After sweeping all eight games in the opening round of the Class 4A South State playoffs, the quartet of Region 8-4A squads didn’t fare quite as well as the seond round began Tuesday night.
Stone beat Mendenhall 10-4, while Pass Christian fell to Newton County 5-3 and Greene County lost by the same count to Sumrall. Also, Purvis dispatched Bay High 16-6.
Top-seed Stone was the only team out of the four to pick up a win so far in round two, as the home-standing Tomcats knocked off Mendenhall 10-4 at Kevin Conard Field. Stone banged out 14 hits in the winning attack, led by Willie Breland whose first inning grand slam over the left field fence gave the Tomcats a lead they would never relinquish. Stone ace pitcher Connor Tice tossed a complete game with seven strikeouts to get the win.
Game two in the best-of-three series at Mendenhall has been moved up to Thursday night from Friday due to potential rain.
Second-seeded Pass Christian fell on the road to Newton County 5-3 Tuesday night. Dylan Welter drove in three runs to pace the Pass at the plate, and he had a triple as well. Brendan Necaise took the loss for PCHS. The Pirates return back home Friday night to host game two.
Greene County travled to perennial state power Sumrall and dropped a hard-fought 5-3 decision to the Bobcats.
Sumrall eighth-grade pitcher Drew Davis remained unbeaten on the year and moved to 12-0 on the season picking up the win. Senior Collin Pipkins took the loss for the Wildcats. Phillip Herring smacked a solo home run for Grene County, while Landon Hollomon had a run-scoring double and Walker Long added RBI-single to account for the trio of Wildcat runs.
Sumrall, the defending Class 4A state champions, moves to 24-5 with the win, and will travel to Leakesville for game two Friday night.
Purvis, yet another perennial state baseball power, easily dispatched Bay High 16-6. Jacob Parker drove in game-high four runs for the Tornadoes in the win.
The Tigers trailed 9-0 after three frames, before breaking onto the scoreboard. Brennan Billich and Walker Seymour had two hits apiece for Bay, and both Seymour and Joel Ulrich each drove in a pair of runs each for the Tigers in the loss. One of Seymour’s hits was a double. Billich and Braden Necaise each also had an RBI apiece for BHS, and Necaise took the loss.
Game two in the series takes place later this week.
The winner of the Sumrall-Greene County series will face the survivor of the Pass Christian-Newton County series in the Class 4A South State semifinals next week, while the winner of the Purvis-Bay High match-up and the survivor of the Stone-Mendenhall match-up will do the same.
