Spiers, Blue Devils swamp Gators
Published 3:20 pm Saturday, March 2, 2013
Pearl River Central’s Dylan Spiers hurled a no-hitter, as the Blue Devils kicked off district play with a 9-1 road win over Gautier Friday night.
The win was the third straight for PRC, after a season opening loss to Hancock. Gautier falls to 0-3 overall.
Spiers struck out six and walked four in the complete game performance, He is now 2-0 on the season.
“I told them at that at least we’re 1-0,” PRC head coach Neil Walther said. “As long as we pitch well and play defense we will always give our selves a chance to win. We only got three hits, and I’m hoping our hitting comes around. But we scored five runs before we got a hit, so we were able to take advantage of some situations.”
The homestanding Gators actually took a short-lived 1-0 lead early, due to a PRC error and a passed ball in the bottom of the first.
The Blue Devils bounced back with five runs in the top of the second, as Christian Smith drove in a run with a fielders choice while Wade Manning, Christian Travis and Spiers all drew bases-loaded walks. Chance Putnam also scored on a passed ball.
PRC extended its lead to 7-1 in the third frame, as Jake Scheurman led off with a double and later scored on a double steal after Smith walked. Smith then scored several batters later on a passed ball.
The Blue Devils then secured the win with two more runs in the top of the seventh, as Putnam drove in a run with a ground out and Hayden Smith had an RBI on an infield single.
PRC had just the trio hits in the winning effort but the Blue Devils stole eight bases.
Newt Brown took the loss for the Gators.
The Blue Devils are off until Monday, when they host Gautier in a rematch.
Today, both Picayune and Poplarville are back in action at Wildcat Stadium on the campus of Pearl River Community College.
The Maroon Tide, coming off a big 2-1 win on the road over defending Class 5A State Champion Pascagoula Thursday night, meets Gulfport at 11 a.m.
Poplarville, which fell 11-6 to George County Friday night at PRCC, then takes on Gulfport at 1 p.m., before facing Harrison Central at 7 tonight to wrap up the event.