Today is the day to decide who stays and who goes in the playoff series between Cathedral and Mize, and the Green Wave want to feel a little fortunate.

Handcuffed a bit Saturday by Mize pitcher Josh Melton Saturday night in his complete game win, he may not throw but a couple innings today in Game 3, set for 7 p.m. at Chester Willis Field.

Melton showed the wicked curve Friday in Game 1, but he was pulled before getting an out in the third after walking four batters. Adam McAlpin came in relief, and the Green Wave battered him for six runs in the 10-8 win.

&uot;He (Melton) was giving us trouble,&uot; Cathedral head coach Craig Beesley said Friday. &uot;We were putting people on base, but we really weren’t hitting the ball hard. I was surprised they took him out so quick. Once he got out, I felt like we could hit the McAlpin kid.&uot;

Both McAlpin and Melton weren’t on their best game Friday as far as control, Mize head coach Winston Mullins said, and it’s anybody’s guess who will get the nod today for the Bulldogs.

If Melton does take the hill, the Green Wave hope to finally get around on the curveball.

&uot;We haven’t seen a lot of that,&uot; Cathedral third baseman Wyler Murray said. &uot;It looks real good coming out of there. It looked real enticing.&uot;

The winner will get Union, who swept St. Aloysius in two games to land in the South State tournament.

So another Cathedral-St. Al baseball bout will have to wait until next year.

WAITING GAME &045; The playoff brackets for you folks across the river should be released Tuesday morning. Vidalia and Monterey are in with district championships to their credit, and each will get a wild card and open up the playoffs later this week at home.

Vidalia, undefeated and ranked No. 1 in the state in Class 2A, could likely draw a team out of the Monroe-area district, while Monterey may get a draw out of the Ville Platte-area district with Pine Prairie, Vidrine, Glenmora, Rapides or Bayou Chicot.

Vidalia head coach Johnny Lee Hoffpauir has a chance to notch career win No. 400 if the Vikings get to the state championship game. Thursday’s 14-0 win over Crowville was his 396th.

So what does he credit that to? Assistants Tim Herndon and Jerry Roberts.

&uot;You can’t do it without them,&uot; Hoffpauir said. &uot;Coach Herndon has been with me 16 years, and Coach Roberts has been with me one. To have a good team, you’ve got to have all that. I believe in my assistants, and I use them to the utmost and have complete confidence in them.&uot;

NO REGRETS &045; The playoff stay for Trinity Episcopal was a short one as for the third year in a row the Saints lost in the first round of the Class A playoffs.

The run ended at Coushatta, La., when they lost Game 2 of the best-of-three series against Riverdale to end the first season for head coach Jeremy Loy. But with the numbers and other adversity the team faced &045; including being a small school &045; the season could have been much worse.

It could have been one that wasn’t.

&uot;The guys did a great job battling through some tough times,&uot; Loy said. &uot;We were down to nine players at one point. We played four or five games with nine people. At times I didn’t think we would finish the season. They did a good job of fighting through and getting to the playoffs. For us to come on at the end, they did a great job.&uot;