Not that they needed it to feel as if they were in the upper echelon of high school baseball teams in Mississippi, but the past week has done wonders to boost the confidence of the Warren Central Vikings.

Shane Lewis went 3-for-3 with three RBIs, Vantrel Reed stole two bases and scored twice, and the Vikings gritted out a 7-5 win over Ridgeland on Monday. It was their fourth win in a row, and eighth in nine games.

“It’s got some momentum going, a little mojo. It shows us what kind of team we are,” Warren Central coach Conner Douglas said. “We’re two plays and a baserunning error away from being 13-1. So we know what we’re capable of. We just have to keep doing the little things. We have to quit beating ourselves is what it boils down to.”

The hot streak has included a road win over Class 6A power Gulfport last week and a no-hitter by Alan Kivett against Christian Brothers (Tenn.), and given the Vikings a bounce heading into a busy stretch of the schedule.

Warren Central (10-4) will play 10 games in 15 days before Easter, including two division games this week against Greenville and another next week at Clinton.

“That’s what spring break is for, is to get us ready for this. That’s why we play so many games back-to-back. With rain and the way the playoffs are, you’ve got to be ready to play back-to-back-to-back,” Douglas said. “You never know who you’re going to have to pitch, because you may get in a 10-inning game in back-to-back days. It’s good to see guys getting out there to compete. We just have to eliminate the walks. We’re giving up too many free passes.”

With so many games packed together, it might have been inevitable that at least one of them would be a clunker for the Vikings. By their own admission, Monday fell squarely into that category.

Ridgeland (6-6) jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the top of the first, then rallied to tie it at 4 after Warren Central had battled back to take the lead. Dwayne Stevens hit a two-run, game-tying double in the fourth inning, while Branson Tadlock was 2-for-3 with an RBI for the Titans.

In the bottom of the fourth, Reed drew a two-out walk and then stole second and third before scoring on a single by Lewis. Landan Stewart followed with another RBI single to make it 6-4, and the Vikings tacked on an insurance run in the fifth inning when Sean Daily doubled and scored on a double steal.

“We just didn’t have enough energy tonight. We had to pick it up a little bit, but we came out with the win,” Reed said.

Douglas said he would have liked to have seen the Vikings score a few more runs. They left two runners on in the first inning, and the bases loaded in the third. In the fourth, Stewart was thrown out at second for the final out while trying to stretch his single into a double.

“We have to do a better job when we have runners in scoring position. We didn’t put our foot on their throat and we didn’t have that killer mentality that we should have,” Douglas said. “I don’t know if it’s a weekend hangover from being at the beach, but we have to play better there for a full game.”

Warren Central needed to use four pitchers to get through the game. Lewis, the starter, allowed four runs on three hits and three walks in 3 1/3 innings. Grayson Shealy gave up a run in the sixth before giving way to Stewart, who got out of a jam and then passed the ball to Colin Standish to finish it out in the seventh.

“After the long weekend, that’s what we’ve got to have is everybody step up and contribute,” Douglas said of his pitchers. “Especially going forward with long weeks. Our 1, 2 and 3, we can’t throw them in these (non-division) games.”

Standish struck out two of the three batters he faced in a perfect seventh inning to earn his second save of the season.

Standish has made seven relief appearances and has 18 strikeouts in a team-high 18 2/3 innings.

“Colin Standish has been outstanding this year. It’s fun to see him throw it,” Douglas said. “He’s been lights out. He’s been fantastic every single time he steps on the hill. He’s been a guy we can turn the ball to when it matters. He’s been shutting the door.”