Over the course of 15 years as Porters Chapel’s baseball coach, Randy Wright has gotten pretty good at sizing up the MPSA playoff brackets. Last week, as he looked over this year’s Class A field, he had no idea who to pick.

PCA vs. Franklin

Game 1: Today, 6 p.m., at Porters Chapel

Game 2: Wednesday,

6 p.m.,  at Franklin Acad.

Game 3: Thursday, 6 p.m.,

at PCA (if necessary)

“There’s eight teams in this thing, and any one of them can beat any of the others,” Wright said.

You don’t have to look far to see that he was right on the money.

PCA opens the second round tonight at home against Franklin Academy in an unlikely second round series. PCA, the second-place team from District 5-A, and Franklin, one of four wild-card teams in the field, both swept district champions in their first-round series.

Of the four teams left in the south half of the bracket, two are wild-card teams and none are district champions. Throw in the North half, and only two of the eight teams still playing won their district. That wackiness allowed PCA, which finished second in District 5-A, to gain homefield advantage for this second-round series.

“It’s an unexpected matchup,” Wright said. “I made that statement that anybody can win it. And this shows anybody can win it.”

The same level of parity that helped spawn all the first round upsets also makes the PCA-Franklin series tough to predict.

PCA (19-8) swept Glenbrook in the first round, but committed seven errors in the two-game series. The Eagles did, however, get a big lift from their pitching staff in Game 2. Junior right-hander Reed Gordon allowed one earned run and two hits in 4 2/3 innings, and Matthew Warren threw 1 1/3 scoreless innings of relief in a clinching 14-4 victory.

The strong performance from the back half of the staff was a welcome sight for the Eagles, who have seen their pitchers struggle at times this season. Ace Montana McDaniel is 8-1 with a 1.28 ERA. But of the four pitchers behind him — Gordon, Warren, Joe Borrello and Ghost Jones — only Gordon has an ERA under 4.00.

Gordon said last Thursday’s win was a big confidence booster for the team.

“It gives our whole team confidence that we don’t need to have Montana pitching to win,” Gordon said.

McDaniel is still a potent weapon in the Eagles’ arsenal, though. He’ll get the ball in Game 1 tonight and, most likely, for Thursday’s Game 3 if it’s needed. PCA is also hitting well, with five players batting over .400. McDaniel is hitting nearly .500 and leads the team in home runs.

“I feel like we’re playing our best baseball,” Wright said. “We just have to show up at the ballpark ready to play.”

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Contact Ernest Bowker at ebowker@vicksburgpost.com