Nick Carson was almost perfect, again.

The Warren Central senior pitcher came within one out in the seventh inning of no-hitting the rival Clinton Arrows.

Neil Barlow, however, broke up the perfect game bid with a soft single to left field. Alan Harris followed with a second straight single before Carson came back to get Shane Bennett to fly out to left, preserving the shutout in a 6-0 victory.

Carson flirted with a no-hitter against then-No. 1 Northwest Rankin on April 1 – he ended with a one-hit shutout – and also had a five-inning perfect game against Greenville.

&#8220It would’ve been great to have two perfect games in a season, but we got the victory and I’ll settle for a two-hitter,” said Carson, who admitted that, &#8220I really didn’t have my best stuff, especially at the beginning of it.”

Clinton coach Eddie Lofton was still impressed.

&#8220He shoved it up our tail,” said Lofton, who guided the Arrows to a 6-5 win over WC on Friday night. &#8220Saturday games just kill us. But we needed this, playing a playoff team like Warren Central last night and again today. It’ll help for next week.”

Clinton (19-7) heads to Columbus for a first-round Class 5A playoff series and will meet Murrah in the opening game. Warren Central (18-8) goes to Southaven where they meet archrival Vicksburg in the opening game of the three-team tournament.

WC coach Randy Broome was pleased with how his team bounced back from Friday night’s 6-5 loss at Clinton.

&#8220Nick had another great performance,” Broome said. &#8220Even though he didn’t have his curveball and was fighting with his fastball, we played good defense behind him. We’re still putting the ball in play at the plate. When we do that, we’re going to be tough to beat in the playoffs.”

Carson (6-1) only struck out three, two of which came against Clinton’s Nos. 8-9 hitters in the sixth. He induced 13 groundouts, five to shortstop Josh Gordon and four to third baseman Eric Douglas.

As good as he was pitching, Carson was equally good at the plate, reaching base all four times on two doubles and two walks. He scored three runs.

&#8220My job is to get on as the leadoff hitter,” Carson said.

He led off the Viking’s first at-bat with a double to left. Jonathan Ettinger singled to right-center, moving Carson to third. After an out, Gordon singled to center, scoring Carson for a 1-0 lead.

In the WC third, Carson walked, went to third on an errant pickoff throw and then, somehow, managed to escape the tag of Barlow at third base after Ettinger’s grounder was caught near the bag.

Following a single by Douglas, Gordon blasted his sixth home run of the season, knocking in three for a 5-0 lead.

WC’s final run came in the fourth when Carson ripped his second double and then scored on a RBI single from Douglas.

Natchez 7, St. Aloysius 6.

Natchez 9, St. Aloysius 4.

Natchez sent St. Aloysius to a pair of losses on Saturday afternoon.

In the first game, Natchez scored three runs in the fifth inning to erase a 6-3 deficit, and scored the winning run in the sixth.

Chip Donald singled three times and tripled, while Ryno Martin-Nez and John Robert Burnett each had two hits.

In the second game, Martin-Nez had two singles and a double in the loss.

The Bulldogs scored six in the fifth inning to put the game away.