A couple of strong pitching performances by Jon Reuben Chesteen resulted in Winona victories over Forest 7-4 and Morton 4-3. In between the two wins, the Tigers were defeated by Choctaw Central 11-4.
"Jon Reuben is throwing it well. He's giving us a chance to win," said Winona Head Baseball Coach Mark Austin.
Chesteen went the distance in both games. He allowed two hits with 10 strikeouts against Forest and no hits and no earned runs, with nine strikeouts, against Morton.
Winona overcame a 4-1 deficit against Forest with a five-run fifth. Nick Murphy had a key hit during the rally. "He kind of sparked that inning," Austin said.
Mitch Stewart had two of the Tigers' seven hits and Murphy drove in two runs.
In the Morton game, Winona scored single runs in the second, fifth, sixth and seventh. Stewart reached on a walk in the seventh and scored what proved to be the winning run on a ground out by Chesteen.
"He had two strikes on him and put it in play," Austin.
J.J. Looney had two hits and Chesteen two RBIs.
Chesteen benefited from solid defense by Blake Cooper at short and Garrett Ables at third.
Choctaw Central scored in every inning against Winona, led by Speedy Lewis with two singles, a triple and four RBIs. Blake Cooper had two hits and scored twice for Winona.
Winona is 2-2 in Region 5-3A with a region game Friday against first place Southeast Lauderdale. The Tigers are hoping to do much better than a 15-0 loss to Southeast two weeks ago.
