On Thursday night, The Picayune Maroon Tide (13-9, 6-0) beat Pearl River Central (16-7, 4-2) by a 3-2 score. This clenches Picayune the No. 1 spot in the district and slides PRC to the No.2 spot.

Recap

At the bottom of the 3rd, PRC jumped to a 2-0 lead thanks to a sacrifice fly by Riley Wilson and run by BJ Bellelo. Their second run occurred off an RBI single by Austill Gill.

The top of the fourth is when Picayune tied the game at 2-2. Brunson Stockstill led off with an RBI single, then Tanner Busby followed another RBI single that could have been an easy out for PRC, but instead was a wild pitch to first base.

Picayune took its first lead in the 6th inning. With runners on first and third, Brunson hit his second RBI of the night. Picayune would hold on and win 3-2.

It was a gritty win for Picayune, and PRC is no easy team to brush off. Head Coach Evan Nichelson credited them as a good ball team and one that applies a lot of pressure. Yet in back-to-back games, Picayune responded in diamond fashion against that pressure.

“[Jacob] Johnson was really good. We did enough offensively, to apply some pressure, and had some breaks go our way but that’s baseball…the kids kept battling. Tanner’s not himself right now, he’s not 100 percent but he gave us 5 strong innings then Kyler came in there and shut the door,” Nichelson said.

Stats

Picayune; 3 total hits, 2 total RBIs (both by Brunson Stockstill). Cooper Moreaux scored 2 runs and Stockstill scored one run. Tanner Busby and Kyler King pitched for a combined 5 strikeouts.

PRC; 4 total hits, and 2 RBIs thanks to Conner Dyess and Austin Gill. Chris Hart and BJ Bellelo scored PRC’s two runs. Jacob Johnson pitched the entire inning and stuck out 8 batters.

 

Around Mississippi

Note, according to Max Preps, in the 5A rankings, PRC stands as No.3 and Picayune stands as No.10. West Jones sits in the No. 1 spot at 13-4 overall.

Next No.1  Picayune will be on the road to play the No.4 West Harrison Hurricanes (5-18 overall, 0-6 district) on Tuesday, April 11 at 7 p.m. No.1 Pearl River Central will host the No.3 Long Beach Bearcats (16-7 overall, 4-2 district)on Tuesday, April 11 at 7 p.m.