With the game on the line in the seventh inning, Vicksburg High’s coaches debated whether to walk Mitchel Babb or give the South Panola senior a chance to beat them.

An inning later, Babb didn’t give them the option.

Babb went 4-for-5 with four RBIs — including a backbreaking, three-run triple in the eighth inning — and pitched a complete game as South Panola beat Vicksburg 9-3 Saturday in Game 1 of a first-round Class 6A playoff series at Bazinsky Field.

Babb’s triple was the big blow in a six-run outburst that turned an otherwise tense contest into a blowout.

Game 2 of the best-of-three series is set for Monday at 4 p.m. in Batesville. If a Game 3 is necessary, it will be played as the second half of a doubleheader afterward.

The Gators will surely be kicking themselves all the way to North Mississippi after letting the opener slip away. They left six runners in scoring position, failed to capitalize on six South Panola errors, and only got one of their six hits after the third inning.

“That’s the story of our year. We always seem to have that one bad inning, get behind, and then we can’t dig ourselves out of the hole,” Vicksburg coach Cody Zumbro said. “But I thought our effort was good. I thought they were prepared to start the game with their approach. We got down one run and kind of went away from it. Started doing things that we hadn’t been doing those first few innings.”

Vicksburg also let a one-run lead slip away late.

Clyde Kendrick’s two-run homer in the first inning stood up until the top of the sixth, when he took the mound in relief of Cody Waddell with two runners on and one out. Kendrick walked the first two batters he faced to bring in the tying run, then gave up a sacrifice fly to Hunter Durham that put South Panola ahead 3-2.

The Gators tied the game in the bottom of the sixth when pinch-runner Michael Rohrer scored from second on a wild pitch. They were unable to get the go-ahead run in from third, however, and Babb and the Tigers eventually made them pay.

Panola left the bases loaded in the seventh — Babb drew a two-out walk in his plate appearance — then exploded for six runs in the eighth.

Taylor Meek led off the inning with a double, then was safe at third on a close bunt play. After an intentional walk to Durham to load the bases and set up a force play at home, Vicksburg reliever Cameron Cooksey walked in the go-ahead run and gave up an RBI single to Chris Townsend.

Babb followed with a sinking liner to center that the Gators’ Lamar Anthony dove for and missed. By the time Kendrick, now playing left field, chased it down and returned the ball to the infield, Babb was on third with a stand-up triple and the Tigers had an 8-3 lead.

Babb later scored on an error to make it 9-3.

“We had it in our hands the whole game and it slipped away at the end. We had a questionable call at the end that changed momentum, but we’ve got to play through that and get these next two on Monday,” Cooksey said.

The Gators put two runners on base in the eighth, but Babb slammed the door by striking out the side. It was the capstone of a dominant performance over the second half of the game.

Babb only allowed one hit and struck out 10 over the last five innings. That neutralized a shaky start, as he gave up three hits and two runs in the first inning alone.

Babb finished with 12 strikeouts total, walked one batter and hit two others.

“I started locating my slider better and locating fastballs on the inside corner more. They started chasing sliders more. That was about the only difference, really,” Babb said.