NATCHEZ &8212; Since no member of the Natchez High baseball team has an inkling of what to expect in the playoffs, Lawrence County provided a taste Monday night.

In the final regular season game for both playoff-bound teams, the Cougars smashed 13 hits en route to a 13-5 win over the Bulldogs at Chester Willis Field. It might not have had a playoff feel to it, but the game did give the Bulldogs an indication of what it may see from a tough Gulfport team this weekend.

Solid hitting, steady defense and maybe a pitcher or two with a fastball that&8217;s intimidating.

&8220;We&8217;re just going down there,&8221; NHS junior shortstop Edward Johnson said. &8220;We haven&8217;t really talked about it. We&8217;re just going down there trying to win. We don&8217;t know how it is. We wanted to win district, but it didn&8217;t work out that way. We&8217;re not going to take (Jim Hill) light, but we&8217;re going to try to finish them off.&8221;

It&8217;s the first playoff appearance for Natchez High since the 2001 season when the Bulldogs were swept by Pascagoula in the opening round. Since then, the Bulldogs had not won a single division game until this season when the MHSAA yanked them out of a loop with Vicksburg and Warren Central and into another with three Jackson public schools.

The drought ended, and the Bulldogs will face Jim Hill in the first round Thursday. If they win, they&8217;ll face a Gulfport team coached by Michael Lindsey &8212; the former Natchez High coach who left following the 2001 season.

&8220;We played about as well as I expected,&8221; NHS head coach Charlie Williams said. &8220;I was impressed with my kids. We knew what we were up against, and that&8217;s the type of team we need to see going into the playoffs. We hit it good but right at them. I just try to keep them focused and keep their minds on the game. We&8217;re going to go down there and make some noise in Gulfport.&8221;

The Bulldogs (15-11) found out the hard way that although putting it in play and minimizing your strikeouts are good things, it&8217;s not everything.

The Bulldogs struck out only twice through six innings before the Cougars brought in their ace to pitch the seventh (three strikeouts, 14 pitches) and shut the door.

The Bulldogs had just five hits off starter Jonathan Stephens but couldn&8217;t get many to fall.

Thomas Hughes doubled in Cameron Logan in the sixth for the final run, but the next three batters couldn&8217;t find a hole in the infield.

Hard-throwing Jack Russell closed it in the seventh.

&8220;We made plays behind (Stephens),&8221; Lawrence County head coach Cory Keyes said. &8220;Jonathan is our No. 4 or 5 guy, and we&8217;ve got to make plays for him. He&8217;s a senior and made the 4A-5A All-Star game. This was Jack&8217;s day to throw. He needed to throw a little bit. He hasn&8217;t thrown since last Tuesday.&8221;

The Bulldogs had better results at the plate in the third and fourth innings off Stephens when they trimmed the deficit to 7-4.

Cameron Logan scored on an error, Johnny Williams singled in Thomas Hughes and Johnson tripled before scoring on a wild pitch.

In the fourth the Bulldogs manufactured a run when Desmond Smoot walked, stole second, went to third on a bad throw on the play and scored on Hughes&8217; sacrifice fly to left.

&8220;We hit the ball real well, but we hit it right to them every time,&8221; Johnson said. &8220;They just made the plays every time. But they hit the ball. They&8217;re a good-hitting team. We&8217;re seeing the ball very well now, but that last guy just blew it past us.&8221;

Then there was the case of Lawrence County&8217;s bats. The Cougars (24-3) put up three runs in the first and four in the second off NHS starter Cameron Logan. Then after the Bulldogs trimmed the lead to three, the Cougars tacked on three more in the fourth with two coming on Marty Ballard&8217;s two-run homer over the fence in right for a 10-4 lead.

The second inning was tough for Natchez after the first two batters got out. Trent Hartzog tripled to score Joseph Evans, Stephens singled in Hartzog and slugger Taebyus Smith poked one over the fence down the line in left for the 7-0 lead.

&8220;I think it was off the end (of the bat),&8221; Smith said of his seventh homer this spring. &8220;I didn&8217;t think I hit it hard. I thought I would hit it short, but it went out. I think that was one of the shortest ones I&8217;ve hit this year.&8221;

The Cougars added three more runs off Johnson after he came in the game with one out in the fifth. But they, too, are getting into playoff mode after winning their division last week win a crucial series with Terry.

Now it&8217;s on to the playoffs, where they lost in the second round last season against East Central.

&8220;We won (division) last year, and we wanted to defend it,&8221; Keyes said. &8220;We lost two starters from last year&8217;s team. We made it to Game 3 of Round 2 last year. Now they&8217;ve been there and know what it takes to get back.

&8220;Natchez is going to be great. They&8217;ve only got one senior. They&8217;re going to be a good ball club next year.&8221;