PEARL — Warren Central coach Josh Abraham had been hoping to save Chase Ladd’s arm for next week to give him some experience against a division opponent. Instead, Abraham had to give the ball to his lanky junior right-hander on Saturday. He got everything he could have wanted, and then some.

Ladd allowed one run and struck out six in five innings of relief, helping the Vikings beat Pearl 6-5 and salvage something out of a tough week.

“He gave us a huge lift,” Abraham said of Ladd, who allowed three hits and two walks after replacing starter Clayton Ashley in the second inning. “I didn’t want to use him today. I wanted to save him for next week and let him pitch in some division games. But he was rested and ready, and he threw well.”

Warren Central (8-8) snapped a three-game losing streak that included a pair of losses to division rival Clinton. The Vikings had won three in a row before the recent slide, giving Abraham hope that his team can get on another roll heading into next week’s division games against Greenville-Weston.

“We lost three in a row, then won three, then lost three. Hopefully we’re back on a winning streak. We definitely did some good things today, offensively and defensively,” Abraham said.

The Vikings scored all of their runs in the first two innings. Four singles and an error helped them take a 3-0 lead in the top of the first, then an RBI fielder’s choice by Ashley was followed by an RBI double by Carlos Gonzalez to tack on three more in the second.

Pearl (5-8) tied the game in the bottom of the first on RBI singles by Toler Robinson and Kirby Wixson.