Tuesday’s collision between two teams, Clinton and Warren Central, tied at 4-0 at the top of the 4-5A standings, showed one thing.

The gap between first and second place is a pretty deep chasm.

Clinton took advantage of nine Warren Central errors to earn a 15-5 victory in six innings.

The Arrows (14-2, 5-0) jumped to a 7-0 lead after a two-run first keyed by an RBI single by Luke Rowan and a sac fly by Clayton Kabbes and a five-run fourth that chased WC starter Colby Key after only 3 1/3 innings of work.

“That’s what made them a better team today,” WC coach Josh Abraham said of his team’s costly errors. “We’ve got to make plays defensively. But the boys went hard on every play they made and that’s all I can ask. Sometimes you just don’t make them all. This team will get better.”

Key took the loss, allowing four runs and seven hits and striking out three.

In the fourth, consecutive singles by Adam Thigpen and Kabbes turned into runs after a costly bobble. Grae Ormon plated one run with a single and Akiko Thompson drove in two with another single to cap the inning.

“In the beginning, we really hit the ball well,” Clinton coach Eddie Lofton said. “In the third inning, we kind of got lazy with a 7-0 lead. The main thing was that we put the ball in play and put the pressure on them.”

In the bottom of the frame, the Vikings (6-10, 4-1) finally showed signs of offensive life against Clinton lefty Alex Gunn, who carried a perfect game into the inning. Back-to-back singles by Adam Lee and Beau Wallace set the table for Dylan Wooten, who ripped a double off the fence to score both and cut the deficit to 7-2.

After WC reliever Jay Harper retired the Arrows in order in the fifth, Clinton put the contest out of reach with an eight-run sixth punctuated by four errors and four hits. Thompson earned his third RBI with a single, Thigpen drove in two runs off a double and Patrick Barnes plated another with a shot down the line. Andrew Gunn capped the inning with an RBI basehit as the Arrows pulled in front 15-2 going into the sixth.

WC finally got on the board again in the sixth off Clinton reliever Grady Turman. Jason Pettway ripped a two-RBI double off the wall, allowing Lee and Wallace, who led off the frame with back-to-back singles, to score. Carlos Gonzalez plated another off a groundout, but the Vikings could not cut the deficit any further as Turman induced an easy flyout to end the contest.

Alex Gunn earned the win in five innings of work with seven strikeouts and only gave up three hits and two runs.

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Contact Steve Wilson at swilson@vicksburgpost.com.