Picayune may have lost the battle Tuesday night in Region 7-5A play but the Maroon Tide actually won the war as well.
Picayune dropped its first league game of the year, falling 4-3 on the road at West Harrison. But that decision, combined with a huge 9-1 upset win for Long Beach over Pearl River Central, resulted in the Maroon Tide winning the Region 7-5A regular season championship.
The Maroon Tide fell to 6-1 in the league race, but PRC, who the Maroon Tide swept a pair of games from last week, dropped to 4-3. Long Beach moved to 3-4 with the win, and WHHS picked up its first region win of the year and sits at 1-6.
In the West Harrison win, the Hurricanes tallied a pair of runs in both of the second and third innings to overcome an early 2-0 Picayune lead and hold on for the win.
Hunter Ross cracked a big two-run home run for WHHS that proved to be the difference in the game, while Donald Davis added a run-scoring double as well. Carlos Ramirez Pena added a run-scoing single in the win, while Landon Wallace had a double.
Kyler King paced Picayune at the plate with a pair of hits and two RBIs, while Justin Stockstil. and Parker Helton also recorded two hits each.
Davis worked a complete game to earn the win for the Hurricanes, while Brady Robertson started and threw five frames and took the loss for Picayune.
In Carriere Tuesday night, the Bearcats gained a measure of revenge after PRC swept a two-game series from Long Beach several weeks ago by handing the Blue Devils their third straight league loss with the 9-1 decision.
Long Beach jumped out to a 4-0 lead after just three frames Tuesday night, scoring a pair of runs in each of the first and third innings, and never looked back.
Hunter Blackwell enjoyed a huge night at the plate for the Bearcats in the win, as he smacked a pair of home run and had six RBIs. He had three hits total, including a run-scoring single in the first, and then added a two-run bomb in the third frame to give LBHS that 4-0 lead.
The Bearcats tallied five insurance runs in the top of the seventh, a trio of them coming on Hunter’s three-run round-tripper. Ashton Schepens, Nathan Kenworthy and W.P. Bermudez also drove in a run apiece in the winning effort, with Kenworthy’s coming on an RBI-double.
Austin Gill had PRC’s only RBI.
Eli Hodges hurled a complete game two-hitter for Long Beach to pick up the win, striking out three while walking two and giving up the one run.
Isias Ryan started and worked six stanzas and took the loss for PRC.
On Thursday in Region 7-5A action, Picayune hosts Long Beach followed on Friday with PRC hosting West Harrison.
Then, league play wraps up on Saturday as LBHS hosts the Hurricanes and PRC travels to arch-rival Picayune.
