In an early-season baseball showdown between the MHSAA and MAIS, the private school kids got the upper hand.

Rives Reynolds hit a three-run home run to ignite a late-inning surge, and MAIS power Jackson Prep beat Warren Central 7-1 on Tuesday.

Jackson Prep (5-0), the defending MAIS Class 6A champion, scored six of its seven runs from the fifth inning on. Reynolds’ homer was the big blow in a four-run rally in the fifth inning.

Cole Gideon also homered for the Patriots, and finished 3-for-4. Konnor Griffin, an LSU signee and one of the top high school players in the country, was 3-for-4 with a double, one RBI and one run scored.

Maddox Lynch had two hits for Warren Central, and Cade Fairley was 1-for-2 with a double, walk and one run scored. Fairley led off the bottom of the fifth with a bloop double and scored the Vikings’ only run on a ground out by Ishmael Trujillo.

Jack Wright started on the mound for Warren Central and allowed one run in four innings. He had seven strikeouts.

Warren Central (4-3) took its third loss in four games. It will play back-to-back home games this weekend, Friday at 7 p.m. vs. Madison Central and Saturday at 1 p.m. against Tensas Academy.