Baseball Roundup: Vikings beat Gators again; St. Al’s slump continues; Tallulah Academy rolls into playoffs with a win

Published 9:13 pm Friday, April 19, 2024

Warren Central finished championship week in convincing fashion, and now will hopefully embark on championship month.

Ryan Nelson reached base four times and scored four runs, Maddox Lynch went 2-for-3 with a double, two RBIs and two runs scored, and Warren Central closed out its regular season with a 12-1 run-rule victory over crosstown rival Vicksburg High on Friday.

Cade Fairley also doubled, drove in three runs and scored twice as the Vikings beat Vicksburg for the 15th consecutive time. Vicksburg’s last win in the series was in 2012 and it has not scored more than two runs in any of the last nine meetings.

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Kealon Bass singled and scored on a double by Tyler Carter in the bottom of the first inning for the Gators’ only run Friday.

Warren Central won its sixth game in eight days. All of them were within MHSAA Region 2-6A, and the winning streak carried the Vikings (13-10, 7-1 Region 2-6A) to their second consecutive league championship.

The reward is a date with Lake Cormorant in the first round of the Class 6A playoffs next week. Game 1 of the best-of-three series is April 26 at Viking Field.

Vicksburg (7-14, 2-6) will be the No. 4 seed from Region 2-6A and will have a tough assignment against the Region 1-6A champion — either Saltillo, Grenada or Center Hill. Game 1 of that series will be April 26 in North Mississippi, and Game 2 on April 27 at VHS’ Showers Field.

Copiah Academy 11, St. Aloysius 1
Copiah Academy 11, St. Aloysius 2
Jake Ainsworth drove in a total of five runs, Trey Wood scored five, and Copiah Academy (13-10, 9-3 MAIS District 4-5A) swept a doubleheader from St. Aloysius (12-14, 6-6) to send the Flashes into the postseason in a slump.

Ainsworth drove in three runs, and Wood had two hits and scored twice in game one as Copiah won 11-1. Gunner McKee was 4-for-4 with a double and three runs scored.

Carson Smith drove in St. Al’s only run with an RBI single in the first inning.

In game two, Ainsworth was 2-for-2 with a double, two RBIs and two runs scored as Copiah finished the sweep with an 11-2 victory. Wood was 3-for-3 with a double and three runs scored.

Keller Bradley hit a two-run single for St. Al in the second inning that cut an early deficit to 3-2, but Copiah answered with four runs in the bottom half and scored in every inning after that as well to pull away.

St. Al is the No. 3 seed from District 4-5A and will face the No. 2 seed from District 3-5A in a best-of-three first-round series next week. The Flashes’ opponent and the series schedule have not yet been determined.

Tallulah Academy 15, Riverdale 1
Tallulah Academy closed out its regular-season schedule and geared up for the playoffs with a convincing win over Riverdale Academy.

Gage Palmer went 4-for-4 with a double, triple and six RBIs to lead Tallulah (19-8) to its 10th win in 13 games. Palmer also pitched 3 1/3 scoreless innings and had six strikeouts.

Tripp Gayle and Charlie Vining each had two hits and two RBIs for the Trojans, while Brayson Morson hit a three-run home run in the sixth inning and scored three runs.

Tallulah Academy won the MAIS District 3-2A championship and earned the No. 1 seed for the Class 2A playoffs. It earned a first-round bye and will face either Briarfield Academy or Tensas Academy in the second round the week of April 29.