NATCHEZ &8212; Ryan Ellington and his Franklin Academy team figured one thing out from the three previous meetings with Huntington left-hander Trey Brasher.

That first pitch is coming hard and down the pipe.

That&8217;s why the Cougars hit the first pitch they saw from Brasher four times as part of a five-run second inning, and by the end of that frame the game was all but out of reach. The Cougars pounced on Huntington&8217;s ace with a 7-0 lead after two before claiming an 8-2 win in the District 7-A tie-breaker game at Chester Willis Field.

The Cougars (24-2) will host either Central School or Riverdale in the opening round of the playoffs. The Hounds (13-8) will travel to Glenbrook next week.

&8220;That&8217;s what we&8217;ve been working on all week,&8221; Ellington said. &8220;Brasher is a good pitcher, and he throws a first-pitch fastball for a strike really well. We decided we would come out jumping on the thing. It worked out really well for the kids. We executed everything we worked on all week for this game. We came out and played a complete ball game.&8221;

The plan worked, even despite Brasher coming out early and throwing a breaking pitch to the first batter. The five-run second inning broke it open for the Cougars, and Devin Evans delivered the first piece of damage off a pitcher they couldn&8217;t figure out well twice this season.

It might have been on a 1-1 pitch, but Evans delivered a two-out single that scored Jared Eley and Darren Collie for the first two runs of the game. Ely and Collie reached base by slapping that first pitch from Brasher.

&8220;We just set in our minds that right off the bat we&8217;d jump on him good,&8221; Evans said. &8220;Usually that first pitch is good, and we jumped on it. Most of the time (he threw fastball), but he threw that first-pitch curveball to our leadoff batter. That was the first time we&8217;ve seen that. He threw a first-pitch fastball to me, and I made up my mind I was going to hit it.&8221;

By that time the damage was done, and it wasn&8217;t necessarily the first-pitch strikes from Brasher. The Hounds allowed Eley and Collie to reach on errors.

It continued, however, when Chad Sheppard hit the first pitch he saw for a double to score Evans, and Jake Wright slapped a 1-0 pitch for a single to score Caylor Martin and Sheppard for the 7-0 lead.

&8220;We couldn&8217;t do anything, but they had a lot to do with it,&8221; Huntington head coach Mitch Ashmore said. &8220;We didn&8217;t hit our spots well, and we had one guy swing the bat well. We got our butts kicked &8212; our hats handed to us &8212; and that&8217;s all you can say about it. They made the plays, and we made errors. It was a butt-kicking. I&8217;m man enough to say it, and that&8217;s what happened today.&8221;

The Hounds couldn&8217;t answer at the plate against three Franklin Academy pitchers, but their half of the sixth inning may have been their biggest frustration of the afternoon. Up until then they left at least one runner on base each inning but one, and in the sixth they loaded the bases with one out off Evans.

The left-hander, who entered with no outs in the fifth in relief of Martin, got two strikeouts on only seven pitches to get out of the jam and end the inning.

&8220;Most of the time that&8217;s how I get in,&8221; Evans said. &8220;Something ain&8217;t right, and I have to do my best and come back. I threw the first-pitch fastball (for the first strikeout), came back with a curveball and came back with a high curveball to get him. (Coach) told me to get ready in case something was wrong.&8221;

That left three runners stranded after the Hounds had already gotten Trey Corbett home, and the seventh inning was more of the same. Ellington pulled Evans after he walked Richard Steele to lead off the inning, and Sheppard gave up singles to Brant Bradley and Corbett right off the bat.

Corbett&8217;s shot scored Steele, but the Cougars got a double play on a ground ball from Ples Arthur when Martin scooped up the ground ball, touched second and made an off-balance throw to first to get Arthur.

Sheppard got the next batter looking at a third strike to end the game.

&8220;We had a chance to make a showing,&8221; Ashmore said. &8220;We never had a chance to win the game because we didn&8217;t come to play. We had chances to score runs, but we couldn&8217;t put the ball in play.&8221;

Said Corbett, who had three hits, &8220;It was one of those days. We haven&8217;t done well the last few games. I don&8217;t know what it is. People aren&8217;t focusing.&8221;