On the first day of June, both Warren Central and Vicksburg High Schools began their summer season in an exhibition game Monday afternoon at Warren Central.

In the first game, Warren Central jumped out to an early 4-0 lead through the first two innings and later tacked on three more runs to secure an easy 7-0 win over Vicksburg. The game was called after six innings of play.

Sophomore pitcher Matthew Newcomb took the mound for Warren Central and pitched six shutout innings, allowing no runs on one hit and nine strikeouts. It was also a strong showing for the Warren Central offense as they totaled seven runs on seven hits for the game.

The first game of the summer schedule is a good time for both programs to get their players experience and look ahead to what their team will look like come the following season. That’s what both head coaches wanted to see from their teams Monday.

“Every little game we play, we want to get better and compete and get all the guys reps so they can show us what they can do going into next season,” said Conner Douglas, Warren Central’s head coach. “It’s a cross-town rival so every time we play them we want to go out there and compete and win the game.”

“I just want to see us compete. I tell my guys there are two things they can control: attitude and effort. That’s what I’m looking for in the summer,” said Derrick DeWald, head coach at Vicksburg.

DeWald added that his team will look very different from last season. The team is returning two starters and he wants to see the team build chemistry over the summer.

DeWald wanted his team to pitch well in the first game of the summer schedule, but struggled on the mound giving up seven runs on seven hits. The defense didn’t help with three throwing errors on the day. The bats struggled also for the Gators, as they didn’t collect their first hit until the fifth inning.

Six different players for Warren Central collected a hit as the offense led the pace for the Vikings from the start.

As summer ball gets started for Warren Central, they will travel to Meridian to play in the State Games of Mississippi tournament from June 4 -7. Even with the big tournament coming up for the Vikings, Douglas wanted his team to focus on the task at hand against Vicksburg.

“Every game is important to us and we don’t look ahead for any other game,” Douglas said. “We just play one at a time and we’ll get ready for that tournament whenever that gets here.”