an error, and another error allowed him to reach third.

After one pitch to Dillon Johnson, Roberts faked a throw to third, and Tyler Dillon bit. After hanging Dillon in a pickle, Thompson broke for home.

The throw into the catcher was in time, and he blocked the plate well. Thompson broke his ankle in the slide into the catcher, Yarbrough said.

The injury provided South Carolina a huge setback, the coach said.

“He had thrown in our second game, and he was lights out. It took the air out. He bats second, and he can do a lot of things. He’s a big part of the offense,” Yarbrough said.

South Carolina turned the pitching duties over to Devin Melko, who struck out five in the first three innings.

Mississippi, though, broke through against him in the fourth when Fagan and Roberts led off the bottom half with singles. Fagan scored when Labove stroked a double.

Roberts’ pinch-runner scored when Hunter Breland hit into a groundout.

That was all the help Roberts needed in the game as he scattered five hits in seven innings.

Carolina’s lone run came in the seventh when Buck Bacot scored on a wild pitch.

“The thing about Thad is he’s a competitor, and he hates to lose,” Dewease said.

For Petal’s group, this was the third World Series they participated in. They have yet to win it, but reaching the championship was a first for the Dixie franchise.

“They set the bar a little high. This is a tremendous group of kids,” Dewease said.