SOUTHAVEN – As the game-winning run crossed home plate sending the Vicksburg Gators baseball team to a 4-to-3 win over Warren Central on Saturday evening, VHS coach Jamie Creel didn’t unleash any gaudy celebrations, opting instead to seek out his close friend and coaching adversary for an embrace.

After two grueling games against one another, the Gators won the most important one and advanced to the second round of the Class 5A state playoffs. Creel wanted to give his sentiments to WC coach Randy Broome, whose team had come within a run of winning three straight games on a warm, sunny day.

Creel’s gesture was mirrored beyond the fences as Warren Central parents embraced Vicksburg players and Gators’ players made a point to find dejected Vikings.

&#8220I will root for Warren Central every game of the season, unless they are playing Vicksburg,” said VHS parent Steve Coleman, who coached players from both teams in youth leagues and has a son, Eric, who starts for Vicksburg.

Such was the case for longtime friends and youth league coaches Vernon Wolfe Sr. and Carl Carson. The two have known each other for years, separated only by the county school line.

Wolfe’s son, Vernon, plays right field for Vicksburg, while Carson’s son, Nick, plays center field for Warren Central. The two had also coached many of the players in youth leagues.

&#8220The good thing about these two teams is that the parents and players like each other,” Carl Carson said. &#8220There is no animosity toward either team.”

The two largest schools in Warren County were shipped to Southaven – near the Tennessee line in Northwest Mississippi – for the first round of the state playoffs. Vicksburg defeated WC on Thursday night. Rain postponed Friday’s games, and Warren Central began Saturday morning by defeating host Southaven High School. The Vikings then defeated Vicksburg on Saturday afternoon to force the deciding third game.

A retooled playoff format resulted in both local teams having to travel nearly 250 miles each way to wind up playing each other. The three-day trip, which included hotel, meals and bus expenses for both teams, cost the Vicksburg Warren School District about $8,400, said athletic director Lum Wright Jr.

About 45 supporters from each county school made the journey north.

After WC eliminated Southaven, most of the orange-clad home fans disappeared, leaving a sea of green, red and blue – a kind of Warren County North.

&#8220What a game this would have been if we would have had it at home in Vicksburg with a thousand screaming folks,” Creel said.