River sweeps East Miss

POPLARVILLE Pearl River swept East Mississippi in MACJC non-division baseball action here Friday, taking 7-3 and 10-0 (six innings) victories to improve to 9-3 overall. The doubleheader was originally scheduled to be played on the EMCC campus in Scooba, but was moved to Poplarville due to threatening weather conditions. The visiting Lions dropped to 3-9 with the losses. In the first game, the Wildcats went up 2-0 in the bottom of the second, but East Miss tied it up in the third only to see The River regain the lead with a solo run in the bottom of the frame. After a scoreless fourth, Pearl River padded its lead to 7-1 with three in the fifth and a solo run in the sixth; while East Mississippi scored its final run in the top of the seventh. Starter Taylor Byrd (2-0) of Petal High got the win in his five innings on the mound, giving up four hits, striking out four, and walking two; while Cody Conkle, also of Petal High, closed it out in the sixth, giving up two hits, striking out two, and walking two. Lion starter Blake Roberts (0-2) got the loss in his four-and-a-third innings of action, giving up nine hits, striking out three, and walking two; while Dillon Hawkins relieved for a third in the first, giving up three hits. Tyler Jones also relieved in the fifth and closed it out. He gave up two hits, struck out one, and walked a batter. EMCC finished with six hits, led by Brett Tortorich double; while Tyler Bonaventure, Aaron Brady, Alex Chick, Zane Migues, and Holden Watts all had base hits. Braxton Lee of Picayune High and Chase Lewallen of Sumrall High paced Pearl River 14-hit attack with three singles each, while Matt Linton of East Central High doubled and singled, Austin Carter of Sumrall High and Marcus Lawton Jr. of Biloxi High had two base hits each, and Chad Livingston of Slidell (La.) High and Chase Toussaint of Petal High both singled. East Miss played error-free, while PRCC had one defensive miscue. In the 10-0 nightcap game, it was all Pearl River from the outset. The Wildcats scored five in the first, two in the second, and three in the sixth to take the contest via the 10-run rule. Starter Brandon Pennington (2-0) of Sumrall High got the win in his five innings on the mound, giving up three hits, striking out two, and walking one; while Trace Robinson of Purvis High relieved in the sixth, giving up a hit and striking out two. Lion starter Landon Meadows (0-1) got the loss after throwing two-thirds of the first. He gave up three hits, struck out two, and walked one before Camp Pittman relieved and went two-and-a-third, giving up four hits, striking out three and walking three. Nick Durrah relieved in the fourth, striking out one and walking four; while Tyler Thomas pitched the sixth, giving up two hits, striking out one, and walking a batter. Migues led EMCC four-hit effort with a triple and a single, while Josh Tentoni had two base hits. Livingston paced the Wildcats 10-hit effort with a double and two singles, while Lewallen doubled and singled, Lee had two base hits, and Carter, Aaron Lee of Pearl River Central High, and Toussaint all singled. The Lions committed two errors in the game to The River one. Pearl River returns to action Friday, March 9, when it hosts Central Illinois CC (Ill.) at 2 p.m. and Garden City CC (Kan.) at 7 p.m. in Wildcat Stadium in Poplarville before hosting Illinois Central again on Saturday, March 10, in a 2 p.m. doubleheader. PRCC then hosts St. Louis-Meramec (Mo.) at 1 p.m. and Garden City at 6 p.m. on Sunday, March 11.

Each community college president is asked to bring two (2) wrapped door prizes, minimum value of $50 each. We will have a station set up at the conference for you to drop off the door prizes.

Each community college is asked to provide name tags for their Board members, administration, and staff attending the conference.