NATCHEZ &045; Come out tonight: same time, same place, same teams.

The Natchez 11-12 Little League All-Stars and their opponents from Hattiesburg might get sick of playing each other soon. Hattiesburg beat Natchez 2-1 Thursday night, avenging an 8-6 loss to Natchez Tuesday.

And tonight the two teams will go at it for the third time in four days, this time with the District 1 Championship and a berth to the state tournament on the line.

Tonight Natchez ace pitcher Javon Washington and Hattiesburg ace Ricardo Hogan will face off in a battle of top pitchers.

&uot;Tomorrow I guess we’ll face Washington,&uot; Hattiesburg head coach Kenny Fairley said. &uot;But we’ll be throwing our ace, Ricardo Hogan, too. He hasn’t lost in two years, not one game, so this will be the two best teams with the two best pitchers.&uot;

That may set up as another pitcher’s duel in the mold of Thursday night’s game, in which the teams combined for five hits and three runs.

&uot;Everybody’s bats were kind of quiet tonight, but in Little League baseball, at any moment that can change,&uot; Fairley said.

Thursday night neither team could get much going offensively, in large part due to the work of Natchez pitcher Brian Isaac and Hattiesburg hurler John Strickland. Isaac shut down Hattiesburg over the final three innings, allowing just one baserunner and pitching his way out of a jam in the fifth in which runners were on second and third with no outs. Isaac struck out Trey Jackson, the Natchez defense gunned down Rex Ferguson at the plate and Dada Cook ground out to the second baseman. Isaac had six strikeouts in the final three innings.

&uot;I was worried about my pitching coming in, but my pitcher did great. He did a wonderful job,&uot; Natchez head coach Ronnie Brooks Sr. said. &uot;We just didn’t hit. Even when we got some guys on base, we didn’t get any timely hits.&uot;

Strickland did a similarly stellar job for Hattiesburg, striking out 16 batters and three times pitching out of jams with runners on third. Natchez left Washington stranded at third in the third and sixth innings, which both ended with the final batter caught looking at one of Strickland’s strikes.

&uot;He’s real solid. We called on him and he responded tonight,&uot; Fairley said. &uot;He’s got great control. He doesn’t throw that hard, but he throws strikes.&uot;

Hattiesburg started the game hot, with Jackson tripling in the first and coming in to score on Cook’s ground out, putting his team up 1-0.

In the second, Hattiesburg pitcher John Strickland led off with a single, went to second on a passed ball, third on an error and scored on another passed ball, providing Hattiesburg with all the scoring it would need in this game.

Natchez’s only run came in the third, when Isaac led off with a walk, stole second and went to third on a passed ball. Isaac scored three batters later when Washington got a bloop double to right field.

&uot;If you told me they would have two runs tonight, I wouldn’t have thought there was any way we could lose,&uot; Brooks said. &uot;We have to get the fellows to hit. When there’s only one run, that means nobody hit tonight. They all have to do better.&uot;