Warren Central coach Josh Abraham penciled in an all-senior lineup for Senior Night Monday at Viking Field.

The nine seniors walked into the Warren Central program the same time Abraham did when he accepted the job after a stint as an assistant at Tupelo High School

Ironically, Abraham could face his old team when the Class 6A playoffs begin Friday. Tupelo is one of four teams the Vikings (15-13) could meet Friday in the opening round.

While his playoff opponent remains a question, Abraham left no doubt his affection for his seniors, who took care of business by beating Port Gibson 12-2 by run-rule in five innings.

“This is a special group to me, because their first year was my first year in this program,” Abraham said. “They’ve come in, done the work and I’m excited about the playoff run they are going to make.”

After a two-week stretch when the Vikings lost seven of their last eight games, including two by walk-offs, the team needed some cheering up. They got some from senior leaders Travis Barnett, Cody Waddell, Brandon Gates and Will Stegall and junior catcher Hunter Austin.

The Vikings’ top five drove in nine of 12 runs off seven hits. More importantly, all 20 of their at-bats were productive with no strikeouts.

“That was our approach tonight,” Abraham said. “We wanted to have good at-bats. We’ve had too many punchouts, but tonight, we put the ball in play.”

Austin, who leads Warren County in RBIs with 34, added two more to his total against Port Gibson. He knocked in Gates with a first inning single and had another RBI grounder in the fifth, in between a hit and walk. His courtesy runner, Marcus Ragan, scored three runs.

“It was an emotional night for the seniors, but we knew we needed to get some base hits,” Austin said. “Tonight helped us with our motivation. It’s a start for us to get on a roll.”

Port Gibson, which ended its season at 8-18, made it a game early when Silento Sayles circled the bases after two errant throws. Sayles’ run tied the game at 1 in the top of the second inning.

Warren Central struck back with three runs in the bottom of the second. Devon Bell and Chase Ladd reached on a walk and a hit-by-pitch. Barnett followed with a single to right to score Bell, Waddell brought Ladd in off a groundout and Gates got Barnett home with a rope into left for a 4-1 lead.

Down 5-1, Port Gibson got its last run when Sayles reached on an infield hit and later scored on Devonte Tarleton’s RBI groundout.

The Vikings answered with three runs in the fourth and then finished the game with four in the fifth. Barnett doubled to start the fifth and scored on Waddell’s single to left. Stegall followed Austin’s RBI with a two-run single to make it 11-2. Pinch-runner Curtis Ross scored the final run off a wild pitch.

Waddell pitched the first two innings to get primed for Friday’s series opener. Michael Whitley pitched the final three innings to grab the win. The pair combined for eight strikeouts.

Barnett and Austin each went 2-for-4 to lead the WC offense. Sayles had two runs and a hit for the Blue Waves.