NATCHEZ &8212; When Prairie View&8217;s Colby Gilbert hit a three-run home run that eased over the fence in left-centerfield, it appeared that a pair of winning streaks and an undefeated season in District 3-AA were coming to an end.

Gilbert&8217;s home run, which surprisingly went out considering that the wind was keeping everything else in the park, gave the Spartans a 9-8 lead.

But Cole Bradford, one of six seniors recognized on Senior Day at David &8220;Papa&8221; New Field Friday afternoon, wasn&8217;t going to let that happen as his two-out single to right field scored Josh Calcote and Brian Sanderson to give the Rebels an dramatic 10-9 win.

&8220;It was a good pitch belt-high and on the outside part of the plate and I drove it the other way,&8221; Bradford said. &8220;It just felt good. I tried to put the ball in play and move the runners up.&8221;

Bradford&8217;s fourth hit of the game couldn&8217;t have come at a better time. With one out, Calcote singled and Sanderson hit his second double of the game. Luke Brumfield popped up to first base on the first pitch he saw from Kurt Rollinson, leaving Bradford as the Rebels&8217; last hope to win the game. And Bradford did just that.

&8220;He&8217;s been in this situation before and he&8217;s come through for us,&8221; Rebels head coach Ron Rushing said.

And Adams Christian (10-0, 19-2) had a lot on the line in this final regular-season game for Bradford and fellow seniors Timmy Foster, C.J. Wright, David New, Clay Floyd and Corey Walker.

In addition to going undefeated in 3-AA, the Rebels improved their winning streak to 18 games and extended their home winning streak to 31 games. They were also ranked No. 4 in the latest MPSA poll.

Prairie View (3-7, 11-12) played like a team that had nothing to lose and gave the Rebels everything they had.

With one out in the top of the seventh, Daniel Echols reached on an error and Matt Hall singled. Joseph Smith hit a fly ball into foul territory on the first-base side and Foster made an outstanding catch for the second out. But when it seemed the game was over, Gilbert shocked the crowd with his home run.

&8220;I was proud of the way they responded,&8221; Spartans head coach Mike Hinton said. &8220;Every game, we&8217;ve had one bad inning and we didn&8217;t respond. I didn&8217;t think (Gilbert&8217;s homer) was going to carry out. He&8217;s had some big hits for us in key situations. That was his sixth homer of the season.&8221;

That was also the only pitch that winning pitcher Sanderson, who ended up being the winning pitcher after pitching three solid innings after he came in for Matt Barnes, left over the plate.

&8220;Brian, all year, has come through for us,&8221; Rushing said. &8220;He&8217;s pitched for us in some tough situations.&8221;

Sanderson reached base all four times he went to the plate and scored three times, first on a suicide squeeze in the bottom of the second inning on an RBI groundout by Brumfield and then on an error in the bottom of the sixth during a five-run rally.

After Prairie View jumped on Barnes for three runs on five hits in the top of the first inning, Adams Christian answered with two runs on three hits. Foster and Eric Perry each had RBI singles for the Rebels, but starting pitcher Adam Sistrunk got out of a jam thanks to an inning-ending double play.

&8220;It was a lot of fun,&8221; Hinton said. &8220;He (Sistrunk) pitched extremely well. We wanted to give him a chance to finish. But he threw 92 pitches and he started getting tired.&8221;

After the Rebels tied the score at 3-3 in the bottom of the second, they didn&8217;t score again until the bottom of the sixth. Meanwhile, the Spartans added a run in the top of the third, which was aided by two errors and another run in the top of the fourth on an RBI single by Cox.

&8220;I thought out kids came out flat,&8221; Rushing said. &8220;Matt pitched a good game, but the defense behind him made a few mistakes.&8221;

Prairie View then went up 6-3 in the top of the fifth thanks to an RBI single by Gilbert, who had three hits and five RBIs in the game. But Adams Christian &8212; more specifically, shortstop Brumfield &8212; made the play that kept the Rebels with no outs.

After Sanderson relieved Barnes, Roby Jones hit a line drive that Brumfield caught for the first out. Brumfield then tagged out Joseph Smith and threw to first to get Gilbert for the triple play.

&8220;I just tried to keep us in the game,&8221; Sanderson said. &8220;Matt pitched well. We just weren&8217;t making the plays behind him. I came and threw strikes. The defense started stepping it up. We didn&8217;t come out focused and ready. But we finally realized that we had the home winning streak on the line and we started playing baseball.&8221;

Barnes allowed six runs on 10 hits. He did strike out four batters &8212; two to start the inning and two to end the inning, one of which got him out of a serious jam in the first &8212; and walked none.

After the Rebels let a golden opportunity to put runs on the board slip by in the bottom of the fifth, they finally took the lead for the first time in the game with five runs on three hits and four costly errors by the Spartans.Austin Weeks walked and later scored on a single by Calcote, who reached third on a two-base error by right-fielder Bracy Wilson. Then errors allowed Calcote, Sanderson and Brumfield score to give the Rebels a 7-6 lead. Bradford singled and later scored on a sacrifice fly by Foster for an 8-6 lead.

&8220;These guys (Adams Christian) can play the game,&8221; Hinton said. &8220;They don&8217;t believe they&8217;re going to be beat. We were short-handed. We had only 10 guys with us. The right-fielder started his first game in varsity.&8221;

Even though Sistrunk did throw more pitches than he&8217;s used to throwing, he held the Rebels to one run and two hits after the shaky start in the first before being relieved in the sixth by Gilbert, who allowed three of the Rebels&8217; five runs on two hits in one inning on the mound.