PAWTUCKET –– They met in the first week of the season and produced an exciting baseball game.

 Two months later, on the final day of the regular season, fans packed Lischio Field in North Kingstown for the second meeting of the season between the two South County rivals.

 But while those two games may have been interesting, they were only  for local bragging rights and regular-season standing.

 Wednesday night, survival will be the issue when South Kingstown and North Kingstown meet for the third time this season.

 At the beginning of the season a lot of people in South County were saying they wouldn’t be surprised if North and South met at McCoy Stadium in June.

 Of course, they probably were thinking the Rebels and Skippers would be playing for the state title. But only one of them will be.

 Instead of playing for a title, the Rebels and Skippers will be playing to keep their title hopes alive when they meet at 6:30 p.m. in a losers-bracket game of the double-elimination Division I Final Four.

The winner of Wednesday’s game earns the right to play undefeated Hendricken Thursday night at McCoy. If a third game is necessary, it will be Friday night at McCoy.

 The Skippers and Rebels made it to McCoy by going 1-1 in the first two rounds of the Final Four over the weekend at McCarthy Field in West Warwick, although they did it in different manners.

 North Kingstown posted a 6-4 victory over Cranston West in its first game on Saturday while South Kingstown dropped a 4-3 decision to Hendricken in the other Saturday game. On Sunday, South Kingstown stayed alive with a 5-4 victory over Cranston West and Hendricken handed North Kingstown a 5-3 setback in their winners-bracket showdown.

 So now the three teams that had the three best records during the regular season, (Hendricken and North Kingstown, both 17-1, and South Kingstown, 16-2) are the only Division I teams still playing.

 All three teams used their top two pitchers over the weekend so Wednesday night’s game will be a test of the depth of the South Kingstown and North Kingstown pitching staffs.

 The Skippers and Rebels both have experienced, quality backup pitchers. North Kingstown, which won both of the regular-season games against South Kingstown, has junior Jay Ferri, who logged 34 innings en route to a 5-1 regular-season record and a 3.91 ERA. South Kingstown has senior Nick Zartarian, who hurled 33.2/3 innings, won two games and had six saves coming into the title series.

North Kingstown fans hope they will see more of the explosive offense that produced 227 runs in 20 games coming into the Final Four series. The Skippers did score six runs against Cranston West, but four of those runs came in one inning, including three on a bases-loaded double by Dave D’Errico. Sunday against Hendricken the Skippers jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning, but then were shut out over the final six innings.

 South Kingstown fans will be looking for the clutch hitting that just fell short in the one-run loss to Hendricken, but then produced the runs needed for the one-run victory over Cranston West on Sunday.

Hawks in catbird’s seat

It’s a safe bet that in addition to the South Kingstown and North Kingstown fans at McCoy Wednesday night, there also will be several Hendricken players.

Two strong pitching efforts by Chris Costantino and Chris Sheehan over the weekend have put the Hawks in excellent position to capture their second straight state crown and fifth title in the last seven years.

 Costantino, the senior right-hander who pitched a complete-game six-hitter in Saturday’s victory over South Kingstown, probably will be on the mound again Thursday night.

In addition to his pitching contribution, Costantino also hit home runs in both games over the weekend.