No. 2 Pearl River Cruises to Regional Championship

The second-ranked Pearl River Wildcats made quick work of rival No. 19 Gulf Coast 10-1 in seven innings on Thursday night in the Region 23 Tournament winner’s bracket game.

PRCC struck first in the bottom of the first inning when Topher Jones smacked an RBI double to send Caston Thompson home after he singled. In the third frame, Jacob Keys walked before Caston Thompson came back up to bat and crushed a two-run home run over the center-field wall to extend the lead to 3-0.

An inning later, Camden Clark pitched masterfully with the bases loaded to prevent any runs from crossing the plate. With two outs, Clark threw a fastball on the inside part of the plate for strike three, stranding the bases loaded.

The Wildcat offense rewarded Clark’s heroics by scoring four runs in the bottom half of the inning. Ethan Garner began with a triple to right field before Keegan Giger slapped a single through the left side to bring him home. Jones would then draw a walk with the bases loaded to bring a run home, and then Jaxon Milam sent a fly ball into left field for a two-run double, 7-0.

Gulf Coast notched its lone run in the top of the fifth inning before the Wildcats responded once again when Keys hit an RBI double, 8-1. In the sixth inning, Milam recorded a single before Jackson Hood crushed a 3-2 pitch deep over the wall for a two-run bomb. The homer allowed Hood to become the second Wildcat with double-digit homers and extended the lead to 10-1.

PRCC shut the game down in the seventh inning with a fly out and two more strikeouts to send Pearl River to the Regional Championship. The Wildcats advanced to 47-7 overall and will face the winner of the elimination game between Gulf Coast and Northeast on Saturday at 2:30 p.m.

Author administrator Kellen Walker