By CURTIS ROCKWELL/Sports Director

LUCEDALE — Last season, as George County won just its second state baseball championship ever, the Rebels faced an unfamiliar opponent in Warren Central in the title series.

After all, those two teams had never played before in the 13 year tenure of GCHS head coach Brandon Davis.

And although the Rebels have secured their second straight trip to the Class 6A state championship series, in the words of legendary pugilist Apollo Creed “ain’t gone be no rematch”.

That’s because the Vikings came up short in setting up a return engagement in the state finals this year, falling to Saltillo in two games this week.

So, for the second straight season, George County will be facing off with another unfamiliar foe in the Tigers for the state title, as the Rebels have never faced Saltillo in the 14 years Davis has been at the helm of his alma mater.

“They have a great tradition,” Davis said of the North State champs. “Talented. Good pitching staff and run the bases well.”

Saltillo’s two game sweep over Warren Central, which ended with a 7-0 shutout win Wednesday night at home in Lee County, pushed the Tigers to 25-5 overall. Saltillo has won six straight playoff games, recording four shutouts in the process, and the Tigers have won 24 out of their last 25 games with a lone 3-2 loss to Grenada three weeks ago the only blemish since Feb. 21st.

The Tigers were eliminated by WCHS in three games last season in the Class 6A North State semifinals.

Prior to that, they fell in the 2023 Class 5A state championship to East Central in three games. The Tigers beat Pascagoula in the 2021 Class 5A title match-up in three games to record their fifth state championship in program history.

This marks the sixth overall appearance in the state championship round for the Tigers, having only lost this far in the postseason in 1998 to Hattiesburg.

This marks the fifth trip in the past decade to the overall state championship round for Davis and his Rebels, who finally broke through with a two game sweep over Warren Central last year for its first state title since 1997.