Warren Central’s weekend on the Coast got off to a great start.

Cole Autrey went 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI, and Brooks Willoughby pitched five shutout innings as the Vikings beat Long Beach 9-0 Thursday in the Battle at the Beach baseball event.

Autrey and Trace Hood hit back-to-back RBI doubles in the second inning, and Ryan Nelson hit an RBI triple to stake Warren Central to a 3-0 lead. It added two runs in the fifth inning and four more in the sixth to salt away the victory.

Back-to-back bases-loaded walks brought in two runs in the sixth inning, and then Lester Martin hit an RBI single. An error on Martin’s hit brought in another run.

Martin was 1-for-4 with two RBIs. Hayes Loper singled, walked twice, drove in one run and scored two.
Hood was also 2-for-2 with a double, one RBI and one run scored.

Willoughby allowed three hits and three walks in his five-inning outing, but no runs. He had four strikeouts. At the plate, Willooughby also went 1-for-3 and scored two runs.

Nelson struck out the side in the sixth to finish up on the mound. The teams did not play the seventh inning.

Thursday’s game was the first of four that Warren Central (5-6) is scheduled to play at the Battle at the Beach. It will face Southwest Christian School, a team from Fort Worth, Texas, on Friday at 12:30 p.m. at Biloxi High School. The Vikings will then travel to MGM Park, the home of the Double-A Biloxi Shuckers, to play Gulfport at 5 p.m.

On Saturday, the Vikings will return to Long Beach to play Briarcrest Christian, a team from suburban Memphis. First pitch is at 12:30 p.m.

Marshall Academy 10, Porter’s Chapel 0
Presbyterian Christian 14, Porter’s Chapel 0
Porter’s Chapel Academy had a rough day in the Battle at the Beach event, as it mustered a total of one hit in shutout losses to Marshall Academy and Presbyterian Christian.

Nick McCormick, Hayden Lundine and Kyler Todd drove in two runs apiece for Marshall Academy in its 10-0 victory.

Chase Hearn had PCA’s only hit, a single in the second inning.

In their second game of the day, J.T. Smith threw a three-inning no-hitter as Presbyterian Christian beat the Eagles 14-0. Porter’s Chapel committed six errors that led to 11 unearned runs.

Porter’s Chapel was shut out for the third game in a row, and has a total of two hits in those three losses. It’ll try to get back on track when it plays MAIS District 4-3A rival River Oaks in a home-and-home series next week.

PCA and River Oaks will play in Vicksburg on Tuesday at 6 p.m., and then a doubleheader in Monroe, Louisiana, on March 22 beginning at 3 p.m.