PRC’s softball team defeats Picayune in district action
Published 7:00 am Wednesday, April 18, 2018
You’re out: PRC’s Harlee Davis looks towards first base after tagging a runner from Picayune at third base Monday night. Photo by Victor Tun
Congratulations: The Lady Devils won its district for a fifth consecutive year. PRC hung its new district champions banner Monday night after the team defeated Picayune 7-0. Photo by Victor Tun
Picayune's Morgan Dickerson pitched all six innings for the Lady Tide against PRC Monday night. Photo by Victor Tun
Picayune's Sarah Stockstill tags out PRC's Keigan Pearson at second base. Photo by Victor Tun
PRC's Shelby Archer, left, and Jayden Davis, right, wait for the decision of the umpire after Picayune's Mary Beth Dowling attempted to steal second base. Photo by Victor Tun
PRC's Head Softball Coach Tony LaBella cheers on his team after Keigan Pearson batted a three-run homerun in the bottom of the sixth inning Monday night. Photo by Victor Tun
CARRIERE — Pearl River Central’s softball team breezed their way to a 7-0 victory against Picayune during the team’s “senior night” Monday night.
With the win, the Lady Devils finished district play with an undefeated record, 6-0.
“Getting to this point has been a long process because the year before this senior class started, the varsity team only won one game and had a 1-20 record,” PRC Head Coach Tony LaBella said. “When I first started, I would hear comments such as, ‘Play PRC and get an automatic win.’ When we started five years ago, we knew we weren’t that strong but I noticed the players had a good work ethic. It was then when I knew if we stayed together, this senior class would go on to take the program to new heights.”
For PRC, Jade Latham batted 2-for-4 with a double, a homerun and two RBIs. Keigan Pearson was 2-for-4 with a homerun and four RBIs and Madison Gower went 2-for-4 with a double.
Latham pitched all seven innings for the Lady Devils, in which she struck out 10 batters and only allowed two hits.
After the first two innings of the game remained scoreless, Gower and Shelby Archer scored for PRC (20-2, 6-0 Region 7-5A) in the bottom of the third. The two runs scored gave the Lady Devils a temporary 2-0 lead.
During the bottom of the fourth, Latham extended the team’s lead after she batted a homerun to center field. In the next inning, Harlee Davis scored for the Lady Devils after Latham batted the ball into center field.
In the sixth inning, with Gower and Archer on base, Pearson batted a three-run homerun into right field. The homerun by Pearson gave PRC a 7-0 lead.
In the state playoffs, PRC automatically qualified to the first round and will play the winner of the play-in series between Long Beach vs. West Jones.
“Last year, we defeated Long Beach twice in the regular season but then, they swept us in the playoffs,” LaBella said. “Last year we had a good team but I think we peaked a little too early and we just played poorly in the playoffs. This year, we have to be mature enough to understand that records do not matter anymore because once you get to the playoffs, everyone is 0-0.”
For the Lady Tide, Rianna McNeely and Cameron Carter each went 1-for-2 while at-bat. Morgan Dickerson pitched all six innings and she struck out one batter.
Picayune (4-18, 2-4 Region 7-5A) will play against Natchez in the best two-out-of-three play-in series. The first game will be at Natchez on Friday at 5:30 p.m. and game two will be Saturday at 12 p.m. at Picayune. Should a third game be needed, it will be played at about 2 p.m.
