NATCHEZ &045; Pitching Timmy Foster away didn’t work, so Brookhaven Academy tried to not pitch to the Adams Christian slugger.

That didn’t work, either.

Five-hole hitter David Trisler proved that with a big three-run double in the third inning, but just about the entire Adams Christian lineup came through with big hits as the Rebels hammered out an 11-0 win in five innings over the Cougars to claim the best-of-three series. Brookhaven pitchers intentionally walked Foster his first two trips to the plate and gave him free passes in Wednesday’s game. Finally, the batter behind him &045; in this instance it was Trisler &045; made them pay.

&uot;They’ve been doing that all series, and it’s been kind of tough,&uot; Trisler said. &uot;I haven’t really come through. Everybody on, I had a good pitch to hit, hit it the opposite way and the runners were moving &045; it worked out. I’m sure he’s frustrated because he didn’t get to hit, but as long as we score runs and win, he’s happy because he’s a team player.&uot;

The team did come to the rescue as eight of the nine starters scored a run with the one left over driving in a run in the fourth for the final run of the game. The offensive output was enough against Brookhaven’s pitching, but the Rebels came up with solid pitching and defense to put the game away early, claim the series after Wednesday’s tough loss and put them in the South State championship.

The Rebels will play Silliman in a best-of-three series with Game 1 scheduled for Tuesday in Natchez.

&uot;I told them before the game, ‘You’ve given them everything they’ve gotten,’&uot; Adams Christian head coach Gill Morris said. &uot;They’re not a terrible team, but without sounding egotistical &045; if we play ball, they can’t play with us. I’m not being negative on Brookhaven because they fought us tooth and nail. But a lot of it was our own doing.&uot;

That wild 15-14 loss Wednesday had 11 walks and six hit batters charged to the Rebels’ pitchers, and to say it left a bad taste in everyone’s mouths would be an understatement.

The loss gave the Cougars life after they fought hard in a 6-5 loss to the Rebels in the series opener. Even Thursday the Rebels (20-4) came off slow out of the chute but used the nine-run third inning to break the game open.

Trisler had his big hit to spark the rally after Dustin Case walked, Cole Bradford reached on an error and the Cougars elected to put Foster on after the runners moved up and the count went 3-0.

Foster just beat the throw at the plate after the catcher was ruled to have juggled the ball before making the tag.

&uot;We started off slow, but that third inning &045; everybody gets pumped on the big hit,&uot; leadoff hitter Ray Simpson said. &uot;It got us pumped up. When we get started, we don’t stop. Our defense was terrible last night, and we came out tonight and knew we had a big game. We played strong defense and played our game.&uot;

The big hit opened the floodgates in the inning as the Rebels sent 13 men to plate in the inning. The Cougars battled pitching problems with Paul Davis exiting following a walk to Jamie Morris after Trisler’s hit, and Seth Davis promptly yielded a single to David New that scored Trisler for a 4-0 lead.

Three walks and two runs later, Foster came up with the bases loaded &045; forcing the Cougars to pitch to him. Seth Davis worked the count 1-2 before Foster slapped a single to left to score Clay Floyd and Dustin Case.

Cole Bradford was thrown out at third to end the inning.

&uot;I thought we came out tight at the start of the game, and we didn’t know a thing about their pitcher,&uot; Gill Morris said. &uot;He was a little wild and wasn’t throwing very many curveballs. We came to the dugout between one of the innings, and I said, ‘Y’all are about to push my buttons.’ This was all fastballs.

&uot;Once we relaxed and started putting the ball in play, we got some solid hits. Two or three hard-hit balls seem to fire us up. It has all year.&uot;

The Rebels tacked on two in the fourth when New doubled in Jamie Morris and Simpson singled in New for the 11-0 lead. The Cougars couldn’t answer at the plate against Trisler on the mound despite putting runners on base each inning but the second.

In the fifth Seth Davis went to third and Cole Hodges to second on a groundout, but Trisler got the last out on a flyout to right to end the game.

&uot;Adams is a real good ball team, and I hope the best for them in the playoffs,&uot; Brookhaven head coach Steven Cooksey said. &uot;They made the big plays when they needed to, and we were not able to capitalize when we had opportunities.&uot;

The biggest defensive play had to be when Brookhaven put runners at first and second with one out in the fourth and Paul Davis hit a hard grounder to third. New stepped on the bag for the second out and fired to first where he got the putout.

Trisler also got two big strikeouts to end the second with runners left on second and third.

&uot;The defense was great tonight,&uot; Trisler said. &uot;I think we had one error, and that was me. As long as they hit ground balls and the defense plays well, it’s hard not to do well.&uot;