By CURTIS ROCKWELL/Sports Director

PEARL — Both George County and Vancleave are vying for their second state championship on the baseball diamond.

And the next couple of days will tell the tale for both the Rebels and Bulldogs. But both teams will have to travel different paths in search of their respective crowns.

George County is up 1-0 in the best of three Class 6A state title series, after slipping past Warren Central 3-2 Wednesday afternoon in game one. A win in game two, set for 4 p.m., Friday afternoon, will give the Rebels their first state championship since 1997.

But the Rebels have been here before with two shots to take a title recently and were not able to hold serve.

In 2018, George County beat Desoto Central 5-4 in the opening game of the Class 6A state title tilt thanks to five RBI’s from Cameron Cotten including a grand slam.

Before yesterday, that win was the last one in a state championship series since the Rebels beat Northwest Rankin in game three of that series 27 years ago.

However, it wouldn’t prove to be enough as the Jaguars bounced back to take game two 5-1 and game three 10-1 to take their second state title in four seasons.

Those losses came on the heels of an appearance two years before that in the Class 6A finals against Madison Central in 2016 as well as a trip to the Class 5A overall title tilt in 2015.

In 2015, Oxford swept away the Rebels and then MCHS did the same the next season.

Meanwhile, the Bulldogs have their backs against the proverbial wall in the Class 5A state finals against Lafayette after Vancleave experienced an historic outcome in game one Wednesday night.

But it’s not a memory the Bulldogs want to remember.

Lafayette’s Balin Bishop drove home the game-winning run in the top of the 12th inning here at Trustmark Park in an 8-7 win for the Commodores in game one of the Class 5A state championship series.

It marked the first ever loss in program history for the Bulldog baseball team in the state finals, and Vancleave now needs to win two straight games to bring home its second state title ever.

Lafayette can wrap up the state championship with another win in game two Friday night at 7 p.m., here at the home of the Class AA Mississippi Braves.

In Vancleave’s only other appearance in the state championship round, the Bulldogs swept New Hope in two straight games to win the Class 4A title in 2018.