River splits with Perk

POPLARVILLE Matthew Magee smashed a walk off grand slam home run here Tuesday to propel Pearl River Wildcats to a 17-15 come-from-behind victory over arch-rival Mississippi Gulf Coast in the first game of an MACJC South Division doubleheader, while the division-leading Bulldogs bounced back with a 5-2 win in the nightcap. PRCC is now 17-9 overall and 4-4 in the division play, while MGCCC is 13-13 and 6-2. The opening game, which saw a combined 37 hits (18 for Gulf Coast, 19 for The River), the Wildcats trailed 15-10 heading into the bottom of the seventh before rallying for seven runs capped by left field bomb by Magee, a sophomore who prepped at Petal High. After a scoreless first inning, the Bulldogs went up 5-0 in the top of the second; scoring all of their runs with two outs. Wildcat starter Josh Hubbell of Forrest County AHS put two on before Nick Boggs cracked an RBI single for the first run, then J.C. Cassidy walked and Hunter Frierson followed with a two-run single to center. Michael Paul and Nick Purdy singled in two more runs before Michael Peters of East Marion High relieved Hubble and retired Trey Porter for the final out. PRCC answered in the bottom of the frame with four runs. B.J. Smith of Sumrall High led off with a double to left field before Chase Lewallen of Sumrall High drew a base on balls and out later. Designated hitter Derek Sanders of Simpson Academy and Aaron Lee of Pearl River Central followed with RBI singles before speedster Chase Toussaint of Petal High reached by outrunning an infield grounder to first to load the bases. Jordan Williams out of Christian County High in Hopkinsville, Ky., and James Abraham, a Southeastern Louisiana transfer who prepped at St. Stanislaus in Bay St. Louis, both reached on errors to push the third and fourth runs before Gulf Coast starter Anthony Izzio struck out Magee and Smith grounded to second for the final out. All told, each team saw 10 batters come to the plate in the second inning. The Bulldogs padded their lead in the top of the third when Miles led off with a triple down the first-base line and was sacrificed home by Ben Slaton to make it 6-4 before Zach DeSoto flew out to left, Boggs was belted by a pitch, and Peters Kd Cassidy for the final out. The Wildcats duplicated Gulf Coast offensive showing in the bottom of the frame when Lewallen drew a one-out walk, Sanders singled, and Toussaint smacked an RBI single to left to make it 6-5. Williams ensuing base hit loaded the bases, but Abraham flew out to right to end the inning. After a scoreless fourth, the Bulldogs pumped their lead to three in the fifth. Porter led off with a double down the first-base line and scored off Miles triple down the third-base line. Slaton followed with an RBI single, which prompted the mound exit of Peters for sidewinder Hunter Curtis of Petal High. DeSoto reached on a fielder choice before Curtis walked Boggs and gave up a single to Cassidy to load the bases. Frierson then reached on a fielder choice when DeSoto was nailed at home on a force out before Frierson was forced out at second off Paul grounder for the final out. Pearl River bounced back into the lead in the bottom of the inning when Sanders led off with a single to right field and Williams singled to center two fly outs later. Abraham was belted by a pitch to load the bases, setting the stage for Magee two-run single to left to make it 8-7. Timothy Maloney relieved Izzio at that point and he immediately gave up a two-run double to Smith to put The River up 9-7 before Grae Ormon of Clinton High cracked an RBI single to make it 10-8. Lewallen followed with an up-the-middle single before Maloney struck out Dakota Baker of Purvis High to end the inning. The fifth inning saw a combined 19 batters nine for Gulf Coast, 10 for Pearl River. The Bulldogs regained the lead in the top of the sixth and again saw 10 batters at the plate. MGCCC scored its first run off three straight one-out singles by Porter, Miles, and Slaton; then DeSoto base hit to left loaded the bases, setting the stage for Boggs RBI single to tie it up at 10-10. After Cassidy reached on a fielder choice to push in an 11th run, Curtis was relieved by Robert Marzoni of Purvis High who immediately gave up a two-run double to right center to Frierson. Paul sacrificed another run home to make it 14-10 before Purdy grounded to short for the final out. Tyler Buckley relieved Maloney to start the bottom of the inning where the Wildcats loaded the bases with one out only to see Buckley strike out Magee and Smith ground out to second to end the inning. The Bulldogs scored their final run in the top of the seventh when Porter led off with his second double of the game and scored off Miles sacrifice fly. After Slaton flew out to left, Joey Harris doubled before Boggs grounded to second for the final out. In the bottom of the seventh, Ormon got things going when he was belted by a pitch, Baker singled an out later