For two local private schools, the start of a long week of playoff baseball has a happy beginning, at least.

Adams Christian and Huntington will each start their playoff series &045; against Brookhaven Academy and Riverfield respectively &045; at home tonight. ACCS will start at 6:30 p.m. and Huntington 7 p.m. Both teams will hit the road Tuesday and play the final game of their series &045; if necessary &045; Thursday at home.

&uot;(Playing at home) is big for us. We take a lot of pride in playing well on our field,&uot; Adams Christian head coach Gill Morris said. &uot;Back in January we set a goal to go undefeated at home and now we have a streak that goes back to last year. It means a lot to seniors and kids coming up to play well here. Coach (Trey) Bayliss at Jackson Prep said he was glad he didn’t to come to AC to play.&uot;

If the Rebels advance, they will also have home field advantage in their next series.

For AC, the key is consistency. The Rebels have to make sure they maintain their focus and don’t relax until the game is over.

&uot;It’s about focus for us. We need to play seven full innings, and we talked about that today,&uot; Morris said. &uot;We’re notorious for starting quick and then laying down for two or three innings. We have to stop that. If not, it’ll be over before we know it.&uot;

Huntington had a tough one on its hands in the first round against Central Academy, including an eight-hour round trip Thursday to Macon for the second game of the three-game set.

&uot;I think we feel really good about getting through,&uot; Huntington head coach Mitch Ashmore said. &uot;It was a tougher than normal type series. They were a really good ballclub. We were fortunate to beat them and if going through a series like that helps us play better, that’ll be a good thing.&uot;

Ashmore likes the three-game series format, he said.

&uot;I like the two out of three. I never liked playing one and then coming back and playing a doubleheader and I’m happy to see the MPSA going away from that,&uot; Ashmore said. &uot;I think the only thing different from the regular season is strategy and what you plan, how you prepare to go on the road a long way. You have to look at how you pitch people the first time and learn from mistakes and realize how you should play them. It brings out a lot of strategy and that’s what makes it fun.&uot;

The Hounds are relying on the services of senior Jacob Bonnette and eighth-grader Trey Brashier on the mound almost exclusively. Thus far, the system has worked. The duo pitched all three games last week and Ashmore plans to go with them again this week.

&uot;Jacob being a senior and knowing what he has to do to help the team, he pitched six innings Tuesday and then Trey Brashier pitched seven for us Thursday. Jacob came back Friday because he knew we have to have him,&uot; Asmore said. &uot;I planned it this way and had our rotation set up. I thought with these guys we could work a three-game series. That’s not to say we won’t use anyone else, but these guys are going to be the main guys.&uot;

NOTHING EASY &045; Most of Mize’s hitters were tough outs the entire weekend, but leadoff hitter Chris Sullivan may have given the tough out label a whole new meaning.

The senior finished the entire four-game weekend without getting out at the plate. He finished the weekend a perfect nine for nine while posting an on-base percentage of 1.000 in 18 trips to the plate.

He also came through on the mound for the Bulldogs early and finished off Game 2 of Saturday’s doubleheader in that 17-7 loss to Cathedral.

&uot;He played huge for us,&uot; Mize head coach Sid Wheatley said. &uot;He’s such a competitor. He probably could have pitched all night (Saturday) if he would have had to. He’s just a heck of a ball player. I’m going to miss him and all the seniors. Joseph Adcock had a big first game, Zach Jennings and Al Hunt &045; those seniors are going to be hard to replace.&uot;

Cathedral &045; count Enterprise in there, too &045; won’t mind seeing him leave. About the closest Sullivan came to being retired came in Game 2 when he had two strikes on him and fought his way on.

He ran the count full, fouled out four pitches and finally drew a walk. In his last at-bat in Game 1, he lined a grounder to shortstop and appeared to be finally retired before the throw to first was wild.

Sullivan started the tournament with a 4-for-4 effort against Enterprise.

&uot;We never did get the Sullivan kid out,&uot; Cathedral head coach Craig Beesley said. &uot;I think he was 12 for 12. He’s a tough out. I thought we had him there. We had two strikes on him and never could get that third one. He’d battle you up there. He did a good job of getting on base.&uot;

LIKE GEORGE AND WEEZIE &045; For whatever reason &045; maybe that injury suffered in football &045; Dustin Case started slow at the plate this spring, fell down in the lineup as far as seventh and was trying to fit in a place he’s seldom hit in during his prep career.

Now he’s back at that No. 2 hole he knew and loved, and he’s really starting to produce. In Monday’s win over Copiah he started off with a double and battled starter Brock Campbell in his second at-bat before drawing a walk.

In the win over Prairie View the previous Friday, he had three hits.

&uot;Dustin is one of the most disciplined hitters we have,&uot; AC head coach Gill Morris said. &uot;He’s another one who’s really come on swinging the bat. He started off slow, had the arm injury and basketball ran a little late. He’s just an all-around athletes and always has been.&uot;

Now that he’s swinging the bat well, Case makes it a little more tough on opposing pitchers who are worried about Timmy Foster in that No. 4 hole. Cole Bradford, also swinging a hot bat, went down to the No. 3 hole with Foster hitting cleanup for the Prairie View series.

The Rebels had David Trisler hitting behind Foster with David New at sixth for a power-packed middle of the lineup.

&uot;It was really because of Prairie View,&uot; Morris said of the switch. &uot;Prairie View kind of pitched around Timmy up there in Bastrop. Even though we put eight runs on the board, Timmy didn’t get a lot of looks.&uot;

BRING IT BACK &045; Cathedral slugger Jeremy Davis just wants to wait on his pitch &045; even if it’s not there on the first pitch.

The Southern Miss signee will take a first-pitch strike on occasion, but not to worry. That may just get him more focused in the box as he did Saturday &045; six hits, two homers, one triple, one double, two singles and 10 runs batted in during the doubleheader sweep of Mize.

And it was a welcome sight for a hitter who had his ups and downs here lately at the plate.

&uot;I just like to be patient,&uot; said Davis, who smashed a two-run job to left center in Game 1. &uot;Unless it’s exactly what I want, I’ll let it go. This was kind of a break out game. I think I’ve been a little bit out on my front foot. I tried to be a little more patient and let it come to me. I’m just not trying to do too much.&uot;

OUT OF JOINT &045; Central Academy first baseman Tony Suddoth loves to play baseball, and if anyone needed evidence of that, just look at Tuesday’s game against Huntington.

Suddoth had an RBI double to give the Vikings an early lead. But on the final out of the first inning, Suddoth lost his footing leading off from third base and came down awkwardly on his left arm, wrenching the shoulder out of socket and necessitating a quick trip for some medical assistance.

&uot;He’s had shoulder problems for a while now,&uot; Central coach Brach White said. &uot;Usually it goes back in, but tonight it wouldn’t, so he had to get it taken care of.&uot;

But that’s not the end of the story. Suddoth came back to play, taking another at-bat in the seventh inning in a losing effort for the Vikings.

&uot;He wasn’t really feeling well, but he hates to lose,&uot; White said. &uot;He wanted to be in there, so he went in there.&uot;

Adam Daigle

contributed to this report.