The sound is faint as you turn on to Porters Chapel road.

ping!.

By the time you get to the entrance to Porters Chapel Academy, it’s a little louder and more familiar, almost like a sledgehammer pounding down a railroad spike.

Ping!.

And by the time you settle in for a PCA baseball game – especially if you happen to be an opponent – the sound is deafening.

PING!.

The noise is the ball jumping off the bats of PCA’s players, and lately it has been music to their ears. The Eagles are hitting .419 as a team in the postseason, have scored at least 10 runs in all three of their playoff games, and won the last two by the mercy rule.

So far in the playoffs the Eagles have scored 38 runs on 39 hits, an offensive onslaught that has them on the brink of a second straight series sweep. PCA (21-8-1) can finish off defending state champion Tunica Institute (15-4) in Game 2 of their best-of-three series at home today and advance to the MPSA Class A North State finals against either Tri-County or Rossville, Tenn.

PCA won Game 1 of the series with Tunica on Tuesday, 13-1.

&#8220We’ve really come alive with the bats in the last couple of weeks, and I hope we can continue to do that throughout these playoffs,” PCA coach Randy Wright said.

The Eagles have always hit the ball well. During their eight-year run of playoff appearances, they have had a team batting average of .370 or better six times. Only once has it been under .300.

This spring, the Eagles seem to be hitting their stride – and everything else – at exactly the right time. They’ve had at least eight hits in every playoff outing this spring.

Of 27 collective lineup spots in the three games, all but one failed to reach base at least once. Robbie Simms, who had only one plate appearance all season before the playoffs, went 0-for-2 in Game 1 against Benton. Simms did, however, have a sacrifice fly and a sacrifice bunt in that game and hit a key home run in Game 2.

&#8220Everybody is hitting the ball. Everybody is seeing it,” PCA pitcher Matt Cranfield said. &#8220We peaked at the right time.”

Cranfield and his teammates have also been dominant on the mound, helping the Eagles turn the hot hitting into blowout wins.

Of the 12 runs the Eagles have allowed in the playoffs, six were unearned and three have been scored on bang-bang plays at the plate. Benton and Tunica have managed only 10 hits between them in the three games, and PCA’s pitchers have combined for 29 strikeouts in 18 innings.

The combination of hitting and pitching means Tunica has a tall task in front of it as it tries to stay alive today.

&#8220You just hold your head high and come back and battle,” Tunica coach Pat Stevens said. &#8220I’m pretty sure it ain’t going to be the same turnout next time. (The Blue Devils) have hit, and we had an off-day.”

PREP BASEBALL PLAYOFFS SCHEDULE.

Today.

5 p.m. – Tunica at PCA.

PCA leads series, 1-0.

Admission: $5.

Friday.

7 p.m. – Vicksburg at NW Rankin.

Game 1 of best-of-three series.

Admission: $5