Clinton had it and then they didn’t.

Clinton center fielder Akiko Thompson could not hold on to a running grab of Warren Central outfielder Dee White’s drive with two on and two outs in the bottom of the seventh. The ball dropped out of Thompson’s glove and rolled to the fence, allowing all three runs to score and give the charmed Vikings an improbable 6-5 win over Clinton Friday night at Viking Field.

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“I knew I hit it good, and all I had on my mind was going to third base. If he caught it, he caught it,” White said. “When the (relay) throw went past third, I knew I was going home.”

White’s run touched off a wild celebration for the Vikings as sirens wailed. Clinton was left in stoned disbelief.

“We gave it away,” Clinton coach Eddie Lofton said.

Lofton felt especially bad for his starting pitcher Andrew Gunn. For five innings,  Gunn had the Vikings handcuffed on just one hit and no runs.

“Andrew Gunn didn’t deserve what happened to him,” Lofton fumed.

For Warren Central coach Josh Abraham, the Vikings’ two-out rally was a testament to play to the bitter end.

“We’ve been teaching these kids about mental toughness. To grind and to fight to the last out. Our guys didn’t quit. Even when they doubled us up to start the inning, we didn’t give up. We still fought and to me, that is a mark of a championship team,” Abraham said.

The win was huge for Warren Central (9-7, 3-0 Division 4-6A). They are now up 21⁄2 games on Clinton (7-6, 0-2) and will own the season series with just one game left between the two. The Vikings are also 11⁄2 games up on rival Vicksburg (8-6, 1-1 4-6A).

After five innings, Clinton was well on its way toward a split with WC. They led 5-0 after scoring three times in the fifth inning. Ironically, two of the runs came off a pair of errors in center.

The Vikings finally got something going against Gunn in the sixth. Dee Kelley singled, stole second and then went to third on a passed ball. White walked and then Jimmie Elliott singled to right to score Kelley. Pinch runner Bill McRight came in for Elliott. He broke to second and drew a bad throw that scored White to make it 5-2. McRight went to third and then scored on a wild pitch to cut it to 5-3.

Thompson hit a double in the Clinton seventh, but was left on third after Colby Key got the last two outs to send the game into the bottom of the seventh.

Clayton Ashley got the Vikings off to a good start with a sharp single. But things went bad quickly when Jay Harper’s opposite field drive was caught in right and Ashley, who took off on contact, was easily doubled off at first.

Despite the double play, Key reached on an error at short. Kelley then beat out and infield hit to bring up White.

White hit the ball hard but Thompson appeared to track it and made an overhead grab with the ball landing in his glove’s webbing. Then it slipped out, creating a mad dash around the bases for all three Viking runners.

Key went seven innings to get his third win. He gave up 10 hits, but issued no walks and hit one. He struck out four.

Thompson had a double, single and two runs scored for Clinton. Gunn struck out five and allowed five hits.

Contact Jeff Byrd at jbyrd@vicksburgpost.com