In need of a catalyst last week before it started the District 7-A tournament in Liberty today, Huntington had its wish granted swifter than a blink of the eyes.

The Hounds’ victories against rival Trinity Episcopal and Claiborne Academy last week, may have sparked the wildfire head coach Mitch Ashmore was looking for, as fourth-seeded Huntington faces No. 1 seed and tournament host Amite School Center at 3 p.m. today.

&uot;We felt like we needed to win a couple of games to be able to have some sort of momentum going into the tournament,&uot; Ashmore said. &uot;We took these last two games very seriously. Anything can happen when you have double-elimination tournaments. Get a break or two, if it falls your way, you have to cash in on the opportunity to move on.&uot;

The four-team tournament essentially comes down to three teams battling for one spot for the South State tournament. By virtue of its regular-season 7-A championship, Amite is automatically in.

That leaves the Hounds, Saints and Rams of Wilkinson County Christian Academy to fight over the table’s scraps.

Trinity and WCCA open the tourney at noon today, with Saints head coach Matt Mason planning on throwing senior Walt Ketchings.

&uot;Walt is a guy that wants a challenge. He wants the ball in a big game,&uot; said Mason, who plans on working five hurlers through the week if things go well. &uot;Plus, it gives us a choice on who we want to go to in relief depending on what the situation is.&uot;

The Rams annihilated Trinity 12-1 when these two teams faced each other in Woodville in mid-March. Five Saints errors contributed to an ugly loss.

Mason feared a second chapter would be written early during the rematch at Chester Willis on April 1. WCCA jumped out to an 7-4 lead off Ketchings, before Andy Moon came in to close the door while the Saints were busy rallying to an 8-7 win.

&uot;We turned up our practices a little bit, getting everything running at faster pace,&uot; Mason said. &uot;They weren’t use to my system, but once we got that into place, it was easier to get more accomplished.&uot;

SOMETHING TO PROVE &045; Irrefutably, the most important aspect of Adams County Christian School series with District 2-AAA foe Jackson Prep concerns wins and postseason positioning.

However, a close second for the Rebels is earning respect statewide, or at the very least regionally.

Gill Morris’ bunch is well versed in what’s at stake beginning with a single game against the Raiders in Natchez on Tuesday.

&uot;We felt like we’ve been shun all year by the rankings &045; not that I pay a whole lot of attention to that &045; and one of our goals was to beat every team that was ranked,&uot; Morris said. &uot;We’re going to have to battle next Tuesday and show Prep we can play with the. They’re not going to fly in here with capes on. They’re a good ball team and we need to step up to the challenge.&uot;

AC swept through Lamar last week handsomely, ensuring itself of a No. 4 seed for the Class AAA State playoffs. However, a couple Rebel wins against big, bad Prep, and AC could avoid facing the North’s No. 1, whether that be Madison Ridgeland or Magnolia Heights.

Morris’ seniors have breathed live into the Rebels of late, which has the coach &uot;tickled pink.&uot; Nevertheless, Morris believes the club still lacks a killer instinct. And what better time to reveal it, than against Prep this week, he said.

&uot;We’ve got nothing to lose against Prep,&uot; Rebel cleanup man David Trisler said. &uot;This is a big series, and we’ll try to knock off Prep and shake their confidence a little bit.&uot;

PLAYOFF PICTURE &045; You can call it that, although the new MHSAA first-round playoff format isn’t following conventional tournament seeding.

Later this month Cathedral will host a four-team, double-elimination tournament after clinching the Division 7-1A title with a 12-2 win over St. Aloysius. But the bracket gets interesting with the No. 1 seed opening with the No. 3 seed of Division 5 and the No. 2 seed opening with the Division 5’s No. 4 seed.

And guess who’s happy about that.

&uot;The way it’s set up, it’s better to be in second place,&uot; said St. Al head coach Joe Graves, whose club is in second behind the Green Wave. &uot;We’re happy with that. I think there may be an opportunity to play (Cathedral) in the second round if it works out. It’ll be a test for us, but I’d rather be playing someone I know.&uot;

But don’t discount the No. 1 seed, as the Green Wave play hosts for the tournament.

&uot;A No. 2 seed is going to play a lower seed, but they’re going to have to travel,&uot; Cathedral head coach Craig Beesley said. &uot;I’d much rather play a No. 3 seed at home than a No. 4 seed on the road.&uot;

Eyes are on a number of teams in the South as teams to watch for in Class 1A, including the Green Wave with its solid hitting and 1-2 punch of Te Riley and Corey Walker on the mound.

Most folks have just one dominant pitcher on the 1A level.

&uot;There are several good teams in the South,&uot; Beesley said. &uot;You’ve got Union and Edinburg. Right now nobody is sure who is going to come out of the South. The South has some quality teams.&uot;

There’s also Pisgah, Scott Central and South Leake to watch out for. The Green Wave will get Division 5 in the first round, the league Greenville St. Joseph has ruled in recent seasons.

SIGH OF RELIEF &045; As dicey as things have gotten this year with the Vidalia Vikings, they did get a welcome sign Saturday.

Brett Hinson played the field for the first time in a couple weeks.

Hinson, who began the season as a 1A starter of sorts with Mac Ware, went down in the Vidalia Invitational with a sore arm and hasn’t pitched since. In fact, he hadn’t played the field.

It forced head coach Johnny Lee Hoffpauir to shuffle his deck even more, including inserting Tony Hawkins at second base for the first time in his life when Ware pitched.

&uot;(Hinson) was going to throw an inning, but we didn’t go but five,&uot; Hoffpauir said after the Vikings lost to Oak Grove, 11-0, Saturday. &uot;We’ll bring him along. Our goal is to get him ready for the playoffs. He was feeling good. He’s a big key for us. He wanted to get in there, and he’ll be all right.&uot;

Adam Daigle

contributed to this report.