NATCHEZ &8212; They took the field with black arm bands, and members of the Adams Christian baseball team didn&8217;t leave the ball park following their 11-2 playoff win over Centreville Academy without everybody signing a baseball.

They did it for starting left fielder C.J. Wright, who was out of the lineup following the death of his mother Friday. Wright may have been at the school for less than a year and has yet to play a full season with the Rebels, but the relationship the players have with him goes way back.

All the seniors played Dixie Youth baseball together since they were old enough to play and have been friends ever since.

&8220;We dedicated this game to him and played it for him tonight,&8221; said Timmy Foster, who got the win on the mound and had two doubles at the plate. &8220;I hoped he could be here, but I don&8217;t guess he could. We&8217;ve been playing with each other since T-ball. It was a little quiet without him.&8221;

Wright&8217;s mother had been battling cancer for quite some time, and the senior had played through it this season. He emerged as one of the more steady bats in the lineup this season for the Rebels while playing left field and not his customary catcher position.

Brian Sanderson got the start in left Tuesday night.

&8220;They were excited. They were going to dedicate the game to C.J.,&8221; Adams head coach Ron Rushing said. &8220;He&8217;s going through a hard time right now, and they&8217;re thinking about him. We&8217;re here when he&8217;s ready. It&8217;s a tough subject. They were real close.&8221;

But even without Wright in the lineup, the Rebels didn&8217;t disappoint in the playoff opener and hammered the Tigers for 11 hits while nearly ending the game in the fifth inning. The Rebels put up five runs in the fifth and had runners on the corners with two outs for Foster, but the slugger drew a walk to load the bases.

David New flied out to center to end the inning and keep the game going.

From there, the Rebels relied on their defense and pitching to close the door in seven innings and take the first game of the best-of-three series. Game 2 is set for 6 p.m. Thursday in Centreville.

&8220;When you get to the playoffs, you&8217;ll win it with pitching, defense and timely hitting,&8221; CA head coach Jason Horne said. &8220;That was a good pitcher. He&8217;s got good command of about three or four pitches, threw them for strikes and kept us off balance. We&8217;ve got to get out heads up and try to take care of business Thursday. We&8217;re not done yet.&8221;

Even though the Rebels couldn&8217;t finish it off in the fifth, that inning alone broke the game open. Up against left-hander Josh Lanehart, the Rebels got a two runs in before nine-hole hitter Sanderson singled in Hunter Russ and Austin Weeks for a 10-2 lead. The hit moved Matt Barnes to third, and Barnes came around to score on Cole Bradford&8217;s sacrifice fly.

&8220;We came out and had some enthusiasm,&8221; Rushing said. &8220;That&8217;s the 11th left-hander we&8217;ve seen. With all pitchers, we&8217;re looking middle-away. They went up there with a good approach and had some good pitches to drive.&8221;

The Rebels took a 5-0 lead after three thanks to a two-run homer from David New. They put up three in the first and tacked on another in the fourth when Dustin Carroll reached on an error.

&8220;We&8217;re just trying to get it started in the playoffs,&8221; New said. &8220;Everybody is stepping up a little bit. I&8217;ve played with C.J. my whole life, and he and I are real good friends. We saw him Saturday night, and I talked to him for a while.&8221;

That was plenty for Foster, who was in control with his pitches and had plenty of support behind him. Had it not been for a four-batter stretch in the fourth, the right-hander would have carried a no-hitter into the seventh inning.

He walked only one, struck out six and allowed four hits.

&8220;They made plays,&8221; Horne said. &8220;We hit it right to them several times. (Foster) lives on that changeup. He&8217;s got a little sinker, and you&8217;ll hit a ton of ground balls. Defensively, we missed a cut-off man several times to move runners up. We preached to them each time you&8217;ve got to go through that cut-off man.&8221;

The Tigers got their two runs in the fourth when Jeffrey DeLee tripled in Bill Walsh and DeLee scored on Jared Peairs&8217; single. A number of ground balls to Austin Weeks at third and Luke Brumfield at second were hard-hit, but the Tigers couldn&8217;t get anything for them.

It&8217;s playoff time, Foster said. And for a team that&8217;s been to the state championship the last two seasons, everyone&8217;s focus is just a little bit clearer.

And their goal is to finish it off and have Wright taking part.

&8220;We&8217;re just ready to stop watching people celebrate on our field,&8221; Foster said. &8220;We&8217;re ready to be the ones celebrating at the end.&8221;