Clinton’s magical season continued Friday at Viking Field.

The Arrows used their offensive speed and another solid outing from pitchers Jayme Monroe and closer Grady Turman to complete a three-game regular-season sweep of Warren Central.

Monroe limited the Vikings (11-10, 5-3 Division 4-6A) to three hits, while Turman struck out two in the seventh inning for a 4-2 win.

Clinton (17-3, 7-0) clinched the division title and a first round playoff bye with just Vicksburg and Greenville-Weston left to play. The loss leaves the Vikings in second place and sets up a first-round series against either Starkville or Columbus when the playoffs begin.

WC coach Josh Abraham said his team is close to matching Clinton’s success. The Vikings lost their two of their three games against the Arrows by a total of three runs.

“They are exactly like us,” Abraham said. “It’s a war every time we play them. We played extremely hard, but just didn’t catch a break. I felt like we had the proper approach at the plate, we just fouled off the pitches that should have went to the gaps. That and Clinton made plays defensively.”

Clinton coach Eddie Lofton said the Arrows’ success revolves around Monroe and Turman.

“That’s a pretty good 1-2 punch,” Lofton said. “We’ve got Jayme, who throws overhand and in the mid-80’s, and then we can bring in Turman as our closer who comes at you from down under.”

Then there is the offense led by the speedy Akiko Thompson. The Arrow senior reached base four times on a walk, two hits and an error. He scored two runs and drove in one.

“We manufactured some runs tonight,” Lofton said. “I thought we hit the ball well tonight. We got eight hits, but credit Warren Central for holding us down to four runs.”

Thompson was the key behind Clinton building a 2-0 lead by the third inning. In the first, he walked and then went to third on a hit-and-run by Clint Willoughby. Thompson darted home when Willoughby got in a rundown. The throw from WC shortstop Beau Wallace was too late to get Thompson.

In the top of the third, Blake Gober reached on an error and then scored on Thompson’s hit to right.

Thompson gave WC the run back in the bottom half of the third when he dropped a fly ball in center off the bat of Brandon Gates. The error scored Wallace to make it 2-1.

A pair of doubles from Willoughby and Turman upped the lead to 3-1 in the fourth inning. WC answered in the bottom half of the inning with Carlos Gonzalez leading off with a double down the left field line. Hunter Austin followed with a single up the middle to make it 3-2.

That was the last hit WC got off Monroe, who retired the next seven batters to take a 3-2 lead into the seventh inning.

Clinton gave Turman some insurance when Thompson singled and scored for a 4-2 lead. Turman struck out the first two Vikings he faced in the bottom of the seventh before giving up a single to Bill McRight. He then got Josh Stuckey to ground out to short for the final out.

Despite the loss, Abraham is optimistic about his team.

“I like where we are,” he said.

Devon Bell threw a complete game in the loss. He allowed four runs, three earned, off eight hits and four walks.

PCA 12, Park Place 0

Jarad Tompkins, Richie Bufkin and Stephen Purvis each drove in three runs as Porters Chapel blasted Park Place Christian.

PCA (13-5, 8-0 District 5-A) scored nine runs in the bottom of the first and three more in the second. The game was ended by the mercy rule after the top of the fourth. Tompkins hit a three-run homer and Bufkin a bases-clearing triple during the big first inning.

Bufkin and Tompkins also combined to pitch the shutout. Bufkin went three innings, allowing one hit while striking out six. Tompkins struck out the side in the fourth to close it out.

VHS 13, Greenville 5

Vicksburg jumbled its lineup and the result was a rout of Greenville-Weston Friday night at Bazinsky Field.

Jonathan Clay batted leadoff and responded with two hits. Clyde Kendrick batted second and had a double, while normal leadoff man Lamar Anthony batted fifth.

Vicksburg (10-11, 3-5 Division 4-6A) scored three runs in the second inning and two in the third to take a 7-3 lead. Cody Waddell led the Gators with three runs scored, while Anthony scored twice.

Waddell startedon the mound and struck out seven batters to grab the win. Justin Pettway finished up with two scoreless innings.