Pearl River Central’s Blue Devils baseball team defeated the Stone Tomcats 16-6 on March 3 to keep its win streak alive.

The victory came just one day after a 9-4 win over the Pearl River Rebels.

The two victories moved PRC to 6-1 on the season. The Blue Devils haven’t lost a game since the season opener against Hancock, which ended 2-1 in extra innings.

PRC had to overcome deficits against both Stone and Pearl River to pull out the victory.

Head Coach Neil Walther said he liked how his team responded to being down in both games.

“They faced a little adversity and didn’t fold. Now I know that these guys are going to fight through it,” Walther said.

The win streak is now up to six games where PRC has dominated three opponents with double digit runs this season, including a 23-4 thrashing of Columbia Academy.

There are several young players in important roles for the squad, but the team has found a consistent way to win games.

“I think we’ve done a good job of maintaining our approach, not panicking when things aren’t going right and just playing through it,” Walther said.

Walther said at times his pitchers carried the Blue Devils to a victory.

Other times it was the effective at bats and still other times the Blue Devils’ defense was the main factor in a victory.

That means on any given day the team’s impact player could change, which Walther said is a good trait for a team to have.

“It’s not always going to work out perfectly, (but) the best part is it’s been somebody different every time,” Walther said.

The team’s pitching against Pearl River and Stone included eight strikeouts from senior pitcher Austin Diebold over just four and 2/3 innings.

Diebold has appeared in six of the team’s seven games this season and Walther said Diebold, along with the rest of the pitching staff, trusts the defense to make plays when necessary.

“We just get in the zone. (Diebold is) very efficient in what he does,” Walther said.

PRC will put its win streak on the line March 5 when the team takes on the Presbyterian Christian Bobcats. The Bobcats are 3-3 this season as the team comes off a 2-1 loss to Purvis.

Walther said he wants his team’s effective defensive play to continue, while also using the game as a good way to try and determine where players fit heading into district.

“What we want to do is establish an order and roles going into district, and we have time for that. We’ll see how they progress to find out what their roles will be,” Walther said.

The game against the Bobcats is set to begin at 6:30 p.m. and will be an away game for the Blue Devils.