ELLISVILLE, Miss. — Brinson Anne Rogers (Statesboro, Ga.) announced No. 9 Pearl River’s arrival in the Region 23 Tournament with authority Wednesday night.

The right-hander was untouchable, striking out an unbelievable 18 Northeast batters on the way to a no-hitter and a 5-0 victory.

With the victory, PRCC (41-11) advances to play the winner of Copiah-Lincoln and Gulf Coast at 1:30 p.m. Friday. CLCC and MGCCC were scheduled to play the final game Wednesday.

“The postseason is about freedom,” Pearl River coach Christie Meeks said. “You don’t have to worry about anything but softball. Brinson said before the game that today was the most free that she had ever felt and she was very excited about it. She was just incredible tonight. It was so special to watch.”

“I’ve been waiting all season to throw like that,” Rogers said. “I don’t know where it has been this year, but it showed up tonight. I didn’t know that I had thrown a no-hitter or had 18 strikeouts but it’s really an awesome feeling.”

The first inning was an early indication of what was to come as Rogers struck out all three Northeast (41-12 overall) batters that stepped to the dish.

Pearl River gave Rogers a lead to work with in the bottom half of the frame. Morgan Lavergne (Baton Rouge, La.; Central) drew a four-pitch walk to open the frame and moved around to third base when Julianah Overstreet (Vancleave) reached on a two-base error. Three pitches later, freshman Bryn Daughtery (Vancleave) laced an RBI single along the ground and into right field to give PRCC a 1-0 lead.

Rogers picked right back up where she left off in the second. After the first runner drew a walk, the right-hander struck out the next three batters she faced to end the frame.

Two Tiger runners reached base in the top of the third, but Rogers did it once again, recording three more strikeouts to run her total up to a remarkable nine in three innings.

Rogers’ recorded an out in a different way in the fourth, forcing a ground out before striking out the next two NEMCC batters.

PRCC rewarded Rogers’ incredible effort with four big insurance runs in the fifth inning. Lavergne reached second base on back-to-back errors by the NEMCC second baseman and Destiney Gary (Greenwell Springs, La.; Central) moved her to third base with a groundout. The Wildcat first baseman, Overstreet, then stepped to the dish. After taking the first pitch, she mashed an RBI double into the gap. Daughtery saw six pitches before hitting a fly ball to center field on the seventh. Miscommunication between two Tigers allowed the ball to drop in, bringing home a run. Cassidy Cartwright (Poplarville) brought home courtesy runner Kallie Hunt (Picayune) by flaring a hit between three Tigers for an RBI single. Dallyn Nance (Nanih Waiya) capped the scoring in the frame when her chopper to third was bobble by the third baseman who then tried to rush a throw to second base. The ball went past the bag and rolled all the way to the wall to allow the run to score, 5-0.

CharLee Meadows (Piave; Greene County) kept the no-hit bid alive in the fifth with a remarkable defensive play. The Tigers laced a ball that was destined for a two-bagger, but Meadows sprinted and jumped to snatch the ball out of the air. Rogers ended the frame with her 12^th strikeout of the game.

Rogers continued her dominance in the sixth inning, picking up strikeouts 13, 14 and 15 to continue to keep the Tigers out of the hit column.

The seventh inning was more of the same for Rogers who finished off the special day by striking out the side to earn the fourth no-hitter of her career.

Rogers allowed just four base runners in the game; three via the walk and one on a hit-by-pitch.

TICKETS

Admission is $10 per day or $50 for a six-day tournament pass. Gates open one hour before the first game of each day. Jones College recommends that fans purchase tickets in advance at JCBobcats.com/tickets.

TUNE IN

All games will be livestreamed for free at JCBobcats.com/watch.

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