MENDENHALL — Randy Bell hit a solo home run off Simpson Academy pitcher Austin White to start the rally Friday night for Centreville Academy.

Bell’s homer started a three-run rally in the top of the fifth inning as the Tigers went on to defeat the Cougars 4-2.

The win gave second-ranked and District 6-AA runner-up Centreville Academy a 2-0 series win over Simpson Academy in the semifinal round of the MAIS Class AA South State Playoffs. And now it’s on to the championship round for the third year in a row, this time against District 5-AA champion Brookhaven Academy, which upset District 6-AA champion and top-ranked Central Private School two games to one after winning Game 2 of their series 11-0 and taking Game 3 7-3.

“We still have a lot of business to take care of,” Centreville head coach Jason Horne said. Game 1 of the best-of-three series will be at Centreville Academy on Monday at 7 p.m.

The first four innings turned out to be a pitchers’ duel between White and Centreville starting pitcher Cliff Hurst. The Cougars’ only run in that part of the game came on a steal of home plate with two outs and two strikes in the bottom of the third inning.

And with the way White was pitching, it looked like that lead would stand. That was until the top of the fifth.

“Randy had the big hit for us in the fifth. That got us going. Their boy (White) struck us out nine times,” Horne said. “The home run got us jumpstarted. They had to bring in another pitcher.”

Hurst got the win after allowing one run on just three hits with six strikeouts and only one walk and at the plate he went 2-for-3 with a double. Hunter Devall pitched the final two innings and allowed one run on two hits with four strikeouts to earn the save.

After the Tigers took the lead in the visiting half of the fifth inning, they added another run in the top of the seventh to go ahead 4-1. The Cougars scored one run in the bottom of the seventh, but it would not be enough.

“Cliff pitched great for five innings. Kept them off balance,” Horne said.

Ethan Noland had a double for the Tigers, who finished with six hits in the game. The Cougars were led by Robert Berry, who went 2-for-3, and Andrew Berry, who had a double.

Centreville Academy improved to 23-4 with the win while District 4-AA champion Simpson Academy finished with an overall record of 16-8-1.