The softball regular season heads into its final week and D’Iberville, George County and Hancock have all secured first-round byes and division titles.
While Division 8-5A and 8-6A along with Division 7-6A playoff seedings have all been determined, the other thre divisions in the “Southern Six” are all still up for grabs. Picayune’s 6-3 win over Pearl River Central last Tuesday night has opened up Division 7-5A with West Harrison also in the mix. The Lady Blue Devils host Picayune Friday night and West Harrison on Monday in games that will determine the division champion as well as the second and third seeds from the division.
George County clinched their first division title Thursday night with a win over Gautier. The Lady Rebels now draw the first-round bye. East Central as the 2 seed will host Brookhaven while the 3 seed Vancleave will likely start the playoffs on the road at West Jones. The 2nd seed out of Division 7-5A will host Hattiesburg while the 3 seed opens the playoffs at Wayne County or South Jones.
In Class 6A, everything is set. In Division 7-6A, D’Iberville heads into the playoffs with a first round bye, while Ocean Springs will take on the Pearl Pirates in the first round and St. Martin is on the road at Warren Central. In 8-6A, Gulfport had the final say in determining the outcome of this division. Skylar Brock’s RBI single in the bottom of the 7th broke a 5-5 tie and gave the Lady Admirals the victory and also gave the Hancock Lady Hawks the division title. Gulfport jumped out to a 5-0 lead before Harrison Central rallied with a 5-run 5thinning to tie the game and set up Brock’s heroics. Anna Kate Rounsaville was the winning pitcher going the distance allowing 5 runs on 7 hits and striking out 2. Fairley Hall and Caroline Lindsay had 2 hits each for the Lady Admirals. Gabby Smith took the loss for Harrison Central going the distance while Kalee Stinnett and Smith had RBI hits for the Red Rebels. Hancock now draws the first-round bye while Harrison Central opens the playoffs with Oak Grove. As the 3 seed, Gulfport starts on the road with Petal.
In Region 8-4A, Stone’s 10-4 win over Greene County tightened up the race in 8-4A. The Lady Wildcats still control their own destiny and lead the division with their only loss coming to the Lady Tomcats. Bay High sits in second place while Stone continues to battle Pass Christian for the final playoff spot. In 7-4A, Poplarville still looks to get in behind Division champion Sumrall and Purvis. In 8-3A, St. Patrick needs a win on the road Monday night over Jefferson Davis County to secure the division crown.
