The Columbia Wildcats ended Region 7-4A competition Monday with a bit of spring cleaning, sweeping Poplarville in a two-game series to seal their spot as a No. 2 seed entering postseason play. Now, they've turned their attention towards their Round 1 opponent, Pass Christian, with hopes that positive momentum will help kick start a deep run in the playoffs.
The Wildcats' bats were red hot in the series opener April 12, scoring runs in five of seven innings en route to a commanding lead that was never surrendered. The fourth inning proved to make the biggest difference, as Columbia capitalized on fielding errors to score three more runs and pull away for a 9-3 victory.
Dylan Wallace was a force both offensively and defensively for the Wildcats. At the plate, he hit 3-for-5 with three runs. On the mound, Wallace struck out seven and allowed only two runs on two hits through seven innings of work. Collin Haney had a big day as well, batting 2-for-3 with an RBI and two stolen bases.
"I preached to them throughout the week that if we could go in and get a sweep, we'd get the No. 2 seed, and I thought our guys came out with a lot of fire in that first game," head coach Kyle Lindsey said. "We scored in just about every inning, which put a lot of pressure on Poplarville, and Dylan kept them in check on the mound, only giving up two hits and throwing a complete game.
"Offensively, I think just about everybody in our lineup put something in the box score. It was a whole-team effort, and I was really proud to see that."
Monday night the Wildcats had to work a little bit harder to earn the win in a defensive bout. The final lead change took place in the sixth, when Naji Cain singled on a 3-1 count to bring home the winning run of a 4-3 ballgame.
A committee of four shared the pitching load. After nearly a week of rest, Wallace got the start and delivered two innings of work, striking out two and allowing one run. Nik and Sam Carney split the next four innings, combining for three strikeouts with only two more runs surrendered to the Hornets. Haney came in for the save in the seventh, with two strikeouts and no hits allowed to retire the side and put away the contest.
"We tell them that whoever's got the ball in his hands at the time is our best guy," Lindsey said of his pitching rotation. "Having Game 2 get pushed back from Friday to Monday was kind of a double-edged sword in the sense that we had a few more guys fresh for the game but wanted to keep everyone fresh for the playoffs this Friday. But I thought our plan worked out. We had four guys who went out there and did their parts without giving up a whole lot of damage."
Cain carried a large part of the load offensively in the low-scoring contest, going 2-for-3 at the plate with a run and an RBI to help power the Wildcats to victory.
The Wildcats finished up their regular season schedule Tuesday with a non-district road game against Tylertown, but the results were unavailable at print time.
With Monday's win, Columbia earned a matchup with Pass Christian in Round 1 of the playoffs. The Pirates enter the series as the No. 3 seed out of Region 8-4A, boasting a 13-7 overall record. Similarly to the Wildcats, the Pirates won their final three contests and swept their last district series against Bay High to carry a positive wave of momentum into their first playoff series. Lindsey said he and his team expect Pass Christian to present a lot of challenges, which should make for an exciting series to kick off the postseason.
"I know one thing for sure — they're going to be really well coached," Lindsey said of the Pirates. "I got the chance to work with (Pass Christian head coach) Ricky Smith for a year when we were over at Pearl River, and he runs a fine program. I know they're a pretty athletic team. They've got a stud on the mound who's committed to Southern Miss, and they kind of go as he goes. He gets up to 90 mph at times and has a really good breaking ball.
"But at the same time, we've faced some pretty good arms throughout the season, and we've battled and put some hits together against them. I think we're to the point where we don't really look at the name on the other guys' chests. We just stick to our game, put our heads down and go to work."
Columbia will host Game 1 of the series Friday at 7 p.m., followed by a road game at Pass Christian at 7 p.m. Saturday. If necessary, the series winner will be determined back at Columbia with a Game 3 at 7 p.m. Monday.
