It's still a little early to know who the pretenders and the contenders are in the playoff race, but Paradise and Millsap high schools are expected to be two of the contenders this season.

Those two teams met Tuesday in Wise County. The Panthers took the early edge on the Bulldogs as they overcame an abundance of mistakes to rally for a 9-6 win.

The locals trailed by five runs after just two innings. Paradise tightened its defense in the last three innings and found some offensive life to take the lead in the sixth inning.

"This was not our best game. We made a lot of mistakes in the field and on the bases," said PHS coach Scott Broussard. "The biggest positive of the game was we never quit and were able to pull together in the late innings to get the win."

The victory lifted Paradise to 3-2 in District 10-2A play and 9-6 overall. Millsap fell to 3-2 and 16-3.

The Bulldogs, who have only lost three times all season, played like the opportunistic team they are. They used PHS errors and timely hits to score five times in the second inning to take a 5-0 lead.

Kaleb Read, who went 2-for-4 with four runs driven in, helped turn things around in the final four frames. The Panthers scored once in the third inning and twice in the fourth to cut the deficit in half at 6-3.

Paradise erupted in the sixth inning where it tallied six runs to take its first and only lead of the night.

Justin Bridges helped spark the offense as he ripped a pair of singles and scored one. Caleb Read also had a hit and scored twice in fueling the late comeback.

P.J. Fuller, Toi Glover, Dusty Galbreaith and Connor Higgins scattered singles.

Glover pitched the first four innings of the game but did not get enough defense to keep things close. Nick Pike threw the final three innings of the night and did not allow a run.