By Brad Greer

Austin Towles was not expected to pitch in South Panola’s district opener at Tupelo Tuesday night, but after Tiger starting pitcher Hunter Ivy exited the game after cutting his finger on a ground ball in the second inning, Towles answered the call.

The junior right-hander handcuffed the Golden Wave on one hit in 4.1 innings to record his third win of the year as South Panola blanked Tupelo 3-0 in a Region 2-6A contest. Due to approaching weather, tonight’s regular scheduled game at Tiger Park was moved to last night.

Despite being held to three hits, South Panola (8-4 overall, 1-0 district) took advantage of three walks and a error in the second inning to take a 1-0 lead. Tupelo (8-6, 0-1) loaded the bases with one out in the fourth only to have Towles escape trouble by retiring the next two batters to end the inning.

The Tigers extended their lead to 2-0 in the fifth when Preston Blair led off the inning with a single and later scored on a wild pitch. South Panola added its final run in the following inning as Tays Hardy, who leads the team with a .452 batting average, singled to lead off the frame and later scored on a two-out single by DeShawn Lindsay.

Towles walked four and struck out three while hitting two batters. Taylor Karr tossed 1.1 innings of relief to earn his first save on the year. Ivy fanned three of the five batters he faced before leaving the game with one out in the second.

Weather pending, South Panola will host Senatobia tomorrow at 1 p.m. followed by Lafayette Co. at 3 p.m.