NATCHEZ &8212; Only three names are familiar in Simpson&8217;s starting lineup. And the coach? He&8217;s new, too.

But one game into the books in the MPSA Class AA state championship series, and the result has been similar to last year&8217;s edition. The Cougars finished off Adams Christian in the opener, 11-5, to take the series lead back home today for Game 2 with a chance to end the series and avoid a return trip to Natchez.

SA head coach Winston Mullins, in his first year after a few seasons coaching at Mize, credits the newcomers and a willingness from the returners to shoot for a third straight title.

&8220;They lost six or seven seniors from that team,&8221; Mullins said of last year&8217;s Cougars, who downed AC in three games for the crown. &8220;They got a couple of transfers from Mendenhall, and a couple of kids from Florence came in. I&8217;ll be honest with you &8212; I knew we&8217;d be good. Pitching has been our strong point, and we&8217;ve started hitting the ball well again.

&8220;But when you get here, you can&8217;t take anything for granted. You never know how it&8217;s going to end up, and you may never be back. You&8217;ve got to play for the moment.&8221;

The Cougars (25-5) did that off the Rebels&8217; top pitcher by hammering off 13 hits off Timmy Foster and Matt Barnes &8212; one every inning and 11 through the first five innings. Toss in six errors and four walks that came around to score, and that made for a one-sided score early.

Foster, throwing on just two days rest after pitching a ton in last week&8217;s three-game set with Brookhaven Academy, didn&8217;t have the curveball working. He was charged with eight runs in just over three innings.

&8220;They put pressure on us early, and we weren&8217;t making the plays,&8221; Adams head coach Ron Rushing said. &8220;I thought he did a good job early, but we didn&8217;t back him up today. He&8217;s thrown a lot the last two weeks. He&8217;s battled for us all year, and he does a great job. I thought he threw well enough tonight.&8221;

But the curve wasn&8217;t working, and he didn&8217;t throw much off-speed stuff to a team that was waiting on the fastball. Errors in the first three innings buoyed Simpson to its 6-1 lead with four coming in the third, and Tobey Lewis&8217; double in the fourth scored Tyler Fitzgerald and Ben Maddox for an 8-1 lead.

Foster walked the eight-hole hitter Lee Mashburn on five pitches after Lewis&8217; double, and Rushing pulled him in favor of Barnes.

&8220;I got a little tired and didn&8217;t have much, but you&8217;ve got to push yourself when you&8217;re out there,&8221; Foster said. &8220;I couldn&8217;t hit my spots tonight (with the curve). We had some errors, and their hitting and big innings helped them out a lot. Our backs are against the wall now, and we&8217;ve got nothing to lose.&8221;

The early innings helped out the Cougars, including two errors that led to four runs in the third. A grounder through the infield scored Maddox from third and Brent Warren from second and allowed Mashburn to reach base. Shannon Steed&8217;s groundout allowed Mashburn to score.

In the fourth Dustin Carroll&8217;s throw to second on a forceout attempt was too high, allowing Simpson to load the bases with one out before Lewis hit the double.

&8220;I think it was just nerves,&8221; Rushing said. &8220;I may have put too much pressure on them, or they may have put too much pressure on themselves. I told them over there (after the game), &8216;We&8217;re good enough. We wouldn&8217;t be here if we weren&8217;t.&8217; I don&8217;t know what&8217;s going to happen, but I know one thing &8212; everyone I have here will battle to the last game of the series. Hopefuly we&8217;ll be focused tomorrow and give them a good game.&8221;

The Rebels had their chances to answer at times but couldn&8217;t come up with key hits off Maddox, who went the distance while allowing six hits. The first run came in the second when David New and Eric Perry hit consecutive doubles, and Perry smashed a solo homer to open the seventh.

Maddox walked a run in during the fourth before getting Cole Bradford to fly out to end the inning with the bases loaded. The Rebels got two in the fifth off an error.

&8220;We both left too many on for a championship game,&8221; Mullins said. &8220;We got more home, and it ended up being the difference. With that lineup they&8217;ve got, no lead is safe. You could be playing at Turner Field. They&8217;ve got some really good hitters in that lineup.&8221;

Simpson&8217;s lineup isn&8217;t too shabby. The Cougars struck out only once through six innings until Barnes punched out two in the seventh. It&8217;s may be a new team, but the result is awfully similar to last season.

&8220;We got in a bunch of new people, and everybody stepped up huge,&8221; said Maddox, who belted a two-run homer in the seventh. &8220;We&8217;ve been hitting pitching like that all year. It&8217;s nothing new. We like to hit that.&8221;