It was a classic confrontation.

Warren Central’s best hitter against Vicksburg’s ace pitcher.

Fastball hitter vs. fastball thrower. Strength on strength. Mano a mano.

Suddenly, a change-up was thrown into the mix and it changed everything.

The slowed-down offering from Vicksburg’s Clyde Kendrick hung over the plate, and Hunter Austin’s eyes lit up. He belted it into the left field corner for a bases-clearing double that gave Warren Central the lead and, ultimately, a 4-2 win over its archrival on Tuesday night.

“I saw it outside and just made contact. All I was trying to do is make contact, get runners in and help our team out,” Austin said. “It’s a great feeling. It feels like bottom of the ninth inning, bases loaded. What can you say? It’s an awesome feeling.”

Warren Central’s fifth consecutive win in the series was an exciting first step on the long road to crown the Division 3-6A champion. The teams play two more times this season, on Friday night at Bazinsky Field and on April 3 at Viking Field. There are also three games each against Greenville-Weston and Clinton.

That there’s so much baseball still to be played took some of the sting off a disappointing defeat for Vicksburg (1-4, 0-1 Division 3-6A).

“It’s a nine-game season, if you really look at it. One loss is not going to kill you, because we’ve got them two more times,” Vicksburg coach Ryan Grey said. “We take care of business two times and take care of Clinton and Greenville, we’re right where we need to be. Nothing is lost by winning or losing this game. They’re 1-0 and we’re 0-1, but that can change Friday night.”

WC coach Josh Abraham said it was a fine line between the teams.

“My hat goes off to Ryan Grey and that whole bunch. That joker does a really good job. Their whole team grinded, just like our team grinded the whole game. We just got the big hit at the end that put us over the edge,” Abraham said.

Austin went 2-for-4, and was the only Warren Central player to get a hit off Kendrick. The hard-throwing lefty struck out nine in six innings, but also walked seven and hit two more batters. In the sixth inning, Kendrick’s wildness turned out to be his undoing.

Kendrick got a strikeout to start the inning, then got Trey Prentiss to chase strike three in the dirt. The ball skipped past VHS catcher Josh Sterling, however, and Prentiss made it safely to first base. Kendrick walked the next two batters before getting Brandon Gates to fly out to shallow center. Austin came to the plate with his team trailing 2-1 and the chance to be a hero.

The first pitch Kendrick threw was the one that turned opportunity into reality.

“We had called a fastball and he shook it off and went to the change-up,” Grey said. “He just left it up. Not a bad pitch in that situation, just not in the right location. (Austin) got the barrel on it and got around it. It was a great piece of hitting. He’s a great hitter. You can’t argue that.”

In a cruel bit of irony, it was Kendrick who had not only kept the Gators in the game with his pitching, but helped them take the lead with his hitting and base running.

With Warren Central (4-3, 1-0) leading 1-0, Kendrick led off the fourth inning with a single. He went to second on a wild pitch, stole third and then scored on a base hit by Cameron Cooksey. Cooksey then stole second and scored on a single by John Plummer to put the Gators ahead 2-1.

WC had taken the lead in the second inning when Cody Waddell walked, and courtesy runner C.J. Ross circled the bases on a passed ball and error on the throw to third base.

Although Vicksburg had several scoring opportunities, that was all it could put on the scoreboard against their former teammate Waddell. The senior right-hander struck out 12 batters and walked two in seven innings. He gave up seven hits, worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the fifth inning and a two-on, two-out jam in the seventh.

“(Waddell) managed to get out of some tight jams late,” Abraham said. “When they were up 2-1, he managed to make some good pitches to keep it there. I can’t speak higher of the effort he threw out there today.”