FOREST — For whatever reason, the fifth inning has been kind to Forest all season.

It was no different on Tuesday night.

Behind one big inning and some timely hitting, the Bearcats would rally past Choctaw Central 8-7 to clinch a playoff berth out of Region 5-3A at Bearcat Field.

With the win and Philadelphia’s 6-2 loss to Southeast Lauderdale, Forest captured the playoff spot via tiebreaker on runs. Choctaw Central has already clinch a spot. Both the Bearcats and Warriors will be either the No. 3 or 4 seed, depending on how the final regional games go.

“During this four-game winning streak, our timely hitting has been great,” Forest coach Keith Brown said. “The fifth inning has been our inning all year, and tonight we put together some great at-bats and boosted our team confidence, and that happened.”

Down 6-5 heading to the bottom of the fifth, Forest (9-14, 2-5) would get three consecutive doubles by Jaylon Hayes, Isaiah Nixon and Jarvis Williams to put the Bearcats up 8-6.

“We’ve been up and down all season, but I think we’re getting hot at the right time, and this time to be playing well,” Brown said. “We were losing close games early on, but now we’re finding ways to win them, and that’s what we need to keep doing.”

Payton Rogers had three hits, including a solo home run in the bottom of the fourth, to lead Forest.

Reyas Willis and Cody Stoliby each had two hits each to lead Choctaw Central (6-8, 3-4), who built a 4-0 lead in the top of the first.

“I knew it was going to be a dog fight, and it was. Forest is a good team, and they can hit,” Choctaw Central coach Aleric Keams said. “We had our chances and didn’t capitalize.”