Warren Central’s Vaughn Mims (25) leaps over Picayune’s Hoyt Hughes as he leads the celebration after the Vikings’ 13-12 playoff win over the Tide. Hughes lined out to second base with men on first and third to end the game. The Vikings advanced to the South State championship series against Oak Grove, which begins here on Saturday at 3 p.m.(Melanie Duncan Thortis The Vicksburg Post)

[5/7/04]Picayune started Thursday by jumping on home plate claiming Viking Field as “our house.”

Ben Koestler and a scrappy group of no-quit Vikings ended the night by showing the Tide to the door.

“That ticked us off,” Koestler said. “This is our house, and we were going to prove it.”

Koestler, who had only five at-bats all season, hit a pinch-hit three-run home run in the fifth inning to erase a late four-run deficit and propel the Vikings to a 13-12 win over Picayune on Thursday night.

It also propelled WC into the South State championship series against Oak Grove. Game 1 is scheduled for Saturday at 3 p.m. at Viking Field.

“All the time coach reminds us that when you’re number is called, get in there and do the job,” Koestler said. “He called my number and I got in there.”

As dramatic as Koestler’s shot was, the final out of the game held just as much drama.

Picayune scored one run in the seventh inning and had runners on first and third with two outs.

Hoyt Hughes lined a shot toward second base when Allen Carlisle snagged the liner inches from the ground to strand the runners on base, and set off a wild WC (23-10) celebration.

“I just saw it all the way and caught it,” the soft-spoken Carlisle said. “I knew I had it.”

The shot, if it had gotten through, would have at least tied the game at 13.

“An inch more, man,” Hughes said of his line drive that Carlisle dove to his right to catch. “Both teams showed a lot of heart in this series. My hats go off to Warren Central. They have a great team that can win it all. I’d like to see it.”

The three-game series was decided by a combined four runs.

“You saw two squads out here dying to get to the next level,” WC coach Randy Broome said. “We were getting after each other’s butts and we are fortunate to get a win tonight.”

After Koestler’s shot his first career varsity home run Jake Turner scored on a Carlisle single to tie the game at 11. The Vikings took the lead for good on one of the oddest plays of the night.

With men on first and third and one out, Mark Different hit a popup to second, which was dropped intentionally by second baseman Dustin Thibodeaux. The first base umpire ruled Different out immediately, but Thibodeaux threw to shortstop Heath Stevens anyway. Stevens then fired the ball over the first baseman’s head, still thinking he was trying to get a double play. The errant throw allowed Drew Warnock to score from third to give WC a 12-11 lead.

“I will have to look at the rulebook on that one,” said longtime Picayune coach Kent Kirkland, whose 13-year tenure with the Tide came to an end. “I’ll have to see if that was a great call by the umpire. I don’t know.”

The Tide stranded runners at second and third in the top of the sixth inning before WC added a run in the bottom of the sixth for a 13-11 lead.

Picayune, though, came back once more.

Jake Turner hit leadoff man Britton Fortenberry, who scored on a one-out single by Chris Stewart. Stewart advanced to third on a J.P. Moreaux groundout.

WC intentionally walked Stevens and ended the game on Hughes’ lineout.

“I knew he had it the whole way,” said Turner, who notched his third save of the playoffs. “I can read their motions. He was there, but my heart did drop for a second. He made a great play.”

Picayune battered five Warren Central pitchers for 14 hits, while the Vikings tallied 12 hits against three Tide hurlers.

Moreaux, a Pearl River Community College signee, came within a home run of the cycle, and had three RBIs to lead the Tide. Stewart went 3-for-5 with three RBIs, Stevens and Thibodeaux each had two hits.

John Rice Pettway paced WC with a single, double, home run and three RBIs. Different had three singles and an RBI.

“I have been a part of three South State championships and a state championship, and this is probably the greatest game I’ve been a part of,” Moreaux said. “This was two great ballclubs leaving everything on that field.”

Warren Central jumped on Picayune starter Kelly Ray with a five-run first inning before getting put out. The barrage chased Ray and brought in Stevens.

Picayune scored a pair in the second and added one more in the third to pull to within one run.

WC upped the lead in the third to 6-4, but Picayune scored four in the fourth and three more in the fifth for an 11-7 lead.

“This was one heckuva game that could have gone either way,” Kirkland said. “You had two good baseball teams going at it. It was an unbelievable effort by both teams.”

The Vikings will have one day to prepare for Oak Grove. The teams split their two regular season games.

“I have never seen so much heart on a team,” WC’s Zach Balthrop said. “I have never ever been a part of something this special.

“We are so close as a team, it’s unbelievable.”