By JIM STEELE
mckenzierebels.com

JACKSON - McKenzie captured two victories in the SportsPlus baseball tournament Thursday evening at South Side High School.

The Rebels rallied from 5-1 down in the first inning against Riverside and rallied to win 10-8 almost in spite of themselves. In the nightcap, the Rebels took down host South Side 7-4, dropping the Hawks to 10-2 on the season.

As a result, McKenzie, now 8-4 on the season, won the Pool C title and will play substate rival Jackson Christian School 10:30 Saturday morning in the tournament semifinals at South Side. Lexington and Liberty will play in the other semifinal at 1 p.m. The championship will be played 3:30 Saturday.

In the opener, McKenzie took an early 1-0 lead when Drew Brown reached on an error and scored on Nick Chappell's base hit. But the Panthers crossed four runs in their half of the first and another run in the second to secure a 5-1 advantage.

The Rebels kept chipping away. In the fourth, Derek Carr reached on a walk, Chappell reached on an error and with one out, Luke Anderson cracked an RBI single. Tyler Holt plated Carr while reaching on an error. Riverside's lead was trimmed to one, 5-4. Holt had an unassisted double play in the fourth.

In the sixth and the time limit closing in, the Rebels crossed six runs, all with two outs. Holt reached on a fielder's choice, Kyle Kirk double and Parker Jones singled in a run. Brown laced an RBI hit to score Kirk. Rusty Chapman got on via fielder's choice and Carr ripped a three-run double. Chappell followd with a run-scoring single. The Rebs led 10-5. The Panthers didn't go quietly.

They scored three runs in the sixth, but Chappell struck out the last batter to nail it shut.

Chappell was 2-4 in addition to nailing down the pitching decision. He had two RBI. Carr had a double and three RBI. Brown, Anderson, Kirk and Jones each had a hit and an RBI.

In the nightcap, Carr had a big night, going 3-4 with four RBI as the Rebels stunned host South Side 7-4, sending the Hawks to their second loss in 12 outings. In addition, Jones, the starting pitcher, struck out 11, scattered six hits, two walks and hit two batters for the win.

Brown was 3-4 with an RBI and two doubles.

McKenzie jumped out quickly. Brown led off with a double and took third on Rusty Chapman's single. Carr popped out to center, but Mark Newman, running for Brown, scored. Chappell singled, but was stranded there.

South Side responded with a run in the first and had a runner on third, but the sabre rattling amounted to very little. From there, Jones settled down and went to work. The Hawks mananged two runs in the fifth and a run in the sixth. Tyree Jeffries crushed a two-run homer in the fifth for the Hawks.

McKenzie took the lead for good in the third inning when Carr singled and took second on an error, Tyler Reeder walked. Jones pushed across Carr with his fielder's choice. In the fourth, Clint Kee walked, Brown doubled and Carr drove them both in with a double. MHS led 4-1. The Rebels loaded the bases in the fifth, but didn't score. In the sixth, Chapman led off with a walk, Carr doubled him in. Chappell walked, Anderson doubled in Chappell and the Rebs led 7-3.

In the sixth, the Hawks scored a run, but Jones closed it down with three strikeouts.

The Rebels improve to 8-4 on the season and will play Class 3A North Side in non-pool play 4:30 Friday at North Side. If the weather is a factor, the game may be moved to South Side's field. Win or lose, McKenzie will play in the tournament semifinal round Saturday morning against JCS.