NATCHEZ &045; The quest is on for the ACCS baseball Rebels to find a No. 1 starter.

The departure of top right-hander Christopher Rayborn from last season’s squad has opened the door for candidates this spring, and junior right-hander Douglas Davis opened for the Rebels in their 13-1, five-inning win over Huntington to open the season Tuesday afternoon.

Davis went three innings and had his ups and downs &045; five walks, one hit batsman, six strikeouts and one hit &045; before freshman Timmy Foster threw the last two.

&uot;He got a little shaky,&uot; AC head coach Gill Morris said. &uot;We jumped out to an early lead, and he didn’t pitch as well as I thought he could have. He pitched good enough to win. It probably was just butterflies. He probably needs a little more work. A win is a win, and we swung the bat well and played defense.&uot;

The Rebels &045; who welcomed six new players from basketball following the team’s season-ending loss Monday &045; exploded for 11 runs in the first inning against the Hounds before tacking on two more in the fourth to enact the 10-run rule.

Davis made amends at the plate in the first with a three-run homer after freshman David Alton New III drove in a couple runs with a double and David Trisler walked.

&uot;All of them contributed,&uot; Morris said. &uot;Nine of the 11 hits came from the 11 we’ve had day-in and day-out. We played well, and it was a good opening game. Huntington is going to be good in their district. Coach (Mitch) Ashmore said they’ve had only four or five practices.&uot;

The Rebels will continue action Thursday in the opening day of the Amite School Center tournament. The Rebels will play three games during the weekend.