Local teams up and down

Published 3:18 pm Tuesday, April 17, 2012

A pair of local playoff bound teams, Poplarville and Pearl River Central, dropped games over the weekend.

The Hornets, coming off a big win over Vancleave Friday night to secure a playoff berth, fell to Hancock 3-1 as Zach O’Hern struck out five and had four hits at the plate for the Hawks. Cody Ladner added three hits and an RBI, while Kendon Necaise added two hits and an RBI for Hancock, which is 12-10 overall and will play at Picayune Tuesday night.

For the Hornets, Zac Houston and Austin Smith had triples in the loss, and William Evans had a run scoring double. Ashton Miley took the loss.

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In the win over Vancleave, Blake Weyenberg took the win and got plenty of support at the plate from J.J. Welch who had three hits including a triple and also drove in three  runs. Derek Martin had two hits, including a triple, and drove in three runs as well while Chandler Ray, Evans and Weyenberg all had three hits apiece also. Ray, Dillion McGrew and Blake Ladner each drove in a pair of runs apiece. Houston, Ladner and McGrew all had two hits apiece as well.

Poplarville will host Purvis Tuesday and Lumberton Thursday before beginning play in the Class 4A South State playoffs on Friday.

Also, after a big win over Picayune Friday night, PRC dropped a 9-3 decision to Clearwater, Fla., in the Harrison Central Tournament on Saturday.

Colton Lee, Jordan Gaude and Christian Smith each had two hits for the Blue Devils, while Lee, Hayden Smith and Caleb Morales each drove in runs. Lane Fazande rook the loss.

PRC will return to action Friday in the Class 5A South state playoffs at West Jones. The teams will play one game Friday at 7 and then two, if necessary, in Carriere on Saturday beginning at Noon.

Picayune was  slated to face Long Beach Monday night, and is scheduled to host Hancock tonight.

The Maroon Tide has been eliminated from playoff contention. On Saturday, the Maroon Tide swept a pair of games in Bay St. Louis, beating Bay High 20-7 and Hattiesburg 7-4.