NATCHEZ — The Natchez Bulldogs are starting their baseball playoffs a day early, but, unlike the past two years, they do get to start them at home.

Natchez begins its second season at 6 p.m. Wednesday when the Bulldogs host Gulfport at Chester Willis Field.

That is the first game of what is a three-team mini tournament that composes the first round.

Natchez, the No. 2 seed, hosts No. 3 seed Gulfport Wednesday before the tournament moves to Oak Grove on Friday.

The winner of Wednesday’s game will play Oak Grove and then the loser of that game will play the loser of Wednesday’s game in an elimination game Saturday.

The winner of that game faces Oak Grove, with the winner advancing to the next round of the playoffs.

In previous years, the entire first round tournament has been played at the No. 1 seed’s field.

However, the rules were changed this year to allow the No. 2 seed to host the No. 3 seed in the first round.

“I think it’s real good to play this game at home,” Natchez coach Charlie Williams said. “It’s a reward to the kids for their play this year. Normally, they just reward the first place team by having them host every game. Our kids will be able to sleep in their own beds and get proper rest instead of being on the road.”

The game was originally scheduled for Thursday, but was moved to Wednesday to avoid conflicting with Cathedral’s second round playoff game scheduled for Thursday at Chester Willis Field.

But no matter when or where the games are played, Williams knows the Bulldogs must pitch well and play good defense if they are going to advance.

“We’ve got to play good defense and we have to throw strikes,” Williams said. “We can’t walk two or three and then let them get a hit.”

Williams said his team must field the ball better than they did in their loss to Terry last week.

“We’ve definitely got to play solid defense. That’s what killed us against Terry,” Williams said. “If we play good defense, we’ll be able to play with them.”

Another key to victory will be Natchez maintaining focus, something they didn’t do sometimes during the season, Williams said.

“We have a tendency to lose focus during certain games, but we’ve got to stay focused the whole time in order to have a chance,” Williams said. “It’s not going to be an easy task, and we’ll have to play our A game all three games if we want to advance.”