OXAPATER — Sam Parker and Gabe Smith combined on a two-hit shutout and Ty Brown went 2-for-3 as the Cathedral Green Wave defeated Noxapater 10-0 Friday afternoon to sweep the Tigers in the play-in round of the MHSAA Class 1A South State Playoffs.

Parker picked up the win after he gave up two hits, one of them a double by Keonte Daniels, struck out five and walked three in four innings. Smith pitched two innings of no-hit relief to get the save.

Both of Brown’s hits went for doubles. The first one brought in Andrew Beesley for the game’s first run in the top of the first inning. Brown hit a lead-off double in the top of the third inning and Smith came in for him as a pinch runner. After Smith went to third base on a wild pitch, Zach Flattmann doubled him in to make it 2-0.

Flattmann would later score on an error and Craig Bradley scored on a wild pitch to give the Green Wave a 4-0 lead. They put the game away with five runs in the top of the fifth. Four of those runs were courtesy of three Noxapater errors. Pate Shirley scored on a single by Jacob Jenkins.

Cathedral scored its final run in the top of the sixth when Shirley reached first on an error, went to second on a sacrifice bunt by Alex Weadock, went to third on yet another error by the Tigers and scored on a two-out single by Beesley.

Cathedral (17-5) next plays at Region 8-1A champion Lumberton at a time to be determined Thursday in Game 1 of a best-of-three series in the second round of the Class 1A South State Playoffs.

Franklin County 6, Choctaw County 0

ACKERMAN — There was no need for a last-inning rally for Franklin County Friday afternoon — not with Derick Brumfield on the mound as he pitched a complete-game three-hitter in leading the Bulldogs to a 6-0 win over the Choctaw County Chargers for a 2-0 series win in the play-in round of the MHSAA Class 3A South State Playoffs.

Franklin County gave Brumfield all the run support he really needed in the top of the first inning as the Bulldogs scored four runs. They added one run in the top of the fourth inning and one more in the top of the sixth.

DeMantre Collins went 3-for-3 and Hoby Mullins had a double for the Bulldogs. Coty Weaver was the starting pitcher for the Chargers and was charged with the loss, going just one-plus innings and giving up four runs, three earned, on five hits and one walk.

Franklin County (16-7) will next play at Region 8-3A champion Sumrall at a time to be determined Thursday in Game 1 of a Class 3A South State second-round series.

East Central 15, Natchez 2

Natchez — Though the scoreboard told another story, Natchez High School played one of its better games all season in a 15-2 loss to East Central High School in the playoffs.

The loss finished a 2-0 sweep. The Bulldogs lost Thursday 12-1.

It seemed the game would be over early when East Central took an early 7-0 lead in the first inning, led by Konnor Pilkington’s three-run home run, but Natchez stayed competitive while down 8-2 before a five-run seventh inning sealed the deal.