Two-time defending 5A South State Champion East Central travels to Lucedale next Tuesday to open division play against George County. The Lady Hornets swept the Lady Rebels 5-4(10) and 2-1 last season to claim the South State Championship. Both teams wrap up non-division play over the weekend as East Central takes on D’Iberville, Pisgah, Fairhope, AL and Daphne, AL while the Lady Rebels travel to Oak Grove before the showdown in Lucedale. East Central has won 4 in a row and has yet to lose to an in-state opponent while the Lady Rebels have won 9 or their first 10 games this season. Vancleave also hosts Gautier on Tuesday night and travels to George County on Thursday in another playoff rematch in the highly competitive Region 8-5A.
Division 8-6A play also gets underway next Tuesday as Gulfport host rival Biloxi. The Lady Admirals (9-3) travel to the Ocean Springs Tournament where they will take on Spanish Fort, AL and Orange Beach, AL before taking on the Lady Indians. Division rivals Hancock (7-1) and Harrison Central (6-1) continue their hot starts and start division play on March 21. Both teams participate in the Harrison County Tournament this weekend highlighted by a Hancock matchup with Neshoba Central.
Rivals D’Iberville and St. Martin open Division 7-6A play on Tuesday while Ocean Springs and Pascagoula wait to get started on Tuesday, March 21. The Lady Greyhounds busy weekend as host of their tournament includes games with Alabama schools from Bryant, Daphne, Orange Beach, and Spanish Fort. Ocean Springs is coming off a 9-6 loss to Gulfport in a back-and-forth affair while Pascagoula dropped a 12-11 slugfest to Biloxi. D’Iberville and St. Martin face a common opponent in Lake prior to their matchup on Tuesday night.
Division 7-5A gets things going on March 21 so Long Beach, Pearl River Central, Picayune and West Harrison all look at tournament play this weekend. West Harrison playing host this weekend is coming off a 7-6 win over Pass Christian and face defending division champion PRC on March 21. The Lady Blue Devils have won 5 out of their last 6. Picayune travels to Long Beach on the 21st as well and faces a tough matchup with New Hope in the Harrison County tournament this weekend.
According to Max Preps several players are among the leaders in the state in offensive and pitching categories. Cailey Pervel of Pearl River Central, and Teegan DeWitt are among the top hitters in the state as both are hitting .583. KK Williams of West Harrison is close behind at .571. Izzy Martin of PRC and Addison Davis of George County have 3 HR’s each to lead the coast and KK Williams and Ashton Fairley of George County each have 14 RBIs to lead the Southern Six. Stolen base leaders include Toots Sampson of Hancock and Kassie Sonier of Vancleave with 7.
Pitching categories along the coast are led by Teegan DeWitt of Hancock and Peyton Collins of George County. Both have 5 wins while DeWitt has 66 strikeouts while Collins has 54. DeWitt’s 0.39 ERA leads the coast while Caroline Batson of Stone is close behind at 0.93 while Collins comes in at 1.24. Following this week’s Harrison County and Ocean Springs Tournaments, Bash at the Beach kicks off with 45 games scheduled at Biloxi High School, Gulfport High School, and the Biloxi Sportsplex.
