NATCHEZ — The Centreville Tigers needed to win just one game to assure themselves of a playoff berth Thursday.

They did one better than that, winning twice and securing the No. 1 wild card spot for the Class AA playoffs that begin next week.

The Tigers (19-10) defeated Prairie View 9-8 before routing Brookhaven Academy 10-3 in a wild card round-robin tournament that took place at Adams County Christian School.

Centreville was forced to play in the round-robin by finishing third in their district.

The top two teams in each district are guaranteed a playoff spot while the third place teams must play a round-robin to determine the final two playoff spots.

The Tigers secured their playoff spot with a dramatic win over Prairie View in the first game of the day.

Centreville led 8-6 going into the top of the seventh inning before Prairie View tied it on a two-run homer by Hunter Smith.

Any momentum Prairie View had from that game-tying blast was erased when Emile Garrett led off the bottom of the seventh with a homer that gave the Tigers the victory.

“Emile is a great kid that works hard,” Centreville coach Jason Horne said. “He’ll do anything you want him to do. Prairie View definitely had the momentum but Emile came up and hit it out for us.”

Daniel Perkins also had a homer for the Tigers, who overcame a 5-1 deficit in the second inning.

Cliff Hurst, Logan Felder and Chasae Williams all had doubles for the Tigers.

The second game wasn’t nearly as dramatic, as Centreville scored eight runs in the top of the second inning against Brookhaven to blow the game open.

“We knew we were already in the playoffs when we played Brookhaven,” Horne said. “I told my kids that we play to win every time and that’s what we did. I’m glad we’re in the playoffs.”

Tyler Towles and Blake Babel led the Tigers at the plate. Both had two hits, including a double.

Natchez High 18, Jim Hill 8

JACKSON — Natchez closed out the regular season by blowing out Jim Hill to finish in second place in District 6-5A with a 6-3 record.

The game was tied 2-2 after two inning, but Natchez scored four runs in the third and six more in the fourth to blow it open.

The Bulldogs were led at the plate by Trevon Chapman and Brian Isaac, who each had three hits.

Davion Ward and Kelli Puckett both had two hits for Natchez. Ward and Alfred Banks had doubles for the Bulldogs while Puckett hit a triple in the win.

Javon Washington was the winning pitcher.

Natchez will host Gulfport in a first-round playoff game next week. The date and time is to be determined.