Blue Devils take over top spot in Region 6-5A
Published 7:00 am Tuesday, April 8, 2014
Visiting Pearl River Central picked up a big district win over the weekend.
Homestanding Poplarville wasn’t as fortunate.
The Blue Devils traveled to Brookhaven and came away with an 8-6 win over the Panthers to remain unbeaten in league play and take over sole possession of first place in the league standings.
The Hornets dropped their second consecutive 1-0 decision to league-leading St. Stanislaus in Region 8-4A action.
• In Brookhaven, Chance Putnam picked up the win to move to 3-0. Dylan Spiers earned a save with two scoreless innings of relief work. Putnam, Spiers and Blake Caruso combined to strike out 14 Panther batters on the night. Putnam had nine of those K’s.
The Blue Devils jumped out to a quick 6-0 lead, scoring all six in the second inning. Caleb Morales had a two run double in the outburst. Spiers, Mason Songy and Cody Lee each drove in a run as well for PRC.
Pearl River Central extended its lead to 8-0 in the top of the fourth, as Jake Schuerman and Putnam drove in runs.
Brookhaven rallied with six runs in the fifth, thanks to three walks and four hit batters. But that would be as close as the Panthers would get.
The Blue Devils are 4-0 in league play, and 12-2 overall, and were slated to play Jackson Wingfield in a district doubleheader Monday night.
• Meanwhile, in Poplarville, for the second time in four days, the Rockachaws took a 1-0 win over the Hornets thanks to an unearned run.
On Tuesday, the teams went scoreless in Bay St. Louis into the bottom of the seventh before Irby Dossett scored the game’s only run on a Hornet error.
Saturday afternoon, Greer Holston, who was the winning pitcher on Tuesday, scored the games lone run in the fifth again due to a Poplarville miscue.
Rock hurler Dustin Aime, who drove in the game winning run on Tuesday, picked up the pitching win Saturday as he went the distance and allowed just two hits. He struck out five and walked two.
Hayden Freeman took the loss for Poplarville. The Hornets are 7-9 overall, and stand 3-3 in the district.
The Rocks are a perfect 6-0 in league play, and 12-3 overall. Vancleave is second in the league standings at 5-1, while Poplarville and Pass Christian are both tied for third at 3-3.
Poplarville is slated to return to league play tonight, hosting Bay High. Bay High is 1-5 in district play. Moss Point is 0-6.
Pearl River Central’s doubleheader at Poplarville that was originally scheduled for Saturday was cancelled so that the Hornets could host SSC after rain delayed that contest from Friday night.
• Picayune is also back in action tonight, after two games were rained out on Saturday in Bay St. Louis. The Maroon Tide hosts Long Beach in a crucial Region 7-5A game at 7 p.m.