A strong start and a strong finish allowed Warren Central to walk away a winner in its 2016 debut.

The Vikings scored three runs in the top of the first inning, then added three more in the sixth to put away Terry 6-2 on Friday night in its season opener.

Tyler Vroman went 2-for-3 with two runs scored for Warren Central, and Tyler McRight drove in three runs. McRight and Conner Wilkinson each had an RBI double in the first inning to stake the Vikings to an early lead.

Terry pitcher Jase Dalton settled in after his rough start to allow just one more run in five-plus innings. He walked three and struck out four.

“That was very key,” WC coach Conner Douglas said of getting the early runs. “It put their backs against the wall early and it eliminated some of the little things they may have wanted to do offensively. Their pitcher settled in. We’ve got to a better job of not sitting on a lead, but it will come. We added later in the game when we needed to.”

Booth Buys and Brooks Boolos split the pitching duties. Buys started and went four innings, allowing three hits, a walk and one earned run. Boolos pitched the last three ininngs without allowing a run to earn the save. Each pitcher struck out one batter.

“Buys and Boolos threw great. They filled up the zone and competed. I’m very happy with them. We cut out our errors, I don’t think they give up a run,” Douglas said.

The win got Warren Central off to a good start in what promises to be a difficult first week of the season. It’ll host perennial state power Northwest Rankin today at 2 p.m., and a strong Brandon team on Tuesday night.

The Vikings will then go to Rankin County for four games in the Mid-Mississippi Classic beginning on Thursday. They’ll play Germantown, Faith (Ala.), Oxford (Miss.) and Central Private (La.).

Oxford, the defending Class 5A champion, is ranked No. 1 in the country by MaxPreps.com.

“It’s always good to start the year off with a quality win and get some confidence going into the gauntlet we have ahead,” Douglas said. “We like to get battle tested early.”

Madison-St. Joe 7, St. Aloysius 3

St. Aloysius committed five errors, fell behind by three runs in the first inning, and lost to Madison-St. Joseph on Friday night.

Lee Simpson had an RBI double for St. Al (1-1), while Lane Hynum and Will Pierce had two hits apiece.

St. Al will play at Greenville-St. Joe Tuesday at 7 p.m.

“We did not play our brand of baseball,” St. Al coach Sid Naron said. “We made some uncharacteristic mistakes on defense and do not feel we are where we should be offensively at this point. We will address the immediate concerns and be ready to play Tuesday. I have a group of seniors that I know will use tonight to make adjustments and help move this team back where we should be.”