Piggly Wiggly can clinch the Sixth District East West Division title a little earlier than scheduled Thursday night.

Loranger-based Pig-Wig (7-1) hits the road - as usual - to face Team Hammond (0-8) at 6 p.m. Its magic number is one to clinch the division title outright. Piggly Wiggly's 5-4 win over Peake BMW (St. Paul's) gave the team made up of players from three area Class 3A schools a share of the title.

The rest of the league will not play until next Tuesday.

"It kind of helps us now to play (earlier) and get it over with," Piggly Wiggly coach Jason Helmstetter said. "We take the district if we beat Hammond, and it would be pretty much over for us. We would clinch the division in first place and play Mandeville (LLOG Exploration) before we get a little break and play again."

Once Pggly Wiggly clinches, the focus will be on the race for second and third, which currently shows three teams - Pevey Realtors (Ponchatoula), LLOG Exploration (Mandeville), and Peake BMW (St. Paul's) - tied for second with two games to play.

The division champion automatically advances to the regional tournament in New Orleans. The two teams that finish second and third play off for the other regional slot.

Piggly Wiggly can avoid that logjam with a win tonight or next Thursday against Mandeville.

Hammond is coming off a 9-0 road loss to Pevey Realtors. Hammond coach Steve Labbe said his team has to trudge ahead despite the win-loss record.

"We just have to keep fighting, and not give in," Labbe said.

Helmstetter said his team hopes to get its offense sparked more than in its win over Peake. Piggly Wiggly scored on two bases-loaded walks, but mustered few hits in the win.

"Our offense has kind of been struggling, and we hope to spark the offense against Hammond," he said. "I don't know how many arms we'll have left. We have two kids injured that pitch, so it'll probably be more of a run-scoring game."