Long Beach sweeps Picayune; Blue Devils and Hornets win

Published 7:00 am Tuesday, March 13, 2018

PICAYUNE — Long Beach swept the Maroon Tide baseball team 9-3 and 7-1 in Saturday morning’s doubleheader.

In the first game, four runs in the first and five in the second for the Bearcats (6-3) were too much for the Maroon Tide. Meanwhile, Picayune (6-3) scored two runs in the first and one in the sixth.

For the Maroon Tide, Chad Stockstill batted 2-for-3 with a two-run homerun, Kyler Lauga was 2-for-3 with an RBI and Luke Smith went 1-for-2.

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During the top of the fourth inning in the second game, six walked batters led to four runs for the Bearcats, which helped the team earn its second win of the day.

Charlie Starita, Scotty Spears, Matt Hertzog and Brent Garner scored for the Bearcats in the fourth inning and gave the team a temporary 5-0 lead.

In the bottom of the fourth after a flyout by Stockstill, Picayune’s Tyler Penton and Lauga responded with two base hits. One batter later, Jeremiah Stallings, who came in as a pinch runner for Penton, scored the team’s only run of the game after a hit to right field by teammate Caleb Burnette.

After both teams went scoreless in the fifth, a two-run homerun by Long Beach’s Kobe Cook in the top of the sixth helped the team extend its lead to 7-1.

Long Beach’s pitcher Cade Crosby struck out the last four batters for the Maroon Tide, which brought the game to an end.

“Bottom line is that we just didn’t play very good today and they wanted to win more than us,” Picayune Head Baseball Coach Cody Stogner said. “We have to go back and play our style of baseball. These two games are over and there’s nothing we can do about them and now, we just have to be ready to go back to work and prepare for North Pike.”

During the top of the third inning in the second game, Long Beach’s Crosby scored the team’s first run after an error from Picayune’s second baseman Jakail Myers prevented the Maroon Tide from completing a double play and bringing the inning to an end.

Picayune will begin district play this week away at North Pike Tuesday night and will host the Jaguars Friday at 7 p.m.

— Poplarville’s softball team competed in the Harrison County Tournament Saturday and defeated Noxubee County 24-0 and Lake High School 15-10. The Lady Hornets scored 24 runs against Noxubee County in a game that ended after three innings of play. For Poplarville, Denasia Fulton, Harley Blanchard and Lana Welborn each went 2-for-3 and combined for nine RBIs and Cassidy Cartwright batted 1-for-4 and also had three RBIs. Blanchard earned the victory at the mound after pitching for three innings and struck out four batters and allowed four hits.

In the second game of the tournament, the Lady Hornets trailed 6-4 against Lake High after two innings of play but Poplarville went on to score five runs in the third, one in the fifth and five in the sixth and the team earned its second victory of the day. Lake High cut the deficit after scoring four runs in the sixth but failed to score in the seventh inning, which brought the game to an end.

For Poplarville, Manya Gilmore went 5-for-5 with six RBIs, Rakeya Travis was 4-for-5 with 3 RBIs and Cartwright batted 2-for-4 with 3 RBIs. On the mound, Karlee Price earned the win after pitching for five innings and allowed 10 hits and seven runs.

Poplarville (8-3) will travel to Greene County Thursday night and then travel to Sumrall on March 19.

—Hornets 3, Pirates 2: In a game that came down to the wire, Poplarville’s baseball team defeated Pass Christian 3-2 Friday night. The Hornets took an early lead after scoring one run in the second and fifth inning but the Pirates scored two runs in the top of the seventh to tie the game. Poplarville won the game after scoring a run in the bottom of the seventh.

For the Hornets, Canaan Ray and Cade Johnson each went 2-for-3 and Ray had two RBIs and Peytan Graham was 1-for-2 with an RBI.

Joey Smith pitched for 6 1/3 innings, allowing six hits, two runs and striking out nine batters. Graham pitched 2/3 innings, striking out one batter. The Hornets (2-6) will host Lumberton High School Saturday, March 17 at 11 a.m.

— Blue Devils 10, Aggies 0: Pearl River Central’s baseball team defeated Forrest County 10-0 Saturday morning in five innings.

The Blue Devils scored one run in the first, two in the second, four in the third, one in the fourth and two in the fifth.

PRC’s Austen Izzio batted 4-for-4, a homerun and had four RBIs, Eli Lee was 3-for-3 with two RBIs and Robert Shoemake and Josh Kennedy each went 1-for-3.

Austin Dean pitched for four innings and only allowed one hit and struck out eight batters. Kennedy pitched the last inning of the game and struck out all three batters.

The Blue Devils (9-0) will begin district play Tuesday by hosting Hattiesburg at 7 p.m.