The Porters Chapel Academy Eagles were focused on a state championship as they returned to practice on Monday – just not the one they still have to win.

The Eagles, who won the second MPSA Class A championship in school history on Saturday, took a few leisurely batting practice cuts, wrestled each other for fly balls in the outfield, and planned a meeting to design their championship rings.

Somewhere in between, they retold stories from their dramatic Game 3 win over Huntington School and prepared themselves for the next challenge.

PCA will open the first MPSA Overall Baseball Tournament tonight at 6 when it hosts Jackson Academy. The winner will take on either Central Private or Adams County Christian at Smith-Wills Stadium in Jackson on Thursday at 3 p.m.

The Eagles are hoping for a good showing in the single-elimination tournament. But with their Class A title already in the bag, they aren’t stressing over it.

&#8220At this point, anything that happens for us is gravy,” PCA coach Randy Wright said. &#8220We accomplished our goal of winning a state championship. But we’d love to come out against JA and give ourselves a chance to win.”

On paper, that might seem far-fetched. Jackson Academy finished as the Class AAA, Division I runner-up after losing a grueling three-game series to Hillcrest Christian.

The Eagles, though, are not unfamiliar with their larger opponents.

The Eagles lost 4-2 to Jackson Academy in a spring break tournament – with No. 5 starter Dan Ivey on the mound. PCA (26-9-1) also gave Hillcrest two tough games this season, and saw Overall participants Simpson Academy and ACCS last season.

Wright felt that the Eagles’ tough schedule over the last two seasons, along with a deep pitching staff, gives them a fighting chance.

&#8220We feel like we can compete with anybody in the MPSA. We play good teams every year,” Wright said. &#8220We don’t look at this as an unreachable goal to be able to win this week.”

Gearing up to play again at a time when most teams would be celebrating was definitely a weird experience, PCA’s players said.

The Eagles rolled through the first three rounds of the playoffs, sweeping six games to reach the Academy-A finals for the fourth time since 2001. In the finals, however, they got all they could handle from Huntington.

The two teams played three emotional one-run games, including two that came down to the bitter end.

After Huntington won Game 1 5-4, PCA’s Michael Busby hit a walk-off home run to lead off the 10th inning of Game 2 and keep the Eagles alive. Then, in the deciding Game 3, PCA squandered a 6-0 lead before hanging on for a 7-6 win. The final out came when PCA’s Matt Cranfield threw a wild pitch, then blocked the plate and tagged out Huntington’s Hunter Norwood as he slid headfirst into home.

The only thing that could top those finishes, Ivey said, was doing it again this week against the MPSA’s best.

&#8220It’d be nice (to win),” Ivey said. &#8220It’d be a bonus on top of everything that’s already happened.”