By CURTIS ROCKWELL/Sports Director

PEARL — Although both George County and Saltillo each sit just two wins away from the second state title in the past four years for both, these two teams didn’t always seem destined to meet in the Class 6A state championship this season.

That’s because both the Rebels and Tigers got off to pretty slow starts to their respective current campaigns.

George County, in fact, which stands at 24-10 entering the series opener Tuesday night, sat at 5-7 with five losses in its past six games as it started Region 4-6A play in mid-March.

The Rebels, though, went 13-2 in league play and have also won six out of seven playoff games so far.

Meanwhile, the Tigers started the season off 1-4 before reeling off 18 straight wins. Saltillo is 24-5 coming into the state finals, including six straight wins in the playoffs after Grenada snapped that winning streak 3-2 in the regular season finale.

“That’s our reminder of what losing feels like, and that’s a gut check leading into the playoffs, when it matters,” Saltillo head coach Eric Reynolds said, at the time. “The regular season’s over with, the division’s over with, the only thing that matters now is playoffs. We got a reminder of what defeat feels like. We won’t have to worry about the streak any more, keeping it going. We’re just worried about winning two out of three over the next four weeks.”

Among the top players for Saltillo are infielder and “Class 6A Mr. Baseball” Baylor Roberts, a UAB signee, who is hitting .360 with four home runs and 27 RBIs as well as pitcher Wilson Rodriguez ( (9-2, 0.75 ERA, Itawamba CC signee) and pitcher Jordan Evers (Northeast CC signee) as well as outfielder Jack Adams (.398 BA, 11 RBIs, 36 runs).

Saltillo prevented a rematch from last year’s Class 6A state title match-up by sweeping past Warren Central last week in the Class 6A North State finals. Rodriguez threw a complete game two-hit shutout with 11 strikeouts in the Tigers 7-0 win to wrap up the series.

lGeorge County swept the Vikings with a pair of 3-2 decisions last season to take the state title.

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 that veteran head coach Brandon 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 ended with a 7-0 shutout win Wednesday night at home in Lee County.

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 last year for their first state title since 1997.

Game on is Tuesday night and game two is set for Tuesday night, both slated for 7 p.m.