NATCHEZ &8212; Can plays at the plate ever become old hat to watch?

Vidalia may make that happen before too long. When Jordan Brewer threw out Jonesboro-Hodge courtesy runner Tyrone Nears to end the game Friday, it marked yet another team that tried to score a run on the Vikings but couldn&8217;t.

Brewer, a strong-armed shortstop, fired to Cameron Ainsworth to throw out Nears to end the Vikings&8217; 11-0 win over J-H in five innings in the Class 2A playoff opener.

&8220;I don&8217;t know how many people we&8217;ve thrown out at the plate this year,&8221; VHS head coach Johnny Lee Hoffpauir said. &8220;It was a good read by Jordan. He&8217;s got that baseball savvy, and he made the throw. And ol&8217; Cameron, he hung tough.&8221;

Credit the Tigers for trying to make something happen and get one run on the board.

They called for a double steal with one out with a runner on first, and reliever Trey Keith got the second out of the inning on a strikeout. Ainsworth fired to second, Brewer cut the throw and threw out Nears at the plate.

&8220;It was just a kid trying to make a play,&8221; J-H head coach Joe Lockhart said. &8220;I&8217;ll never complain.&8221;

The play ended the game in five innings and allowed the Vikings to save their pitching for today&8217;s home contest with Pope John Paul II in a second-round game.

A NEW LEAF &8212; Monterey head coach Hank Zizzi didn&8217;t want to hear it, but we had to remind him about how far his club had come defensively Friday. The Wolves had no errors in an 11-1 win over Evans &045; a season that featured an 11-error loss to Cathedral at the start.

The Wolves didn&8217;t have an error behind submarine hurler Gary Evans in Thursday&8217;s win. The Wolves visit Choudrant in the second round today.

&8220;That&8217;s probably the best game we&8217;ve played all year,&8221; Zizzi said. &8220;We haven&8217;t really bombed out (since Cathedral). We&8217;ve had a few (errors) but not near as many as we had the first of the year.&8221;

That loss to Cathedral or others may still sting, but at this point it&8217;s helped the Wolves get to where they are. They had no choice but to play up with so few Class B and C schools in the area and took their lumps against the bigger schools.

But they did win against a good Caldwell team. And teams of those caliber are few and far between in Class B.

&8220;It&8217;s helped us through the years,&8221; Zizzi said, &8220;playing Vidalia, Cathedral, Jena and Block. It&8217;s really helped.&8221;

THE BLUES &045; Once glance and you&8217;d have thought the Kansas City Royals were in town for an exhibition game. The Adams Christian Rebels have spent this season in their old uniforms and have abandoned the red unis of recent seasons.

And they really are the old uniforms. Head coach Ron Rushing said most of the jerseys remained in storage from years ago when the Rebels wore either their blues, grays or whites. The last three seasons they had new versions where red was the primary color.

&8220;We went old school this year,&8221; Adams head coach Ron Rushing said. &8220;We pulled them out and ordered some fill-ins. I just don&8217;t like red. Coach (Gill) Morris had done a great job storing everything. All of our stuff has been in good shape.&8221;

The only issue has been different numbers. Catcher Eric Perry is one who will have a different number on one jersey than another. The grays and the blues are the same, Rushing said, with the whites being the different numbers.

Each of the last two years the Rebels&8217; and their reds were in the state championship series. In 2001, they were in their current uniforms when they lost to in the championship series.

This year, they&8217;re hoping, old will mean new &045; with a new result. They face Brookhaven Academy this week for Class AA South State.

&8220;I think Brookhaven Academy is the team to beat in the South,&8221; Rushing said. &8220;They&8217;re very athletic and have a lot of speed.&8221;