[04/06/02]Vicksburg High is 2-0 in must-win games this season. Wednesday, the Gators go for the trifecta.

They’ll look to their most reliable horse to bring them home.

Chris Middleton (7-2), the Gators’ most consistent pitcher and winner of the last two Division 4-5A games, will take the hill in a matchup with serious playoff implications. The game was scheduled for Tuesday but delayed by wet field conditions.

“We have a lot of confidence when we send Shaggy on the hill,” VHS coach Jamie Creel said of his starting pitcher, who threw 14 innings last week. “He does the one thing you ask pitchers to do and that’s throw strikes.”

Creel said he is not worried about Middleton’s arm being tired he warms up by throwing 100 batting practice pitches the day before a game.

“He’s got that delivery that’s easy on his arm,” Creel said of the sidearmer. ” … He has told me his arm was tender, but that was at the beginning of the season and that’s to be expected.”

Creel is banking on his ace propelling the Gators (12-14) into the playoffs. With a win tonight, Creel said Middleton will pitch again on Friday against Forest Hill.

For that game to mean anything, several things have to happen:

Vicksburg must beat No. 9 Clinton tonight, a team it has lost to twice this season, then beat Forest Hill for a third time on Friday.

Clinton has to lose its last two games the VHS matchup and Friday’s home game against Warren Central.

“It’s simple,” first-year Clinton (19-6) coach Sam Temple said, “if you don’t get the job done, you go to the house. Period.”

Temple will counter with his ace, Mike Cashion, a hard-throwing right-hander and one of only three seniors for the Arrows.

Cashion pitched in Friday’s win over Forest Hill.

The Gators’ unlikely upset of Warren Central on Friday night kept their playoff hopes intact. But this scenario is what coaches envisioned when they decided well before the season to move to a three-game division schedule.

“My hat’s off to Vicksburg. They’ve done what they’ve had to,” Temple said.

“I feel like it will be two teams that really like to battle and people know I enjoy a battle.”

Chris Duncan, a Warren County native, paces the Arrows with a .427 average.

The Gators’ offense is led by John Rohrer (.458), J.J. Brown (.388, five triples and 27 stolen bases) and Justin Henry (.381, 35 stolen bases and seven doubles). As a team, the Gators have swiped 151 bases this season.

“I would be disappointed if I didn’t think we could come out on top. I like our chances,” Creel said.

“If we win, we win, if we don’t, we just weren’t good enough to get there.”