The Brookhaven Academy Cougars and the Copiah Academy Colonelsplayed for the District 6-AA championship in every sport this year.Brookhaven won the title in football in October, and then swept thebasketball titles in February. Cougar fans hoped the pattern wouldcontinue Thursday night in Brookhaven for the title inbaseball.

Powered by junior Corey Dickerson’s incredible pitchingperformance, Cougar fans had a lot to cheer about. Dickersonpitched a no-hitter, striking out three batters and walking five inthe Cougars 10-0 victory over the Colonels. Dickerson also sparkledat the plate, going 3-for-3 with a solo home run and two runsbatted in.

Brookhaven, Copiah, and Columbia Academy each finished theregular season with identical 6-2 district records, but because ofthe tie-breaker method used by the MPSA, Brookhaven finished as thedistrict champion. Columbia was the runner-up and Copiah finishedthird.

Brookhaven will host the first round of the MPSA Class AA stateplayoffs next Tuesday. The Cougars await the No. 1 wild card teamout of the south, which has yet to be determined.

“We played a good game tonight.” said BA head coach StephenCooksey. “We hit the ball well and Corey pitched a heck of a game.We’re playing pretty well right now.”

Zack Watson added support for Dickerson, going 3-for-3 with adouble and a RBI. Freshman Will Gatlin added a 2-run homer. KolbyByrd, Seth Cliburn, and Blaine Roberts each had a RBI.

Colonels starting pitcher Matthew Wright took the loss, givingup 8 earned runs on 9 hits. Five of those runs came in the firstinning, as the Cougars loaded the bases and pushed across 5 runsbefore the Colonels could get out of the inning.

Brookhaven sealed the deal in the bottom of the fourth asDickerson launched a shot over the right field wall. Gatlin addedhis 2 run blast two batters later.

“Dickerson pitched a great game.” said Copiah coach ScottyCline. “He got a lot of ground balls and they turned a couple ofgood double-plays to get out of trouble when we got runners onbase. They did what it took to win.”

Copiah will play in round-robin format on Friday to determinethe South wild card spots. The Colonels, along with Adams CountyChristian School and Oak Forest (La.) will play for the last twoplayoff spots.