Yankees-Red Sox. Lakers-Celtics. Porters Chapel-Heidelberg.

Even though the names and faces change over the years, some sports rivalries never die.

PCA and Heidelberg meet — again — in the first round of the MAIS Class A playoffs on Tuesday. It’s the fifth time in 10 years the two schools have faced each other in the postseason.

“There’s so many different players and we haven’t seen them in a year. I don’t know much about them,” said PCA outfielder Reed Gordon. “They’re usually a pretty good team, so we always expect to play them in the playoffs sometime.”

The PCA vs. Heidelberg matchup used to be an annual occurrence. They played for the Class A championship in 2001, 2003 and 2004. They didn’t play again in baseball until the first round of the 2008 playoffs, although they did face each other in football several times.

The two-year gap in the series has quieted the rivalry a bit. Most of the starters on this year’s PCA team were bench players or not on the team the last time they faced the Rebels. Even the Eagles’ first-year coach, Jerry Bourne, wasn’t with the program then.

Bourne’s familiarity with Heidelberg (8-4) was more of a general knowledge of its success, he said.

“I know Heidelberg generally has a great program. They’re going to field a program that plays the right way,” he said.

More than anything Heidelberg will throw at them, Bourne is concerned with how his own team plays.

The Eagles (13-10) won the District 5-A championship but have had bouts of inconsistency all season. Their longest winning streak has been just three games, and they lost three out of four before sweeping a season-ending doubleheader against a winless Mt. Salus squad on Thursday. That sweep gave them the district title.

“I’ve been talking to them about how you have to get focused for every game because a mental error can hurt you and end your season now,” Bourne said.

Despite the ups and downs, Gordon said he felt the Eagles are playing better of late. Two of their most recent losses were 21-14 and 10-8 slugfests against Class AA powers Simpson Academy and Hillcrest, respectively.

Although the Eagles lost both games, Gordon said competing well against a couple of playoff-bound teams has boosted their confidence.

“We’re catching our stride,” Gordon said. “We had a pretty good game against Hillcrest. It feels like we’re building momentum.”