NATCHEZ &045; There’s a showdown brewing in District 3-AA this week between two of the top teams in all of the MPSA.

But you’d have a hard time telling Adams Christian’s Rebels they’re a part of it.

The Rebels head to Bastrop, La., today for the first of two games against Prairie View in what will ultimately determine the district championship as the season begins to come to a close. And it may be the first highly critical game for a team that has big plans for the postseason after coming up just a bit short last spring in Class AAA.

But keep all that hush-hush. Today’s 6 p.m. contest isn’t that big.

&uot;Only if we let it be,&uot; Adams head coach Gill Morris said. &uot;If we go in there tight, we can wind up stinking up the joint. If we treat it like we have all our other ball games, we’ll be fine. We know it’s hard to win at their place, and we hope it’s hard to win here. Someone will win a district championship this week, and it might as well be us.&uot;

On paper today’s meeting could feature two teams playing awfully well with everything to be decided. Little may be known of the Spartans, but they enter the week highly regarded in the state poll and with the same 19-2 record the Rebels currently sport.

But with the wins the Rebels have had here lately and as well as they’ve had good hitting with solid pitching and defense, they know what it’ll take this week.

The Spartans come to Natchez at 6 p.m. Friday.

&uot;I think everybody is worried about it, but if we come out and play the way we play, we’ll have nothing to worry about,&uot; leadoff hitter Ray Simpson said. &uot;They’ve never lost in district, and we’ve never lost in district. If we pitch like we can and hit like we’re able to, we’ll be fine.&uot;

Yet there is plenty at stake for both teams today in Bastrop and Friday in Natchez as the outcome will determine who gets into the playoffs in two weeks as the No. 1 seed and the No. 2 seed. The Spartans were solid a season ago with left-hander Todd Faulkenberry, who now suits up for Mississippi State.

But they still have a solid pitching staff this spring. Morris and AC coaches got a chance to scout Prairie View Friday in a win over Copiah Academy.

&uot;They’re a good team,&uot; Morris said. &uot;I don’t think they’re in the Central Private league, and I don’t think they’ve played as good of teams as we have. But this is the way it ought to be &045; they’re No. 2, and we’re No. 3. It ought to be a good ball game. I don’t think their pitching is overpowering, but you don’t get to be 19-2 by not being fairly strong on the mound and defensively.&uot;

The pitching and defense may come up big for the Spartans against a Rebel team that’s been awfully hot at the plate in recent games. The Rebels scored 36 runs in the two games last week against Central Hinds, and they scored 19 runs in a Saturday sweep of Columbia and Parklane.

Junior Timmy Foster has blistered opposing pitching this season, but now the entire lineup is starting to catch on.

&uot;We’ve been pounding the ball, getting up 10 or 15 hits a game,&uot; Simpson said. &uot;We’ve been getting out of there quick. A lot of us look at it that way &045; if we get 20 hits and 10 or 15 more (runs) than our opponent, then we can get out of there quicker. We’ve faced (good pitching). We’ve got to get good hits, but we’ve got to get hits in good situations. Lately we’ve been seeing some pretty good pitching.&uot;

And if it’s the first critical challenge for the Rebels this spring, they’re warm to the idea. For a team that came up short in the Class AAA state championship series last spring, the move down has not been much easier in the double-A ranks.

A sweep could put them facing possibly Brookhaven Academy in the first round of the playoffs, but the Rebels have to play a single game with Copiah next week to finish the regular season before they can have any real thoughts about the playoffs.

&uot;It’s going to be a big series,&uot; shortstop Jamie Morris said. &uot;I believe they’re probably going to be one of the toughest teams we’ve played in a while. We know we can do it, but we just have to stay focused and give 100 percent all the time. That’s our goal &045; to win state this year since we came so close last year.&uot;

Morris said he likes the makeup of this year’s team as the Rebels got a good practice in Monday just prior to the storm passing through Natchez.

And it’s not just the seniors &045; a number of underclassmen were involved in that run to through the playoffs last season, and that may be the reason everyone arrives at practice and at games more focused.

&uot;It’s our senior year, and we want to give it our best to see how far we can take this thing,&uot; Simpson said. &uot;We didn’t do what we wanted to last year, but we still did great. Hopefully we’ll do a step better. It’s like coach always says &045; if we play our game, there won’t be any problems.&uot;