Warren Central thought it’d be playing deep into May.

Its season, instead, ended on the last Saturday of April.

Caleb Morgan went 3-for-4 with a double and five RBIs, and Grenada completed a stunning upset of the Vikings with an 8-3 victory in Game 3 of their Class 6A play-in round series Saturday at Viking Field.

Grenada (16-8) advanced to a first-round matchup with Northwest Rankin. Warren Central finished its season with a 22-8 record and its players with a look that alternated between shock and anger.

“We thought we were going to make a run. We were looking forward to it. Had a lot of confidence coming in. Just thought about playing baseball, and sometimes it doesn’t work out for you,” WC first baseman Zach Cox said.

Warren Central posted its best win total in seven years, but seemed a step off its game all series long. It dropped Game 1, 5-1, then rallied late for a 7-2 win in Game 2.

Grenada seized the initiative in Game 3, scoring twice in the first inning and three more times in the second to jump out to a 5-0 lead.

The Vikings were still clinging to hope, down 6-3 heading into the seventh, when Morgan drove in two runs with a single to make it a five-run game.

Morgan’s hit took a sharp hop off the infield dirt in front of Cox at first base and got down the line, allowing one of the Grenada runners to score from first.

Warren Central loaded the bases with two outs in the bottom of the seventh, but didn’t score.

“We still came in in the seventh and swung it, and competed, but you always want one swing to be able to tie it back up,” WC coach Conner Douglas said. “We had that chance and that ball took a bad hop and got by us. It was a bit of a backbreaker, but I was proud of them for coming in and competing.”

Morgan had a two-run double in the second inning, an RBI single in the fifth, and the big two-run single in the seventh to key Grenada’s offense.

For WC, Cameron Upton had two hits, and Zach Cox and Mason Jarabica were both 1-for-3 with an RBI and a run scored.

Dillon Hill threw a complete game for Grenada. He allowed eight hits, but no earned runs and only one walk. He struck out eight batters.

Hill was the latest in a line of slow-throwing Grenada pitchers that kept WC off-balance in the series. Douglas said his team was simply unable to adjust to the 78 to 82 mph fastballs the Chargers’ pitchers threw, as opposed to the harder throwers they’d seen for much of the year.

“I don’t think we swung it as well as we had been in the past. We couldn’t stay back on the fastballs. We were out in front of everything,” Douglas said. “It was a bad matchup for our guys. We’re a fastball hitting team and we couldn’t stay back on it. It was almost like a change-up we were facing.”