and Lee followed with a RBI base hit. After Toussaint walked to load the bases, Williams singled in Baker before Buckley hit Abraham with a pitch to push in the Wildcats 13th run. Daniel Wineski relieved Buckley at that point and he gave up the grand slam to Magee over the left field wall to end the game. Marzoni (5-0) got the win, giving up two hits; while starter Hubbell gave up five hits, struck out one, and walked two over his one-and-two-thirds innings on the mound. Peters gave up five hits, struck out one, and hit one batter in his two-and-one-thirds innings of relief; while Curtis went one-and-a-third, giving up six hits and walking one. Buckley (2-4) got the loss, giving up four hits, striking out two, walking two, and hitting two batters in his one-and-one-thirds innings on the mound; while starter Izzio went four-and-two-thirds, giving up 11 hits, striking out one, walking two, and hitting one batter. Maloney gave up three hits and struck out one in his one-and-one-thirds innings on the mound, while Wineski faced one batter. Miles paced Gulf Coast at the plate with a double and three singles (two RBIs), while Porter had two doubles and a single, Frierson doubled and singled (four RBIs), Boggs (two RBIs), DeSoto, and Slaton (three RBIs) had two singles a piece; Harris doubled, and Cassidy (one RBI), Paul (two RBIs), and Purdy (one RBI) all had base hits. Williams led the Wildcats 19-hit effort with a double and three singles (two RBIs), while Sanders had three base hits (one RBI), Magee homered and singled (six RBIs), Smith had two doubles (two RBIs), Lee (one RBI), Ormon (one RBI), and Toussaint (one RBI) had two single a piece; and Baker and Lewallen both had base hits. Abraham had two RBIs. The Bulldogs committed five errors in the game to the Wildcats two. In the nightcap, Gulf Coast loaded the bases in the top of the first off three walks by starter Taylor Byrd of Petal High, but couldnt push in a run. Pearl River responded with two runs in the bottom of the frame when Abraham and Smith reached with singles and Abraham scored off a double steal. Smith scored from second off Ormon single to center before Bulldog starter Purdy Kd Lewallen his third strike out of the inning for the final out. Boggs and Dieter Hamilton led off the top of the second with singles, moved to second and third off Cassidy sacrifice bunt, but were left stranded when Byrd struck out Frierson and Paul in succession. Gavin Culpepper relieved Purdy to start the bottom of the inning. Lead off Sanders reached on an error before Culpepper retired three straight, including a strike out of Toussaint. The Bulldogs took the lead for good in the top of the third when Purdy led off with a walk, Porter singled, and Paul base on balls loaded the bases an out later. Boggs followed with a two-run single to left to tie it up before Byrd was tagged with a balk an out later to push in the go-ahead run before striking out DeSoto for the final out. After the Wildcats went three up, three down in the bottom of the inning, Gulf Coast added a solo run in the top of the fourth. After Byrd struck out lead off Frierson, he walked Paul then Porter was hit by a pitch an out later. Miles center field single scored Paul before Byrd Kd DeSoto for the final out. Again, the Wildcats went three up, three down in the bottom of the frame. In the top of the fifth, Byrd was relieved by Beau Underwood out of St. Patrick High in Biloxi with one out and runners at first and second. Paul smacked an RBI single to center to make it 5-2 before Purdy grounded to second for the final out. Pearl River managed two base runners in the bottom of the inning off a one-out single by Toussaint and an Abraham walk a foul out later, but were left stranded when Magee struck out. Both sides went three up, three down in the sixth, while each team managed one base runner in the seventh. Culpepper (1-0) got the win, giving up three hits, striking out seven, and walking one over his six innings of relief; while starter Purdy gave up two hits and struck out three in his one inning on the mound. Byrd (3-2) got the loss in his four-and-two-thirds innings, giving up five hits, striking out six, walking five, and hitting a batter; while Underwood gave up a hit and struck out three in his two-and-one-thirds innings on the mound. Boggs (two RBIs) and Hamilton paced Gulf Coast seven-hit attack with two singles each, while Miles (one RBI), Paul (one RBI), and Porter all had base hits. PRCC finished with five hits all singles by Abraham, Lee, Ormon (one RBI), Smith, and Toussaint. Each team committed one error in the contest. Pearl River and Gulf Coast eye a South Division rematch Friday, April 22, in Perkinston (4 p.m. doubleheader). The Wildcats hit the road to take on division rival Hinds in Raymond Saturday in a 1 p.m. doubleheader before returning home to host division foe Copiah-Lincoln Tuesday in a 4 p.m. twin bill.

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