River splits with St. Charles

POPLARVILLE Pearl River Wildcats split with the St. Charles Cougars (Mo.) in doubleheader baseball action here Thursday, taking a hard-fought 10-5 victory in the first game of the twin bill before falling 6-4 in the 10-inning nightcap game for the visitors first win of the 2011 season. PRCC is now 13-5 overall, while SCCC is 1-14. In the opening game, the first two inning were scoreless, but St. Charles went up 3-0 in the top of the third when Ryan Abernathy smacked a two-out, two-run double to right center field and Aaron Priestes followed with an RBI single. After Michael Coats singled to right, Wildcat starter Mike Peters of East Marion High recorded his second strike out of the game for the final out. But The River answered in the bottom of the inning. After lead off Jordan Williams out of Christian County High in Hopkinsville, Ky., flew out to center, PRCC loaded the bases when Chase Lewallen of Sumrall High was belted by a pitch, Aaron Lee of Pearl River Central High singled to right, and Chase Toussaint of Petal High walked. That set the stage for an RBI single by Grae Ormon of Clinton High before Matthew Magee of Petal High pushed in a second run when he reached on an error and reloaded the corners. A pop out later, Toussaint scored on a passed ball, setting the stage for a two-run single to center by B.J. Smith of Sumrall High to make it 5-3 Pearl River. Designated hitter Dakota Baker of Purvis High followed with a double to left, but Smith lost his footing just feet shy of home plate and was tagged out to end the inning. The Cougars tied it up in the top of the fourth when John Adams drew a one-out walk and James Obermark smashed a two-run homer a strikeout later for SCCC final runs. James Spies grounded to third for the final out. In the bottom of the frame, Williams led off with a ground rule double, then Lewallen reached on a bunt. Lee sacrifice bunt moved runners to second and third before Toussaint cracked a two-run triple to the left field wall. After Ormon walked, Magee RBI single made it 8-5. Southeastern Louisiana transfer James Abraham, who prepped at St. Stanislaus in Bay St. Louis, then reached on a fielder choice before B.J. Smith flew out to left to end the inning. In the bottom of the fifth, Baker crushed a lead off solo home run over the left field fence to make it 9-5. An inning later, PRCC scored its final run when Orman drew a lead off walk, B.J. Smith reached two outs later on an error, and Baker followed with an up-the-middle RBI single to make it 10-5. Williams loaded the bases when he was belted by a pitch, but Lewallen grounded to short to end the inning. Hunter Curtis of Petal High relieved Peters in the seventh and struck out two straight before rendering a single to Abernathy, but Priestes grounded out to end the game. Peters (1-0) got the win in his first collegiate start, going six innings, giving up seven hits, striking out five, and walking two; while Curtis gave up two hits and struck out two. Cougar starter Robert Wright got the loss in his five innings on the mound, giving up 10 hits, walking four, and hitting a batter; while Cody Kliethermes relieved in the sixth, giving up a hit, walking one, and hitting a batter. Priestes led St. Charles with three singles (one RBI), while Obermark homered and singled (two RBIs). Abernathy doubled and singled (two RBIs), John Adams doubled, and Michael Coats singled. Baker paced the Wildcats with a homer, a double, and a single (two RBIs), while Toussaint (two RBIs) and Williams both doubled. Abraham, Lee, Lewallen, Magee (two RBIs), Ormon (one RBI), and B.J. Smith (two RBIs) all had base hits. SCCC committed two errors in the game to PRCC none. In the marathon nightcap, Pearl River used six pitchers over the 10-inning distance; while St. Charles used four. Things were knotted up at 3-3 after three innings and things went scoreless for the next six frames before the Cougars pulled out their first win in the top of the 10th. Wildcat starter Carlos Rios of Oak Grove High hit lead off Obermark with a pitch in the first. Obermark stole second, and scored off Spies single to make it 1-0. After Abernathy reached on a fielder choice, Rios retired two straight. After The River went scoreless in the bottom of the first, the Cougars padded their lead in the top of the second. Justin Hennig, Adams, and Enchelmaier cracked consecutive one-out