Forest Hill provided the opposition Friday night but thePatriots were no match for the Brookhaven Panthers on Moyer Field.The Panthers waltzed to 14-1 and 11-1 Region 5-5A victories,setting up a Tuesday night region showdown at West Jones.

Brookhaven (12-8, 5-1) and West Jones will duel for the regionchampionship and No. 1 seeding in the state playoffs that beginApril 22.

Forest Hill (3-12, 1-5) looks for future success under first-yearhead coach Les Kelly. He plans to form a summer league team thatwill help his team improve their skills.

“We played as hard as we could,” said Kelly. “Our pitching isn’tnearly what it needs to be. I think we walked about 12 guys in thefirst game and eight in the second.”

Kelly said his players don’t participate in an organized baseballprogram until they reach their freshman year at Forest Hill. ThePatriots excel in basketball and are respectable in football, whichis typical athletic trait for the Jackson Public Schools.

“Brookhaven has a lot of talent and our kids have a long way to goto match up with them,” said Kelly. “Some of our seniors becomepretty good players.”

BHS 11, Forest Hill 1

Sophomore Seth Porter tossed a 3-hitter as the Panthers prevailedin 5 innings. Porter (2-0), struck out 6 batters, walked 3 and hit1 batter. He threw a 2-hitter in last Friday’s 13-1win atMcComb.

“Seth wasn’t quite as strong as he was last week against McComb,”said Ole Brook boss Randy Spring. “But he hung in there and guttedhis way through it.”

Spring watched his Panthers load the bases twice in the first 2innings but manage just 1 run. They plated 3 runs on 2 hits in thethird as the catcher’s overthrow at third base allowed a pair ofruns to race home.

In the fourth, Andrew Culver smashed a bases-loaded 2-RBI single tocenter field after Drew Jones led off the inning with a double. AnRBI single by Joel Patrick made it 8-1.

In the fifth, J.D. Britt’s RBI double drove home Jones.Appropriately, the game’s last play was a fielding error and 2 moreruns scored.

Antonio Lowell started on the mound for Forest Hill and took theloss. He was replaced by Denzell Mitchell in the fifth.

BHS 14, Forest Hill 1

Panther seniors Scottie Peavey and Gabe Wilson hit home runs in theopener that was designated as a Forest Hill home game. It lastedjust 3 innings as the Panthers plated 10 runs in the third.Tuesday’s game had been postponed because of a wet diamond inJackson.

On the mound, southpaw Andrew Culver (1-0) saw his first actionsince recovering from an injury. In 2 innings, Culver fanned 2batters, walked 1 and allowed 2 hits. Peavey (3 K, 2 BB) hurled thethird as the Pats plated an unearned run.

Second baseman J.B. Perkins tripled and singled in the victory.Catcher Dillon Newell singled twice.

Losing pitcher James Sheriff was the first of 7 FH pitchers to seeaction. They walked 10 batters and gave up 8 hits.