Willis' slam, Busbea's strong 7 innings propel West Lauderdale past Corinth in Game 3

May 16—Mason Willis might be best known for his arm. Saturday evening, he made his presence felt with the bat.

Tied 2-2 with Corinth in Game 3 of the third round of the MHSAA Class 4A playoffs, West Lauderdale loaded the bases in the bottom of the fifth inning before Willis stepped to the plate. As the Knights' No. 1 starting pitcher, Willis got the win in Thursday's Game 1, but West Lauderdale fell at Corinth 7-4 Friday to force Saturday's rubber match, and the Knights needed a big hit from their ace.

The hit he delivered wasn't just big, it was grand, as Willis launched the ball over the center-field fence for a grand slam to break the game open 6-2. West Lauderdale scored four more runs to take the 10-2 win and advance to the Class 4A North State series.

"As soon as I made contact, I knew," Willis said. "It was a different sound, and I saw it get the angle, and I just walked down the baseline, and it went out. I don't really remember what else happened after that."

The Knights ended up scoring seven runs in the bottom of the fifth, allowing them some breathing room in what had been a tight contest up to that point. West Lauderdale took a 1-0 lead in the second inning when Commondre Cole hit a sacrifice fly to score Wyatt Castle, but Corinth tied it up in the top of the fourth inning. The Knights jumped back ahead 2-1 on an RBI single by Cole in the bottom of the fourth, but Corinth once again tied it 2-2 in the top of the fifth.

West Lauderdale head coach Jason Smith said Willis' grand slam helped relax the players, as the Knights had been hitting the ball hard — a few of them to the warning track — up to that point but hadn't quite been able to break the game open.

"It was a great relief to see him hit that home run and get up by four," Smith said. "We had been hitting the ball really well, some of them right at them, and every time we scored (early), they answered, so to finally put some distance between us took a lot of pressure off, and I'm extremely proud of our players."

Willis said the grand slam brought both excitement and relief after the limited success they had seen offensively early.

"It took a bunch of pressure off of us I think," Willis said. "Once we got that big hit everyone else started coming around, and we scored a lot more."

Bradon Epting hit a sacrifice fly to score Cole later in the fifth, and the Knights tacked on two more runs via errors. In the sixth inning, Cole got his third RBI of the night when he singled home Brooks Buchanan to round out West Lauderdale's scoring.

In a win-or-go-home situation, West Lauderdale turned to sophomore Brett Busbea on the mound, and Busbea was brilliant, pitching seven innings and giving up one earned run on three hits and one walk while striking out eight. He threw 96 total pitches, 67 for strikes, and Smith said it was great to see an underclassman step up in an elimination game.

"He had a great outing, and that's what we expect out of him," Smith said. "He's going to be a really good pitcher for us, and I couldn't be prouder of him for how he performed. He's pitched in a lot of big games, and he's a young player, but he's played a lot of baseball. He's got really good stuff, and we knew with his velocity that he was going to match up well against them."

Cole finished 3-for-3, while Willis and Buchanan were both 2-for-4. Buchanan doubled, as did Busbea and Cole.

West Lauderdale will face Mooreville next week for North State, and whether he's pitching or hitting, Willis said he hopes to keep the enjoying the experience of playoff baseball for two more rounds.

"It's fun," Willis said. "The atmosphere is great. I don't think there's another school in Mississippi that has a better atmosphere than us, and that just makes it exciting."

The Knights improved to 27-6 on the season.