Combined no-hitter leads Saltillo baseball to second straight MHSAA championship
Saltillo baseball's William Goodson pitched a combined no-hitter in his final game, leading the Tigers to a state title in MHSAA 6A.
PEARL — At the top of the seventh inning, with one out left to claim a Mississippi high school baseball championship, Saltillo pitcher William Goodson was forced off the mound. Goodson reached his pitch limit, throwing 122 pitches, and the senior had a few tears drip down his face. The emotion wasn't about him getting taken out, but rather from a dominant performance in his final high school game.
Goodson carried a no-hitter after 6⅔ innings pitched, which was followed in relief by sophomore Lanston Kent, who threw three straight fastballs to strike out the final batter en route to Saltillo's 5-0, Game 3 win over Pearl River Central to capture the MHSAA 6A championship on May 21 at Trustmark Park. "I mean, I couldn't ask for a better way to end this," he said. "I know I had to come out and (lead) us.
Lanson Kent shoved it and got that last out. I mean, there's just so many emotions. " Pearl River Central (30-9) won Game 1, 12-11, on May 19 and lost to Saltillo, 3-1, on May 20.
"God is good, man," said Saltillo coach Eric Reynolds, while catching his emotions. "You graduated eight seniors last year, and then these guys have been working for three years. Some of them, this is their fourth year and first year to start.