Tide takes title
Published 3:09 am Sunday, April 17, 2011
Picayune captured the Region 6-5A championship Friday night with a resounding 14-2 win over arch-rival Pearl River Central.
Picayune is the top seed in the league, and the Blue Devils finished second.
PRC scored a pair of runs in the first on Bull Mixon’s two run single, but it was all Picayune after that as the Maroon Tide sent at least eight batters to the plate in four different innings and ended the game with 14 unanswered runs to knock off the visitors.
“I was very proud of the way the kids responded,” Picayune head coach Cayne Stockstill said. The Blue Devils rallied for a 2-1 comeback win on Tuesday.
“After they way we lost Tuesday and then they came out and got an early lead, we could have hung our heads but we didn’t. We fought hard and prepared well and it paid off.”
The title is the second district championship in three years for the Maroon Tide.
After Mixon gave PRC the early lead, Picayune battled back immediately taking a 3-2 lead in the bottom of the first as Jonathan Hickman tallied an RBI-single and both Kurt Smith and Colton Lee drove in runs.
The Maroon Tide extended their lead to 6-2 in the second, as Hickman had another RBI-single, Smith drove in another run and Da’Keith Burton added an RBI-single as well.
Picayune continued to pad its lead in the fourth, batting around and scoring eight runs to take a commanding 14-2 lead.
Hickman had two doubles in the frame, and drove in a run as well, while Kurt Smith drove in two runs in the inning and Colton Lee had a two run double. Nick Marble also had a double in the rally, and the Blue Devils did hurt themselves tremendously as well commiting four errors in the frame.
“We tried to take advantage of every chance we had,” Stockstill added. “We got back to playing small ball, and applying pressure on them hoping we could capitalize on some mistakes.”
Hickman had four hits and drove in three runs to pace the Picayune hit parade, while Braxton Lee had three stolen bases and Eric Smith scored three runs.
Jacob Taylor got the pitching win, while Lane Fazande took the loss.
Jordan Gaude had a double for PRC.
Picayune gets a first round bye in the playoffs, and will face either Vancleave or Brookhaven in two weeks.
The Blue Devils will have the homefield advantage when they face West Harrison to open the playoffs on Friday.