VIDALIA &8212; The most visible reaction in the dugout for the Vidalia Vikings was from their coach following a second inning where they had the bases loaded and couldn&8217;t get a run home.

The hitters, however, just responded the best way they knew how.

With their sticks.

The Vikings missed an opportunity to really break it open but came through in the next two innings en route to an 11-0 win over Jonesboro-Hodge in five innings Friday in Vidalia to open the Class 2A playoffs. The bottom part of the lineup made the biggest contributions with by driving in six runs.

The Vikings (18-6) will host Pope John Paul II at 4 p.m. Monday in a second-round game.

&8220;Coach was kind of worried, but we came through,&8221; said center fielder Trey Keith, who belted a two-run homer in the first. &8220;The pitching was good today, and (we had) no errors. We played like we&8217;re supposed to in the playoffs. (The bottom) just came through. Coach said we had to come through in the playoffs, and that&8217;s what they did.&8221;

The Vikings came through in just about every other phase of the game &8212; including Jordan Brewer&8217;s throw home on a double steal attempt to nail Tyrone Nears for the game&8217;s final out.

VHS head coach Johnny Lee Hoffpauir was even able to save starter Will Thomas for Monday after he threw only four innings and only 48 pitches.

&8220;We played with some intensity tonight, and the kids were really into the ball game,&8221; Hoffpauir said. &8220;The key was being able to keep our pitching in tact for Monday. The kids have deserved to win. They&8217;ve really worked hard and practiced hard. They deserve to play another game. There are 16 teams left now, and we&8217;ll see what happens.&8221;

Jonesboro-Hodge (10-9) won&8217;t be one of them, but the Tigers will admit they never thought they&8217;d be in the field of 32 to begin with. They finished in third place in the District 2 after putting up fights against Ouachita Christian and St. Frederick.

After that, head coach Joe Lockhart said, no one thought the wild card would come.

&8220;The last game we played April 17,&8221; Lockhart said. &8220;We didn&8217;t think there was any chance of us being in the playoffs. We were out practicing football and threw in a little baseball practice in this week, and it showed. You could tell we hadn&8217;t played in two weeks.

&8220;You tip your hat to Coach Hoffpauir. He always has a solid team. I don&8217;t know what else to say.&8221;

But bad things did occur for the Vikings in the second up against reliever Dusty Garner, and it was just what happened too often at the end of the regular season. The Vikings loaded with bases with no outs before the bottom fell out.

Charles Scott threw out Beau Doughty at home for the first out. Garner picked Jordan Brewer off third base for the second out. The right-hander then got a strikeout to end the inning with Thomas left on third and Tyler Bruce on second.

And the coach was sick with the heart of the lineup at the plate.

&8220;Probably not as bad as I reacted,&8221; Hoffpauir said of his team&8217;s response. &8220;We&8217;ve done it so much the last few ball games. We make a mental mistake on third base and don&8217;t get the job done with our 3-, 4- and 5-hole hitters. We had a chance to break it open. But they came back from it, and that&8217;s the good thing.&8221;

The bottom of the lineup picked up the slack with a two-run single from 8-hole hitter Nick Coley in the third for a 6-0 lead. It all came after they put up four runs off starter Trevor Hall in the first with Keith&8217;s homer and 7-hole hitter Cameron Ainsworth&8217;s RBI single.

Hall left after 27 pitches thrown in the first.

&8220;He had some arm trouble that he didn&8217;t tell us about in pregame,&8221; Lockhart said. &8220;He&8217;s not one to complain to us. They were telling us he was 78 and 79 on the gun, and he was 6 of 7 mph off. We had to put Garner in, and up until a couple of weeks ago he was having elbow problems. But I&8217;m not making excuses. Vidalia can hit the ball.&8221;

Ainsworth had a big two-run double with the bases loaded in the fourth, and Coley followed with a groundout to short that scored Shayne Knapp. Nine-hole hitter Doughty singled in Ainsworth.

The bottom four hitters went a combined 6 for 9.

&8220;Shayne Knapp is really swinging the bat well,&8221; Hoffpauir said. &8220;You&8217;ve got to have (everyone hitting) to win in the playoffs to give yourself a chance.&8221;