Vicksburg High coach Brian Ellis was in the stands Monday to watch his daughter, Chandler, play for East Mississippi Community College. He was also there to fish for information.

Two of Chandler Ellis’ teammates played last season for Center Hill, which her father’s team will face in the first round of the Class 5A playoffs. Vicksburg and Center Hill have not played in recent memory, so Ellis was making the rounds to ask their parents what to expect.

It’s as good an approach as any for the first round of the playoffs, where scouting reports on unfamiliar opponents are generated through word of mouth, phone calls, and sometimes questionable stats posted on the internet.

“Not knowing a team, never seeing them or anybody that has seen them, you just don’t know how to approach them,” Ellis said. “We just have to go out there and make sure we do the right things. I’m going to figure it out in the first couple of innings and go from there.”

Ellis’ in-game tactics are hardly unusual. The later rounds of the playoffs often bring matchups between teams that are known commodities or even division rivals. At the very least, coaches can take an educated guess on which of two teams they’ll face.

The first round, however, is a different beast.

First-round opponents often come from the far corners of the state, which makes in-season scouting difficult. Both Vicksburg and Warren Central, for example, will face teams from Desoto County in first-round series that begin today. Vicksburg plays Center Hill, while Warren Central faces Olive Branch.

Warren Central coach Dana McGivney said she’ll approach the best-of-three series like one of the many tournaments that dot the fast-pitch schedule. At those one-day events, teams play two or three games in a day and coaches are forced to figure things out on the fly.

“It’s like any other tournament. You don’t have as much information as you’d like. It’s not overwhelming. It’s not something you look at and stress over and make the kids nervous,” McGivney said.

St. Aloysius will play Ethel, which is a bit closer but still not a team it has crossed paths with this year.

“They got second in their district. I heard they can hit it pretty well. Other than that, I don’t know anything about them,” St. Al coach Candice Reeder said.

The unfamiliarity between teams also leads coaches to put an emphasis on the performance of their own squads. For Warren County’s teams, that might be the key to success anyway.

St. Al will enter the playoffs with a 7-7-1 record. It finished third in Division 7-1A, which might still make it one of the best teams in the state. Three of its four division losses were by a total of six runs, and division opponents Bogue Chitto and Cathedral are both considered state championship contenders.

Bogue Chitto is the defending Class 1A champion. It also won it all in 2011.

“We’re about as strong as a number three team can get,” Reeder said. “I feel like, especially when Bogue Chitto came here and we gave them all they could handle, if we can stay and compete with them we can compete with anybody.”

Ellis’ Missy Gators have struggled with inconsistency all season long. They run-ruled Cleveland three weeks ago, then lost 3-2 to them earlier this week. Ill-timed errors and mental mistakes have led to blowout losses that were competitive for several innings.

The Missy Gators enter the playoffs with a 9-15 record, but Ellis feels they have the potential to stick around a while.

“We’ve done a lot of stuff since last summer. We’ve just got to be able to focus and want it bad enough. We want it bad enough, and we have an opportunity to go far,” Ellis said. “We have a chance. We’ve played some really good softball, and then we’ve made some mistakes.”

Warren Central (14-6) has also played well. It lost twice to Clinton to finish second in Division 4-6A, but might be one of the stronger No. 2 seeds in the Class 6A bracket.

The Lady Vikes also have an ace in the hole — or, rather, the circle. Pitcher Darby Gain has a 0.98 ERA in her last five starts. In 28 2/3 innings, the senior has given up 18 hits and six walks, and struck out 23 batters.

Unfortunately, Gain’s hot streak has coincided with a slump for WC’s hitters. Before breaking out for 12 runs in their regular-season finale against Ridgeland, they’d only scored seven runs in their previous four games.

“If Darby pitches like she has been, we’ll be in good shape,” McGivney said. “The last two or three weeks she’s really been on fire and pitching really well. We’ve just got to do the things we can to help her, like getting runners on base, bunting and stealing to get them in.”

Prep softball playoffs

St. Aloysius vs. Ethel

Today: at St. Al, 6 p.m.

Friday: at Ethel, 5 p.m.

Friday: at Ethel, 7:30 p.m. (If necessary)

Vicksburg vs. Center Hill

Today: at Center Hill, 5 p.m.

Friday: at Vicksburg, 4 p.m.

Friday: at Vicksburg, 6:30 p.m. (If necessary)

Warren Central vs. Olive Branch

Today: at Warren Central, 5 p.m.

Friday: at Olive Branch, 5 p.m.

Friday: at Olive Branch, 7:30 p.m. (If necessary)