One early mistake was enough to cost Warren Central a victory Friday night.

Trey Spencer led off the game with a triple and scored on an error, and Grenada pitcher Caleb Morgan made it stand up by throwing a four-hit shutout to beat the Vikings 1-0.

Morgan struck out nine and walked two as he outdueled Warren Central’s Booth Buys and Farmer Abendroth.

Buys pitched four innings and Abendroth three. They combined to allow only the one unearned run, didn’t walk a batter, and each had three strikeouts.

“Both teams pitched it really well and played great defense,” Warren Central coach Conner Douglas said. “They led off the game with a triple and that was it. The only player that made it to third all night was that leadoff triple.”

Warren Central (18-6) had a seven-game winning streak snapped with yet another close loss. Its six losses this season have been decided by a total of eight runs. This was its fourth one-run loss.

The Vikings will finish the regular season by hosting Ridgeland Saturday at 11 a.m. and Terry Monday night at 6. As the Division 4-6A champions they had a bye in the first round of the Class 6A playoffs and will face either Olive Branch or Northwest Rankin next week.

“It’s a good thing. You can’t win them all, but it’s great that we put ourselves in position to win every game, especially when those games are against some of the best around,” Douglas said. “Ranked No. 4 in the state says a lot about these guys. I’m proud of them. The guy that beat us tonight is one of the best we’ve seen all year. He’ll keep them in any game they play.”

After Grenada (20-3) scored its run in the first inning, Warren Central missed a chance to get even in the bottom half. D.J. Lewis led off with a walk and Landon Stewart followed with a single, but both runners wound up stranded there.

The Vikings had runners on in each of the first four innings, but none after that. Morgan retired the last 10 batters he faced after John Austin Burris reached on a one-out single in the fourth inning.

“We hit a few balls right at them, and tip your hat to Grenada. They made plays and their pitcher threw well,” Douglas said. “It was one of those nights we got in a pitchers’ duel and just couldn’t manufacture a run.”