singles to make it 2-0 before runners moved to second and third on a passed ball. A strike out later, Adams scored on another passed ball to make it 3-0. After Rios hit Spies with a pitch, Coats flew out to left for the final out. Abraham led off the bottom of the inning with a single to right field, stole second base, moved to third on B.J. Smith ground out, and scored off Baker sacrifice before Casey Comfort of Oak Grove high fouled out to end the inning. SCCC went scoreless in the top of the third, but PRCC tied it up in the bottom of the frame when Toussaint and Orman both drew one-out walks, moved to second and third on a double steal, and Magee followed with a two-run double to left before Abraham flew out to center to end the inning. Rios gave up a one-out single to Adams in the top of the fourth, which prompted his mound exit for Curtis who saw Enchelmaier immediately hit into a double play for the final outs. In the bottom of the frame, Pearl River had runners at first and third when Lee flew out to center to end the inning; while a Magee and Abraham reached off a single and a base on balls, respectively, in the bottom of the fifth only to remain stranded at first and second when B.J. Smith struck out to end the inning. Both sides went three up, three down in the fifth. Beau Underwood out of St. Patrick High in Biloxi relieved Curtis in the seventh. He gave up a lead off single to Hennig before striking out Adams and retiring Enchelmaier and Obermark. Lee led off the bottom of the frame with a base hit, moved to second off Toussaint sacrifice bunt, but Cougar starter Brian Burwell struck out Ormon and Magee to end the inning. Jared Bond of Denham Springs (La.) High relieved Underwood to start the eighth and gave up a two-out double to right field to Priestes before striking out Nate Smith. Burwell relinquished the mound for Ethan Bullard in the bottom of the eighth and he retired the side, while Robert Marzoni of Purvis High relieved Bond in the bottom of the frame. Marzoni gave up a two-out single to Adams before Enchelmaier grounded to third for the final out. After Lewallen and Lee cracked back-to-back one-out singles in the bottom of the eighth, Kliethermes relieved Bullard and retired two straight to end the inning. Southeastern Louisiana signee Buck Bernard of Petal High relieved Bond to start the 10th and he gave up a lead off double to right center to Obermark before Spies reached on a bunt. That set the stage for Abernathy two-run double to give the Cougars a 5-3 lead. An out later, Nate Smith double scored SCCC sixth run before Coats grounded out to short and Bernard Kd Hennig for the final out. Matt Davidson relieved Kliethermes in the bottom of the 10th and he gave up a lead off single to Magee before walking Abraham. After B.J. Smith struck out, Baker walked to load the bases. Magee scored off Wilson ground out before Lewallen grounded out to the pitcher to end the game. Kliethermes got the win despite pitching only two-thirds of an inning, while Burwell went seven innings, gave up five hits, struck out six, walked four, and hit a batter. Bullard went one-and-one-third innings, giving up two hits and striking out one, while Davidson gave up a hit, struck out one, and walked two in the 10th. Bernard (3-1) picked up his first loss of the season, pitching one inning, while giving up four hits and striking out one; while Rios went three-and-one-thirds, giving up five hits, striking out one, walking one, and hitting a batter. Curtis pitched two-and-two-thirds innings, striking out three; Underwood one inning, giving up a hit and striking out one; Bond one inning, giving up a hit, and striking out one; and Marzoni one inning, giving up a hit, and striking out one. Adams paced the Cougars 12-hit attack with three singles, while Hennig and Spies (one RBI) had two singles each. Abernathy (two RBIs), Obermark, Priestes, and Nate Smith (one RBI) all had doubles, while Enchelmaier singled (one RBI). The Wildcats finished with eight hits, led by Magee who doubled and had two base hits (two RBIs), while Lee had two singles and Abraham, Lewallen, and B.J. Smith all had base hits. Baker and Williams each had an RBI. The Wildcats open MACJC South Division play Saturday with a 1 p.m. doubleheader against arch-rival Jones County in Ellisville, then resume division play against Southwest Mississippi in Summit Tuesday in a 4 p.m. twin bill.