The Pearl River Central Lady Blue Devils and Picayune Lady Maroon Tide battled Tuesday evening in a tight game that PRC narrowly won 4-2.

Jazmin Robertson got the start for PRC on the mound and struck out six over seven innings, while Picayune’s Kylie Burnette also pitched a complete game and struck out four.

The teams were tied 1-1 heading into the top of the sixth inning before a huge hit by PRC’s Izzy Martin scored two runners to start a three run rally.

Picayune clawed a run back in the bottom of the seventh, but it wasn’t enough to defeat the Lady Blue Devils.

After the game, PRC Head Coach Tony Labella said Robertson’s composure on the mound helped carry the Lady Blue Devils to victory as the team struggled to produce offensively.

“She was outstanding. I thought she pitched a really good game. Her pitching coupled with a few timely hits by Izzy (won us the game),” Labella said.

Picayune Head Coach Courtney Dickens said she was happy with her team’s fight, even if the comeback did fall short.

“The past two weeks we’ve been (really) competing and so I told them I was proud of them and that it’s not over. The difference in that game is they came up with the hits when they needed them and we didn’t,” Dickens said.

Carsyn Cacioppo also had a good night at the plate for PRC going 2-3 with two runs scored, but it was Martin’s key hits that earned the victory.

Labella said Martin’s approach and ability to understand where she stands in the count really helped on a night where she had a double, a triple and three RBIs.

“First time up she struggled, but she made an adjustment. It was pretty obvious early on we weren’t getting six or seven runs, so we needed a timely hit. I thought their pitcher pitched a really good game,” Labella said.

The tight game was due in part to some incredible individual plays defensively, including a diving catch by Picayune’s Kallie Hunt to stop the bleeding.

Dickens said her team’s defensive intensity was in part due to the squad putting the hours in during practice to work on being in the right position to make those plays.

“I’m glad that happened. I keep telling them, ‘You never know what you can catch if you don’t try.’ The thing about defense is if you watch someone play and make plays like that, to me that shows exactly how bad you want to win. We had some good plays and that catch Kallie made, she didn’t want the ball to fall,” Dickens said.

PRC will take the win and have a respite from district games as the team travels to Magee on April 8 and St. Martin April 9.

Picayune on the other hand will have to quickly put the loss in the past with another important district matchup at Hattiesburg on April 8.