Vicksburg High’s baseball season is over.

The Mississippi High School Activities Association ruled this morning that the Vicksburg-Saltillo first round Class 4A playoff game, which was suspended by rain in the sixth inning on Saturday, will not be resumed. Saltillo was declared the winner, 5-1, and will advance to face Neshoba Central in the second round.

According to National Federation of High Schools rules, a game is considered complete if one team is ahead after the visiting team has batted five times. When play was suspended on Saturday, both VHS coach Jamie Creel and Saltillo coach Johnny Bolen agreed to come back this afternoon to finish it.

Another game 50 miles away changed those plans, though.

The decisive Game 3 in the first-round series between Ridgeland and Tishomingo County was declared over in the bottom of the fifth, with Ridgeland ahead 2-0. Tishomingo County’s coaches protested and wanted the MHSAA to make a ruling. The association did, ruling in favor of Ridgeland. Because the Vicksburg-Saltillo game involved the same scenario, it was also declared over and Saltillo was awarded the victory.

Saltillo won Game 1 on Friday, so the decision gave them the series win as well.

“With two games involved, the MHSAA didn’t want to make two separate rulings. So they declared both games over. That’s the way it is,” Creel said.

Larry Thomas, head of officiating for the MHSAA, said the association’s decision was based on NFHS rules.

“The rules can’t be set aside, whether there was agreement between the two teams or not,” Thomas said. “It becomes a complete game after five innings.”

The MHSAA’s decision ends Vicksburg’s season at 18-8, and well short of what it hoped would be another long postseason run. The Gators returned eight starters from last year’s team that reached the Class 4A finals before losing to East Central.

This year’s group was derailed by a rash of late-season injuries and a sudden drop in offensive production. Shortstop Ryan Ferrington suffered an ankle injury two weeks ago, and ace pitcher Brian Fitzgerald missed two starts down the stretch with a sore shoulder. Fitzgerald returned to the mound in time for the playoffs, but was rocked by Saltillo in Game 1. He allowed six runs, eight hits and two walks in 2 1/3 innings in a 7-1 loss on Friday.

The Gators, who were among the best hitting teams in Class 4A for much of the season, were also shut down by Saltillo. They had just four hits in the 12 innings of play in the series, including one in Game 2. Their only run in Game 1 came on a solo home run by Kurt Cooksey in the seventh inning, long after the outcome was decided.

“I’m disappointed. I’m not upset, because we had opportunities to do things in two games and we didn’t do them,” Creel said. “It’s disappointing because you have to go and tell nine seniors that their season is over with after being in limbo for two days.”

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Contact Jeff Byrd at jbyrd@vicksburgpost.com