It might not be mission impossible.

But mission improbable? You betcha.

Vicksburg (16-11, 5-3) needs an eight-run victory over archrival Warren Central in Friday’s season finale just to grab one of the two playoff spots up for grabs in a tightening Division 4-6A race.

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The reason? Tuesday’s disheartening 15-7 loss to Clinton, which not only put Vicksburg down in the standings, but put it way down in the run differential column. If the three teams finish Friday tied at the top of the division, the first tiebreaker is runs scored. And Clinton (16-9, 6-3) owns that advantage now over Vicksburg.

If the Gators fall short of the playoffs, a two-out, six-run rally by Clinton in the top of the seventh could be the fatal shot to their postseason dreams.

“We’re not out of it,” Vicksburg coach Jamie Creel said. “We stay in a two-run ballgame in the seventh and all we have to do is win Friday. But we didn’t do that.”

The Gators spent the entire night behind, be it counts or on the scoreboard. Ace lefty Jacob Thomas (5-2) battled through control problems all night, going 13 consecutive pitches without a strike in a two-run first.

He took the loss, yielding five runs while walking four in four innings of work.

Thomas got few favors from his infield, as third baseman Cody Waddell committed two throwing errors on overthrows to first that resulted in two runs and a 4-0 Clinton lead after two.

The Gator offense, however, managed to keep within striking distance.

In the third, Vicksburg got all of its runs with two outs. Lamar Anthony singled, Clyde Kendrick reached on an error and Taylor Brocato reached on a walk to load the bases.

Cleanup hitter Thomas battled through a 2-2 count, fouling off a fastball from Clinton lefty Alex Gunn before ripping a frozen rope to center to drive in two. Waddell added another run off an RBI single as the Gators sliced the deficit to 4-3.

But the Arrows answered with two runs in the top of the fourth off a pair of sacrifice flies and three more in the top of the fifth off a two-RBI single by Daniel Stagg and a passed ball to go up 9-3.

In the bottom of the fifth, the Gators had their biggest two-out rally of the night. Cameron Cooksey ripped an RBI single, Keaton Jones dropped a shallow liner into the outfield to plate two more and Jonathan Clay poked a single over first baseman Grady Turman’s head down the line to drive in the final run as Vicksburg hung a four-spot on the board to pull within two runs at 9-7.

After Cooksey, who had relieved Thomas in the fifth, kept the Arrows off the board in the sixth, the Gators appeared primed for another big rally with the top of their order coming up. But Gunn swiftly retired the three Gators he faced.

In the top of the seventh, the Arrows slammed the door shut with an improbable two-out, six-run rally. Cooksey yielded six straight hits, all line drives, after inducing a flyout and striking out Benji Barham.

“It’s big,” Clinton coach Eddie Lofton said of the victory, which gave Clinton the series win over Vicksburg. “We’ve had our ups and downs this year. We haven’t had a field to practice on, we lost back-to-back tough games to Vicksburg and Warren Central and we’ve had a couple of big injuries.”

Andrew Gunn came on in the seventh in relief and pitched around a leadoff single by Thomas to finish off the Gators.

Contact Steve Wilson at swilson@vicksburgpost.com