No. 2 PRCC plates 17 runs to advance to Super Regional

POPLARVILLE, Miss. (PRCCAthletics.com) — In a week full of rain delays and postponements, No. 2 Pearl River baseball brought the thunder and lightning in Saturday's Regional Championship. The Wildcats plated 17 runs, smacked 16 hits and bashed nine extra-base hits to run-rule Northeast 17-2 in five innings, capping a perfect 3-0 week.

"This has been an extremely tough week with all the weather," head coach Michael Avalon said. "These guys have worked extremely hard and stayed focused all week. When I walked into the locker room today, they were focused and ready to go. When we let the gates down, they were ready to run."

With the victory, 1-seed Pearl River advances to next week's Super Regional against 2-seed East Central. The best-of-three series will be held at Dub Herring Park May 14-16. Tickets will be on sale soon at PRCCAthletics.com/tickets.

"We're really going to need our fans," Avalon said. "It's the number one and two teams in our league facing off to go to the World Series. Both teams are well-coached, and whoever plays the best will win."

Pearl River (48-7 overall) served as the visiting team after losing a coin toss, but that was the lone loss of the day for the Wildcats, as they immediately got to work on offense. Keegan Giger (Petal) and Jacob Keys (Brandon) knocked back-to-back doubles to begin. Keys then scored on a single by Caston Thompson (Jayess; Brookhaven Academy). The rally seemed as if it was coming to a close following a double play, but after Jaxon Milam (Phenix City, Ala.; Glenwood Academy) walked, Jackson Hood (Madison; Germantown) sent a ball into orbit for his 11th homer of the year. The first-inning rally continued when Nico Williams (Gulfport) knocked a two-run triple, 6-0.

Northeast (32-24) turned a hit-by-pitch into an RBI triple in the bottom half of the frame to get one back, but that was all the Tigers plated until the final inning of the day.

PRCC went quietly in the second, but one-upped the first-inning barrage with a seven-run third. Williams picked up his third RBI of the day with a single, and PRCC loaded the bases for Keys. The sophomore got a pitch that most couldn't hit out of a park, but went way down in the zone and clubbed it over the wall for a huge grand slam. Thompson singled to keep the rally going, forcing a NEMCC pitching change. Topher Jones (Hernando) greeted the new pitcher by sending his first pitch over the wall for a two-run homer, 13-1.

Northeast went down in order in the bottom of the third, sending PRCC right back to hit. PRCC called on pinch-hitter Tyrese Johnson (West Point) with Hood aboard. The freshman wasted no time in his at-bat, crushing a pitch over the wall for the first homer of his Wildcat career, 15-1.

A Jones single and a Hank Eaton (Corinth; Kossuth) sacrifice fly capped PRCC's scoring, 17-1. The Tigers got one run back in the bottom half of the inning, but PRCC closed things out on the run rule to punch its ticket to the Super Regional.

Five Wildcats had multi-hit games in the contest, led by Keys and Williams, who had three each. Thompson, Jones and Hood each had two. Keys drove in five runs while Jones and Williams had three RBIs.

Jacob Johnson (Carriere; Pearl River Central) threw three innings of one-run baseball, allowing one run on three hits. He had three strikeouts. Peyton Lacy (Pass Christian) threw a scoreless inning. Patrick Spencer Jr. (Greenville; Washington School) and Carson Fair (Southaven) combined for the final inning of the day. Spencer Jr. had two strikeouts, and Fair had one.