Porters Chapel Academy struck first.

Sylva-Bay, however, struck last — and harder.

Sylva-Bay wiped out an early deficit by scoring six runs in the third inning and went on to beat PCA 7-3 in Game 1 of a best-of-three MAIS Class A playoff series on Thursday.

Game 2 will be at PCA today at 4 p.m. If a Game 3 is necessary, it’ll be played immediately afterward. The homestanding Eagles need to win both to keep their season alive.

“It is tough, but now you get two at home,” PCA coach Wade Patrick said. “You always want the lead because you never want to have to win two in a row. But they’ll have to come to our park and it’s a totally different field than what they’re used to playing on.”

PCA jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the top of the first inning in Game 1. Hunter Lyons and Garrett Hutchins each hit an RBI single and Taylor Rushing drove in a run with a sacrifice fly.

Sylva-Bay answered with the six-spot in the third, however, and the Eagles never regained their early momentum.

“Just a couple of plays here and there that we didn’t make, and it got away from us,” Patrick said. “The key was, we never hit like we did in that first inning. We plateaued, and it got away from us.”