CHAPEL HILL — The Person Rockets picked a good time to play perhaps their best of the season in a 6-0 shutout of the Chapel Hill Tigers Tuesday evening in Piedmont Athletic Conference baseball action at the Chapel Hill Field.

Person got high marks in all areas of the game: defense, clutch hitting, and pitching.

The defense did not commit an error behind freshman sinkerballer Dylan Dickens, who was up to his old tricks by forcing the opposition to hit a lot of ground balls.

His teammates were up to the task on this night, making all the plays in the field, including two double plays with the second one ending the game.

“I’m ecstatic about the way our defense played,” said Person head coach Steve Evans, whose team (14-8 overall, 6-6 in the conference) now appears in good position to earn a Division 4A playoff berth. “We played like we’re capable of tonight. We came in here having to play excellent defense. Our pitching was good, and we got timely hits. This one feels real good.”

The loss dropped Chapel Hill to 5-7 in the conference. The Tigers will lose out to the Rockets in the event of a tiebreaker due to Person’s two victories over them this year. Nothing is mathematically sewn up for the Rockets just yet, as they face second-place Jordan on Thursday afternoon (rescheduled 4 p.m. game at Rocket Park).

But they close out the season by hosting Hillside, a team they defeated by a 25-2 count earlier in the year.

So if Person finishes at least 7-7 in the league, it will place fifth or better and reach the postseason.

In Tuesday’s game, Dickens gave up a first-inning single with a runner on but right fielder Marc Davis gunned down Justin Giersbrook attempting to go from first to third to end the frame.

That seemed to inspire Dickens (five hits, six strikeouts), who would allow just one hit over the next four innings while the Rockets would break the ice with one in the third inning and three in the fourth to take what amounted to an insurmountable lead.

Aside from Eric Backus, who went a perfect 3-for-3 against Dickens (including a double), the rest of the Tigers were overmatched for most of the contest.

“Dylan pitched a heck of a game, and didn’t allow any runners past second base all night,” said Evans.

The complete-game victory improved Dickens’ mark to 6-2. He has given up just one run on six hits in his last two starts.

A single by Trey Davis and a double down the left field line by Cody Ellis put two runners in the top of the third for the Rockets. Jeremy Peed’s groundout brought home Person’s first run, and the visitors added three more in the fourth with the benefit of just two hits (one a bunt single by Stephen Wright).

Two runs scored on passed balls and Peed drove in the third tally with a hard double to right field. He was thrown out trying to stretch it into a triple.

A passed ball and a wild pitch accounted for two more Rocket runs in the sixth as Tiger starter and loser Tuc Fisher was chased with two outs in the inning.

Travis Vaughan reached base three times and scored twice, and Wright scored two times as well for Person in the game. Zack Oakley also laid down two excellent sacrifice bunts that eventually led to four Person runs.

The Rockets were originally scheduled to play Jordan on Friday night at Rocket Park, but the day and time have been switched to this Thursday afternoon at 4 p.m.