NATCHEZ &045; The scouting reports came in like weather bulletins during a hurricane, and all indications had Silliman throwing a solid pitcher at the Adams Christian Rebels to start the playoff series.

And Josh Beauchamp was good Tuesday.

Yet the Rebels remained unfazed.

While the right-hander may have been the best they’ve seen in a while, the Rebels stuck with almost the same approach as they have in their 24 games prior to the opener of the Class AA South State championship series.

When the result was another shortened game when the Rebels won 15-5 in six, well, the same approach made for the same results. They have a chance to sweep with Game 2 today at Silliman.

&uot;We just hit the ball like we have been pretty much all year,&uot; said third baseman David New, who had two of the three AC homers in the game. &uot;We haven’t faced anybody really, really good all year. We had to make him spend some time and make it wait on us. You’ve just got to hit the ball.&uot;

The Rebels may not have pounded away on Beauchamp by finishing with seven hits, but they made the Wildcats pay for eight walks and two hits batsmen. All 10 of them came around to score, including two walks and a hit batter before David Trisler left the building in the sixth for a grand slam.

That was enough for Beauchamp, who left following Trisler’s granny in the sixth with a pitch count at 135. New later came up and hit a two-run homer following a walk to end the game early.

&uot;We just didn’t finish things offensively and defensively &045; that’s the bottom line,&uot; Silliman head coach Randy Sandifer said. &uot;They got the hits when they needed to, and that’s what it takes at this point in time. I’m just thankful we’re not in public school league and we’re not one and done. The situation we’re in, we knew what the task is. We’ve got to play well for 14 innings.&uot;

The Rebels’ bats came alive in the sixth after they put five runs on the board in the first inning on one hit off Beauchamp after he walked three of the first four batters he faced. But in the sixth, Trisler broke the game open with one out after Dustin Case walked, Cole Bradford was hit by a pitch and Timmy Foster walked to load them up.

Trisler, who doubled earlier, had the task of hitting behind Foster &045; who had a rare off night by not getting a hit.

&uot;It was my fourth time up there,&uot; Trisler said. &uot;He had thrown me a fastball up, and I missed it twice. That last time I was sitting on it. He was behind in the count. I knew he would give me a fastball.

&uot;He had a really quick delivery, and I was really patient at the plate. Once you get in the box, he was in his windup and he was going to throw it. Once we got in the box, we had to get ready to hit.&uot;

The Wildcats brought in Cameron Gentry following Trisler’s shot, but Gentry walked Jamie Morris before yielding the homer to New to end the game for his second dinger. The six-run inning was the knockout blow after Beauchamp held the Rebels to four runs on four hits from the second inning to the sixth with just four hits.

&uot;We had some huge two-strike swings tonight,&uot; Adams head coach Gill Morris said. &uot;The scouting report on (Beauchamp) was don’t let him get in a groove. I don’t know if it was noticeable, but we really took a lot of time getting into the box tonight. We were trying to keep his timing off. We played a full seven innings tonight, I thought. Timmy struggled some, but when you put the ball in play and keep the ball in play, you’ll win most games.&uot;

The Wildcats (18-10) had more success putting up hits off Foster as they finished with nine, but some key defensive plays in the field and lack of key hits kept them from pushing runners across.

Beauchamp homered off Foster in the fifth to trim the lead to 8-3, but Spencer McLain was gunned down at the plate by Ray Simpson trying to score on a David Price single. Then in the sixth, Simpson nailed Gentry at the plate by a step when he tried to score on a Beauchamp sacrifice fly.

&uot;Foster made the pitches when he needed to make pitches, and we didn’t,&uot; Sandifer said. &uot;I’m going to say of their 15 runs, eight of them had reached on a walk or a hit batter. We just couldn’t get the key hits. I think that was a big difference in the game. We had our opportunities but couldn’t get the clutch hits.&uot;

Simpson’s second assist of the game came after Andrew Forbes and Ashton Donze crossed the plate after getting singles to lead off the inning. Btu the Wildcats left the bases loaded in the third when Foster got Price to fly out and left two on in the second after Donze singled in two runs.

&uot;Silliman has as much pride on their field as we do,&uot; Morris said. &uot;They’re going to come back tomorrow. There are only three teams left, and we need to go down there and the kind of game we played tonight.&uot;