Vikings end losing streak by beating Class 7A champ Brandon

Published 5:17 pm Saturday, March 8, 2025

By Ernest Bowker

BRANDON — A 2-6 start and five-game losing streak are not exactly what Warren Central envisioned as the follow-up to its first baseball state finals appearance in 23 years.

Beating one of Mississippi’s best teams, however, is definitely a step in the right direction.

Beau Bradley pitched six scoreless innings, Trace Hood went 2-for-4 with an RBI, and Warren Central snapped out of its early-season funk by beating defending MHSAA Class 7A champion Brandon 5-0 on Saturday.

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“It’s obviously a step in the right direction. You show up and now you’ve got to continue that for the dubs to keep happening,” Warren Central coach Randy Broome said.

Warren Central (3-6) beat Brandon (6-7) for the first time since 2019. More importantly, it was a bright spot in what has been a rough first month of the season filled with injuries to key players and close losses against excellent opponents.

The Vikings lost a pair of one-run games to Alabama powers Hillcrest and Faith Academy, let a lead slip away against Mississippi’s top-ranked team Jackson Prep, and took a walk-off loss to Hartfield Academy as well. An 8-0 loss to perennial power Madison Central preceded Saturday’s road game against Brandon.

The Vikings were 3-5 at this same point last season, then went 22-7 the rest of the way and reached the Class 6A championship series. The Region 2-6A schedule doesn’t even start for another two weeks. Keeping that in mind, Broome said, there’s no need to panic.

“We’re just getting started. In the big scheme, we’re still in preseason baseball,” he said. “We’ve got one more week of it and then district starts. Let’s not hit panic mode yet. There’s no need to do that. Let’s learn from our mistakes. Let’s see where we can get better.”

Whatever has been ailing the Vikings, they certainly put it aside against Brandon by compiling outstanding performances in all phases of the game.

Bradley only needed 77 pitches to chew through the Bulldogs’ lineup. He allowed two hits and three walks while striking out three, and got help from his defense as well.

Catcher Braxton Hartley threw out a runner trying to steal second, and shortstop Caden Cole made a great relay throw to cut down Brandon’s Jay McQueen at third base while he was trying to stretch a double into a triple in the third inning.

Only one of the five batters who reached against Bradley got past second base. The sophomore improved to 2-1 and has allowed one run or fewer in three of his four outings.

“Beau Bradley’s been really, really good on the weekends for us,” Broome said. “Last week against Clinton he got in a little trouble, but other than that one inning Beau’s given us a chance to win every time he’s been out and today’s another example.”

Offensively, the Vikings got the job done with a mix of timely hitting, manufacturing runs and gritty at-bats.

Hood’s RBI single in the third inning and Tristan Jamison’s RBI double in the fifth — both with two outs — gave them a 2-0 lead. In the sixth, they tacked on three more runs and batted around without getting a ball out of the infield.

Two walks, a hit batter and two errors kept the offense flowing. The only hit was a bunt single by Cole. Brandon’s infielders tried to let it roll foul, only to watch it die sitting on the first base line.

Hartley also worked a walk on an 11-pitch at-bat and Jamison brought in a run with a bases-loaded walk with two outs.

“It’s good to catch those breaks. We’ve had a few of those during this losing streak, of guys running one down in the gap to save runs or whatever. It’s baseball. I keep reminding them of that,” Broome said.

Warren Central did have some tense moments in the bottom of the seventh, when Brandon loaded the bases with one out against reliever Ryan Steed. The junior left-hander struck out pinch-hitter Ty Estridge, however, and then got Hayes Carr to fly out to right field to end the game.

“We tried to show them the game within the game. We can’t show up worried about winning and losing. Let’s win this pitch, let’s win the walks, win the errors, win all of that and then let’s see how it plays out. Especially when you lose two or three in a row you’re focused on win, win, win, win. I think that was in our way,” Broome said. “After a few conversations with the team, we can’t worry about that until it’s over. Hopefully they saw that.”

After beating Brandon, the Vikings will rest up for a few days before embarking on another difficult stretch. They’ll go to the Coast for the Battle at the Beach tournament March 13-15, with games against Biloxi, Pascagoula, and Pope John Paul II of Slidell, Louisiana.

It’s an annual pilgrimage that Broome said he enjoys taking with his team. Besides being a good team bonding exercise, it serves as a mental checkpoint before starting the grind of region play and the playoffs.

Warren Central’s first two Region 2-6A games are on March 21, when it hosts Columbus for a doubleheader.

“One is competition, We’re always looking for the chance to get away and see something new. You’re off of school. You get to see a little beach and some water. It’s a breath of fresh air,” Broome said. “And two, it’s a chance for us to piece together some pitching because you’re playing back-to-back-to-back. It’s the last hurrah of who can and who can’t. We’re trying to figure it out then, because we know what’s coming up the next week.”

About Ernest Bowker

Ernest Bowker is The Vicksburg Post's sports editor. He has been a member of The Vicksburg Post's sports staff since 1998, making him one of the longest-tenured reporters in the paper's 140-year history. The New Jersey native is a graduate of LSU. In his career, he has won more than 50 awards from the Mississippi Press Association and Associated Press for his coverage of local sports in Vicksburg.

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