Tide earns playoff bid

Published 1:16 pm Wednesday, March 25, 2009

By CURTIS ROCKWELL

Item Sports Editor

Picayune accomplished a trio of goals on the baseball field Tuesday night.

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Not only did the Maroon Tide win their 10th straight game with a 9-6 come-from-behind win over visiting St. Stanislaus, but it kept the Maroon Tide a perfect 7-0 in Division 8-4A play as well.

In addition, the victory not only moved head coach Cayne Stockstill’s team into sole possession of second place in the league, but the win also secured a state playoff berth for the Maroon Tide as well.

Picayune, now 11-1 overall, scored five runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to overcome a 6-4 deficit and pull out the win.

Jonathan Hickman picked up the win in relief, and Jared Bales came on in the seventh to strike out the side and earn the save.

“We just keep finding ways to win, and they may not be pretty,” Stockstill, who has now guided the Maroon Tide to back-to-back playoff berths, said. “We just have to keep it up, but this was a really big win for us.”

Bryce Ladner, who started on the mound for the Maroon Tide, gave Picayune a 3-1 lead in the fourth on a two run homer.

But SSC came back to take a 5-3 lead with four runs in the fifth, setting the stage for Picayune’s comeback win.

Hunter Gill, Evan Nichelson, Braxton Lee and Ladner all had RBI’s in the decisive sixth stanza.

The Tide took advantage of seven hit batters, six walks and four Rock errors to take the big win.

Ladner had two hits, Nichelson a double and Garrett Williams drove in a run for Picayune.

The teams meet again on Friday in Bay St. Louis.

PRC baseball

CARRIERE — Homestanding Pearl River Central won its first Division 8-4A game of the season Tuesday night, knocking off Bay High 12-0.

Dustin Dennis pitched a complete game three-hitter to move to 2-0 with the win, while Ryan Revette had two hits and drove in three runs for the Blue Devils and both Brett Tortorich and Cody Dillard added RBI-doubles to the winning cause.

The teams meet again in Bay St. Louis on Friday.

Poplarville baseball

D’IBERVILLE — Pop-larville fell to homestanding D’Iberville 5-3 in Division 8-4A action Tuesday night.

The Hornets got a double from Donovan Touchet and a pair of hits from Derrick Martin while Jade Whitten took the loss as Poplarville fell to 1-15 overall and 1-7 in league play. The teams meet again in Poplarville Friday.

Poplarville-PRC softball

POPLARVILLE — Pop-larville knocked off visiting Pearl River Central 11-0 in Division 8-4A prep fast-pitch softball action Tuesday.

The win moved the Lady Hornets, ranked third in the state, to an impressive 18-1 overall and 6-1 in league play while PRC drops to 4-11 overall and 0-6 in league play.

Brandi Rester had a triple and two singles for Poplarville, while Kayla Ross had two singles, Paige Miller had two triples, Allysa Graeter two singles, Kayla Fendalson a double and two singles, Chelsea Theriot a triple and Megan Ladner a double.

Ladner took the win on the hill, moving to 14-1 on the year while Becky Mitchell took the loss for PRC. Brooke Serpas had a double for the Lady Devils.

Poplarville hosts Long Beach in a huge league game Thursday, while PRC travels to Bay High Thursday and hosts D’Iberville Friday afternoon at 4.

Picayune softball

Visiting Long Beach blanked Picayune 9-0 in Division 8-4A action Tuesday night. The loss dropped Picayune to 8-13 overall and 1-6 in league play, while Long Beach, ranked second in the state, remained unbeaten in league play behind the pitching of Baliegh Babin.Picayune travels to D’Iberville tonight.