UNBEATEN IN EVENT, LOCAL SQUAD STRONG IN ALL PHASES:

The New Orleans Spice used three, three run innings and a fine starting pitching performance to defeat Mississippi by a score of 9-2 on Monday in the "Driver's Seat" winner's bracket game of the Dizzy Dean World Series.

On the mound, the Spice got a complete game, six hitter from their starting pitcher Jared Keating of Baton Rouge Community College. Keating did not allow an earned run in the start as the two runs scored by Mississippi in the fifth inning were both unearned.

"Jared was great on the mound for us today. He really wanted to be out there and competed well throughout the appearance. We were up against a very hot offensive club and Jared shut them down for the most part" said Spice head coach Danny Riehm. "Our starting pitching has certainly been a key in this run to the finals."

Offensively, the Spice scored three runs in the bottom of the first, fourth, and sixth innings. Solid offensive performances came from Justin Sinibaldi and Tyler Hannan of Archbishop Rummel, Jonathan Coco of UNO, Cole Wilson of Parkview Baptist, and Allen Newman of Loyola.

"Mississippi had put 34 runs on the board in their first two games of the tournament so we knew that we would need to score runs. Our offense embraced the challenge and were able to give us a nice lead heading into the latter innings of the game. It will be important to continue scoring runs tomorrow in the championship round because these teams will play hard for the entire game" said Spice head coach Danny Riehm.

The win over Mississippi sends the Spice to the championship round on Tuesday at 1:30 pm against the winner of JPRD East and Mississippi. The Spice, who are the only remaining undefeated team in the field, need one win in the championship round to capture the tournament title.