Mobile Christian’s Class 5A, Area 1 baseball series loss to rival St. Paul’s didn’t sit particularly well with the players.

The Leopards lost 6-2 and 14-9 on April 11 and 12. It was part of a four-game losing streak that ended with another loss to UMS-Wright the Monday before the playoffs started.

Jason Smith’s team hasn’t lost since.

“It was a big series. It was emotional,” Smith said this week of the losses to St. Paul’s. “It was a rivalry, an area opponent with guys that know each other very well. We didn’t play particularly well, and it didn’t sit well with the guys knowing we didn’t play our best baseball.

“It refocused them that next week getting ready for the playoffs. Since then, practices have been cleaner. There has been more energy, more excitement. The kids have been more focused. They’ve made it a mission to get better every day and made it a mission to get to this point. They’ve accomplished that. Now we have to go finish.”

Mobile Christian (24-10) will try to do that at Jacksonville State this week in the Class 5A finals against No. 1 Alexandria (30-9). Game 1 is set for 4 p.m. Monday at Jim Case Stadium.

The Leopards have a championship tradition and championship experienced. They won the Class 4A state baseball title two years ago at JSU and many of the key players this year helped the Leopards win the state football title at Bryant-Denny Stadium last fall.

“I don’t think the big stage will matter to these guys,” Smith said in an interview on SportsTalk 99.5 in Mobile this week. “They performed extremely well on that stage in December. Like last week, two (players) were instrumental in pulling out that win (at Valley). Damien (Gatson) hit the home run in the sixth to give us a cushion we left slip away and PJ Brown, the running back, is the one who got the game-winning double. We have some big-game experience that should help us next week.”

Gatson, the Leopards’ leadoff hitter who is committed to play baseball at hometown South Alabama, was the MVP of the football championship game when he threw five touchdown passes. Brown rushed for 114 yards on 17 carries in the win over Madison Academy.

Smith said a lot of this year’s baseball players also were on the team at Jacksonville State two years ago, though most didn’t play key roles then.

“I’m super excited these young men get an opportunity to experience this,” he said. “The last time there we had so many seniors on that team. These guys got to experience all the stuff that goes with it but just not really the game part. I’m excited they will get a chance to go out on the field and do what so many others have had a chance to do.”

Mobile Christian has been in the baseball finals plenty in the last decade. The Leopards will be vying for their sixth state title since 2015 in their fourth classification.

They won 2A titles in 2015 and 2016, a 3A title in 2018 and back-to-back Class 4A titles in 2021 and 2022 as they continue to move up in accordance with the AHSAA’s private school competitive balance rule.

Smith expects his team to face a tough challenge against the Valley Cubs.

“They’ve come down here the last two years to play on their spring break,” he said. “We played them last year. They have a lot of the same players who were sophomores and juniors. They are a really good team. They have a lot of good pitching, a really good catcher. Their coach does a fantastic job of preparing them. It’s going to be a really good matchup. We have to do the things we do and not do anything that is not us. We need to play our game and execute the way we have been. If we do that, I feel good about our chances.”

Much of Mobile Christian’s game lately has been playing small ball. It happened by necessity, according to Smith.

“We kind of hit a wall after a good start and just didn’t play well,” he said. “We kind of looked at our stats. I think we’d lost five or six in a row. We looked at our stats and, at that juncture, 91 percent of our hits were singles. We had very few extra base hits. I think Damien was the only guy with any home runs.

“We talked to the guys that this is not our game this year. We were not blasting balls out of the park. We needed to work on some fundamental, situational baseball. It took them a little while to buy into it but once they did it’s almost like fun and challenging to them. It’s been fun to see them embrace it.”