By Curtis Rockwell, Sports Editor
The Picayune Item
PICAYUNE — Picayune picked the right time to end it's recent losing streak on the baseball diamond.
The homestanding Maroon Tide jumped out to a 4-0 lead after two innings and never looked back Tuesday night, cruising to a 10-1 win over Stone County in the Region 6-5A opener for both teams.
In the process, Picayune snapped a three game losing streak and now stands 2-3 on the season.
"We told them that this game started a brand new season for us," Picayune head coach Cayne Stockstill, who guided his team to the Class 4A South State finals last season, said. "It's a marathon, it's not a sprint. We just have to keep getting better each day. As a team, we have a lot of potential we just needed to start showing some growth. I think we did that tonight."
Maroon Tide starter Jonathan Hickman picked up the win on the mound, moving to 2-1 on the year. He also gave himself a lead that he would never relinquish when he plated a run with a sacrifice bunt in the first inning to put Picayune ahead 1-0.
Stockstill's squad wasted no time in extending the lead, tallying three runs with two out in the second stanza.
Eric Smith had the big blow, a two run single, while Brandon Jurich also added a run scoring single.
After the Tomcats scored their only run of the game to cut the deficit to 4-1 in the fourth, Picayune's Jay Dedeaux got the run right back with an RBI-single in the bottom of the frame. Dedeaux also drove in a run later in the game.
From there, Hickman made the lead stand up going six strong innings and allowing just five hits before Lakeith Burton threw the final frame.
The two teams meet again Friday night in Wiggins.
The game was the first of 12 league games for both teams this season.
