Warren Central set for battle with Vicksburg
Published 1:20 pm Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Heading into the homestretch of the regular season, there’s little drama to be found in Division 4-6A.
Each team has settled into its likely role with one segment of the nine-game division schedule left. Clinton is the frontrunner, has two games left against last-place Greenville-Weston, and can clinch the division championship with one more victory.
Warren Central, having already beaten third-place Vicksburg twice, can wrap up second with one more win. And Vicksburg, for its part, should finish third and might have the best playoff draw of the three.
So, with everything in place, tonight’s third and final meeting between Warren Central and Vicksburg will have all the usual intensity of a crosstown rivalry with none of the immediate playoff implications. It’s a postseason tuneup only in the sense that both teams want to straighten out rollercoaster seasons.
“It’s always a rivalry game, no matter the circumstances. Both us and Vicksburg are trying to win games consistently and win against good teams,” WC coach Josh Abraham said. “We just want to win games. It doesn’t matter where you fall in the playoffs. Everybody is 0-0. Of course you want to be first, but you really just want to win games and get better.”
Consistency has been an issue for both Warren Central and Vicksburg.
WC (10-10, 4-2 Division 4-6A) has not lost more than three, nor won more than three in a row all year. Its season has been a series of winning and losing streaks, hot and cold, that it will try to break tonight. After winning three in a row over Greenville last week, the Vikings lost to Brandon in their last outing Saturday. A victory over Vicksburg would mark the first time they’ve had just a single loss in between wins.
Vicksburg, meanwhile, enters the game with a 9-10 overall record (2-4 in the division) and has struggled against top teams. It has scored only five total runs — and been shut out twice — in four games against Clinton and Warren Central, and gave up 13 runs in the seventh inning of a 16-4 loss to Clinton on Friday.
Despite that, the Gators might have the most enviable playoff position of the three frontrunners in Division 4-6A.
With the way the standings sit now, Clinton gets a bye in the first round and faces a tough potential second-round matchup with nationally-ranked Madison Central. Warren Central has a winnable series against either South Panola (12-5-1) or Columbus (11-6), then is staring at a rested Northwest Rankin squad in the second round.
And Vicksburg?
It would face South Panola or Columbus — whoever finishes second in Division 2-6A — in the first round and the champion of a mediocre Division 1-6A in the second. If it can navigate that stretch, a potential quarterfinal matchup with Northwest Rankin, Warren Central, South Panola or Columbus awaits.
Without looking too far ahead, Vicksburg coach Cody Zumbro said he likes his team’s opportunity for a deep postseason run — if it can get on a roll the next three weeks.
“We’re 2-4 in the division, but if we can pull it together we’ve got a chance to make a good run,” Zumbro said.