That wasn’t the wind blowing out just a bit in the late innings Friday night at Adams Christian.

It may have been the coaches breathing a sigh of relief when Corey Walker put the finishing touches on his best outing this spring in a dramatic 3-2 AC win.

In the quest to find a No. 2 starter behind Timmy Foster in the rotation, Rebel coaches have used either Walker or David Trisler in the slot with Trisler having the better outings earlier this season. But Walker turned in a gem against Prairie View and displayed the kind of potential he was tagged with after arriving at AC from Cathedral after last season.

And with the Rebels on the cusp of winning a District 3-AA title, that was a welcome sight. A win tonight at home against Copiah &045; or a Prairie View loss to Central Hinds Thursday &045; would give AC the title.

&uot;Corey did a heck of a job,&uot; AC head coach Gill Morris said. &uot;He got a little tight in the last inning, but the curveball was the difference. They swing the bats and are very disciplined, but Corey’s curveball was the real difference. That’s the best game he pitched all year &045; bar none.

&uot;If anybody missed this one, they missed a gem. All I could say after the game was, ‘You’re a special group.’ That’s all I could get out.&uot;

Morris admitted Thursday he wasn’t sure which of the two he would start against the Spartans, who took a 9-8 win at home Tuesday to get a leg up in the race for the district title. But the move to go with Walker was the right one as the hard-throwing right-hander allowed just one hit through four and didn’t walk a batter until two outs in the fifth.

Walker had the breaking pitch working as he struck out seven through six, including three straight after Cole Johnson was hit by a pitch and went to second on an error to lead off the fourth.

&uot;This was the best game I’ve ever seen him pitch,&uot; Foster said. &uot;Corey was throwing pretty well late in the game. That’s what was working tonight &045; his breaking pitch. He was throwing it real well.&uot;

The Spartans finally got it going at the plate in the seventh with six runs to tie it up before Foster’s three-run blast in the bottom half won it.

&uot;We didn’t look too good at the plate,&uot; Prairie View head coach Mike Hinton said. &uot;(Walker) kept us off balance all night. I thought he was real sharp. He threw a curveball for strikes when he needed to and got us to chase bad pitches. That’s part of being a good pitcher, and he did a real good job.&uot;

Even with the Spartans’ five-run seventh that put them back in the game &045; including the grand slam from Matt Hall that could have been an absolute back-breaker &045; Walker kept his composure by getting the final out on a called third strike.

He threw more pitches in the seventh &045; he walked two in the inning after going three deep in the count only twice before then &045; but closed the door.

And Morris couldn’t have been any happier.

&uot;I think he just got tight, and I don’t mean muscle tight,&uot; Morris said. &uot;He was mentally tight. He was trying to overthrow a little bit and trying to make things happen instead of staying within himself. We threw (Hall) a 3-2 deuce, and he kept his hands back and crushed it.

&uot;But he pitched well, and I’m proud of him. Corey has struggled some. I do put pressure on my pitchers to perform and do things right. I constantly remind them to focus. He was really focused tonight, as were all the kids. We talked all week about answering challenges, and for the most part we did.&uot;

BRACKET SET &045; Cathedral will get some time off this week before opening the playoffs with its four-team tournament at Chester Willis starting Thursday.

The Green Wave will host Enterprise, Mize and Puckett in the field now that MHSAA officials changed the format. Last spring was the first time for the sub-regional format, and this spring the format was tweaked to make more sense.

The Green Wave will face Puckett, the No. 4 team out of Division 8, at 7 p.m. Thursday. Last season the Wave won the Division but opened with the No. 3 team out of Division 6.

And old friend Mize, the No. 2 team in Division 8, will be back. The Green Wave has faced Mize each of the last three seasons, although the Bulldogs have a new coach in Sydney Wheatley and have played on after a tornado ripped through the school earlier this month.

&uot; I was surprised to see Mize in that bracket,&uot; CHS head coach Craig Beesley said. &uot;They didn’t get to finish their season out at their field. They had to go to Taylorsville. They’re still having a tough time getting them into school. They’re in trailers right now.&uot;

GIVE IT ALL &045; Huntington’s dramatic win over Tensas Tuesday in eight innings set the table for another one Friday over Franklin Academy to claim the District 7-A tournament, and pitching and defense may have carried the Hounds both times.

The win over Tensas was just as big, although the Chiefs didn’t compete for a playoff spot. The Hound had to win in their last at-bat and get some solid pitching from Jacob Bonnette, who was solid until finally running out of steam in the seventh. He fanned eight through six.

&uot;Ever since he’s come back from that ankle injury, he’s struggled hitting his spots,&uot; Huntington head coach Mitch Ashmore said. &uot;I think Jacob hit a lot of spots that were good. We’re going to turn him around and get him back to what he was doing well. It was not in my game plan to throw Brasher (Tuesday) by any means.&uot;

Bonnette battled in the early innings and suffered some hard luck. He walked two in the fifth with two outs, and Ashmore elected to intentionally walk Jones with the Hounds holding a 4-3 lead to get to Cody Hill.

Bonnette, though, plucked Hill with the pitch to score Ryan Borsch to tie the game. Dustin Fuller then flied out to right to end the inning.

TRAVELING MAN &045; Cathedral’s Preston Hicks could have been dizzy considering how much he moved around the field.

Hicks, a senior for the Green Wave, started Thursday’s game against Vidalia at first base, moved to shortstop in the second inning, right field in the fourth, came in to pitch later in the fourth and moved back to first base in the fifth.

Makes you dizzy just trying to keep it up with it.

&uot;I’m pretty much ready to play wherever (head coach Craig Beesley) wants to put me,&uot; Hicks said.

No kidding.

Changing positions &045; particularly changes as extreme as from infield to outfield to pitcher &045; can’t be easy, but Hicks did a fair job at most of his positions against Vidalia.

&uot;It’s tough moving around,&uot; he said. &uot;It usually takes a few plays and then I get settled down in the position, and I’m really ready to go,.

Christian Schmidt contributed to this report.