By CURTIS ROCKWELL/Sports Director

LUCEDALE — A pair of familiar foes face off in the opening round of the Class 6A South State baseball playoffs this week.

And that makes the series opener between Long Beach and home-standing George County Friday night here at Claude Passeau in Lucedale this week’s “Vertical Raise Game of the Week” for SouthMiss6 Sports.

Each week during the prep basketball season, SouthMiss6 Sports will feature a “GOTW” sponsored by Vertical Raise, the premier online fundraising platform for athletic teams and associated clubs and supporters of all ages.

While the Rebels and Bearcats have been common opponents over the past four years or so, this marks the first time the two teams have met on the baseball field in April in over a decade.

Since the renewal of this rivalry in 2022 after a seven year absence, George County holds a 7-2 advantage in the past nine match-ups.

This will be the first meeting between the two in the postseason since 2015, when the Rebels swept two games from the Bearcats in the opening round of the Class 5A South State playoffs.

In fact, Long Beach seems to make its way onto the GCHS schedule region title during spans of major success for the Rebels. That meeting 11 years ago was the first postseason action for the Rebels after they had just won a region title, which ultimately turned into four straight league crowns from 2015-2018 and three trips to the overall state finals in that stretch.

This season, GCHS is coming off its third straight region championship, and the Rebels have played for the state championship the past two seasons aswell. Included in that span is a Class 6A state title in 2024.

The Rebels are the top seed in Region 3-6A this season, and the Bearcats the fourth seed in Region 4-6A. The two teams were league rivals the past two seasons in Region 4-6A, before the Rebels were shipped north over the Summer.

George County is 19-9 overall heading into the state playoffs, and Long Beach is 8-20.

First pitch Friday night is set for 7 p.m. Game two in this best-of-three affair is set for 1 p.m., Saturday in Long Beach, with game three, if needed, back in George County Monday night.

As the premier online fundraising platform, Vertical Raise utilizes the newest technology through a tested combination of email, text and social media campaigns to maximize the reach of your fundraiser.

Our successes are built upon our best-in-class email deliverability, detailed tracking and the complete personalization of every participant’s page. Combining this proprietary system, with experienced and passionate fundraising coaches has made us the most effective fundraising platform available.

We look forward to partnering with you to elevate your organization to its full potential! Please contact your local fundraising rep Ricky Cunningham at 228-263-4755 for more information.