St. Stanislaus swept a pair of Region 8-3A games from St. Patrick in a home and home two-game series in the “Southern Six” this week.
And those results set up yet another big twin bill for the Rock-a-Chaws next week for the region championship.
St. Stanislaus slipped past the Fighting Irish 11-8 for the second consecutive night on Wednesday, after taking a comfortable 12-2 win at home Tuesday night. The wins pushed the Rocks to 7-1 in the league standings, and they solidify the second spot in the standings one game behind league-leading West Marion. The Trojans are an unbeaten 8-0.
The two teams are set to decide the top seed in Region 8-3A next week, with games scheduled for Tuesday in Foxworth and Friday in Bay St. Louis.
In Wednesday’s win, St. Stanislaus seemed to carry over its momentum from Tuesday as the Rocks jumped out to a quick 6-0 lead with four runs in the second stanza and single runs in the first and the third. But St. Patrick battled back to make a game of it, cutting the deficit to 8-6 by scoring. a trio of runs in both the fourth and fifth frames.
But SSC stemmed the tide and tallied three more runs in the top of the seventh to seal the win.
Jeremy Mares paced SSC at the plate with a trio of hits, including a run-scoring double, while Hill Gainey added two hits including an RBI-double and Hugh LeMasters chipped in a pair of hits and slapped a run-scoring double himself. Kyle Stegall tallied a triple for the Rocks.
Carson Kilpatrick accounted for half of St. Patrick’s six hits on the night, and he drove in a run as well. Hayden Hall, Cohen Weinhofer, Jake Landgrave and Ben Rimes all drove in a run apiece for SPHS.
Ole Miss signee Seth Farni took the win on the hill for SSC, going four frames, while Weinhofer took the loss.
St. Stanislaus has clinched at least second place in the region. Seminary, who split with SSC, sits in the third spot in the standings at 5-3 but the Rocks own the tie-breaker. The pair of league losses leave St. Patrick at 2-6 in the region race, but the Fighting Irish still remain fourth in the standings in the race for the Class 3A state playoffs. The top four seeds qualify for the postseason.
St. Patrick will wrap up region play next week, with a home and home series Tuesday and Friday with Perry Central. The Bulldogs are tied with Jefferson Davis County at the bottom of the league standings with a 1-7 mark. The Fighting Irish need just one win over PCHS to clinch a playoff berth.
