NATCHEZ &045; Forget the worries about who Adams Christian will face this weekend.

The biggest matchup problem AC head coach Ron Rushing is facing is the weather. The Rebels were set to host the eight-team summer tournament starting today, but one team dropped out in fear of the weather and the whole thing may be put on hold due to rain.

Rushing told Humphreys Academy not to make the drive down to Natchez in fear of not being rained out. But if the rain holds off, the Rebels will face a Brookhaven All-Stars team in a doubleheader at 5 p.m.

&uot;If it rains any, we definitely won’t be able to play,&uot; Rushing said. &uot;We may not be able to play now. If there’s any was possible to play, we’ll try to play. But it doesn’t look good. Everybody in the state has got this problem.&uot;

Rain is in the forecast for today, although it does look better for Friday and Saturday. Other games are booked for those two days at the Rebel Diamond with five other teams coming to play &045; North Pike, WCCA, Wesson, Trinity Episcopal and Amite School Center.

Friday’s schedule includes Brookhaven facing WCCA at 5 p.m. and Wesson meeting Trinity at 7 p.m. On Saturday Trinity and WCCA will each play two games, including a match against each other at 5 p.m. for the final game of the weekend.

The worst would be having the entire weekend washed out due to inclement weather, which would be par for the course the way the summer has gone. The four-team league with Adams, WCCA, Trinity and Amite has been abbreviated, to say the least, with everyone dodging rain to get games in.

Then consider the fact that AC has had little trouble in the games they did get in, and you can reason the summer has not been as productive as it could have been.

&uot;It’s going to be a nice tournament &045; if we can get some games in,&uot; Rushing said. &uot;Wesson has a pretty good team who made the playoffs last year, and North Pike made the playoffs. I really don’t feel like we’ve gotten better, but our pitching has. It’s helped us out a bunch. But next year we’ll change it up. We’ll go out and play some tournaments on the weekends and try to play 25 to 30 games.&uot;

The same can’t be said for Trinity Episcopal, a young team who has used the summer to get as many reps in as possible. The Saints have been competitive against WCCA and Amite this summer while struggling against the Rebels just like everyone else.

It’s also been a chance to work on their pitching with big Kolby Godfrey finding a comfort zone on the mound.

&uot;We’re looking forward to playing,&uot; Trinity coach Bubba Griffey said. &uot;Our pitching is starting to come around. Kolby is doing a lot better just throwing more. He’s throwing the ball a lot harder, and he’s starting to hit his spots a little better. He’s thrown one out of two games. We’ve used him in spots here and there.&uot;

Godfrey got some innings in two weeks ago when the Saints went down to a tournament in Brusly against some quality small-school programs there such as Brusly High, West Feliciana, Dunham and Silliman. It gave the team a chance to improve their abilities at the plate while cutting down on the number of strikeouts.

Turned out, Griffey said, in the five games there the Saints struck out just four times &045; and only once looking.

&uot;We score anywhere from 8 to 10 to 12 runs a ball game with the exception of when we played ACCS,&uot; he said. &uot;We were just out-matched. They’ve got one of the better ball clubs I’ve seen.

&uot;We should have went 4-1 (at Brusly). We just didn’t have the pitching depth. We scored on average I’d say eight or nine runs. This whole ball club is coming around. They showed this summer they know how to play. They just need to mature and know how to play against AC, Silliman and bigger teams like that.&uot;

The Rebels, meanwhile, are not scheduled to play on Friday or Saturday and will just play the two games. That, however, may change pending the weather today. Rushing said the rain has left him unable to keep the grass cut, and he’ll check it out today to get things ready.

&uot;I’ll get out there in the morning and try to cut it,&uot; he said. &uot;The field dries great. If we get some wind or sun or both, I think we’ll be able to play.&uot;