Wildcats host Bulldogs in one-game playoff Monday for post-season berth

POPLARVILLE – LSU-Eunice, the NJCAA”s No. 1-ranked Division II baseball team, pounced Pearl River 10-0 in eight innings in Eunice, La., in the visiting Wildcats” regular season finale.But PRCC isn”t ready to hang up its cleats just yet, as it still eyes a nine-inning playoff contest with arch-rival Mississippi Gulf Coast on Monday in Poplarville to decide the MACJC South Division”s No. 4 seed and a berth in one of four post-season playoff series set for later this week.MGCCC”s doubleheader split with Hinds in Perkinston on Saturday put the Bulldogs in a tie in the division with Pearl River at 12-12.”We”ve got an opportunity to get into the playoffs and we can”t let it slip by us,” said fifth-year Wildcat head coach Jamie McMahon. “We”ve had our struggles this year and just glad that we”re still in the mix. You can win a championship if you don”t get in (the playoffs).”Pearl River and Gulf Coast both recorded home sweeps in their regular-season match ups. The Wildcats won 8-3 and 3-0 March 20 in Poplarville, while the Bulldogs were 13-4 and 7-4 winners April 17 in Perkinston.Jones County has already claimed the South Division title at 17-7, while Hinds is second at 15-9 and East Central third at 14-10.The winner of Monday”s PRCC-MGCCC contest will travel to North No. 1 Itawamba for one of four best-of-three series around the state on Friday and Saturday. Other series include JCJC hosting North No. 4 Northwest Mississippi, Hinds hosting North No. 3 Northeast Mississippi, and North No. 2 Holmes hosting East Central.The survivors of the series earn berths in the MACJC State Tournament set for May 13-15 at the home field of the highest-seeded North Division playoff series winner.Saturday”s road trip to Eunice was originally scheduled as a doubleheader, but was changed to one nine-inning game due to threatening weather.The host Bengals, who improved to 43-8 overall with the win, limited the Wildcats to a mere three hits in the game, scoring solo runs in the second, sixth, seventh, and eighth frames. LSU-E added two in the fourth and four in the fifth.Starter Chance Mistric (11-0) got the win in his six innings on the mound, striking out eight and walking one; while Dane Amedee relieved in the seventh.Wildcat starter Robert Marzoni (1-1) of Purvis High got the loss in his four-and-one-thirds innings of action, striking out two and walking three; while Beau Underwood out of St. Patrick High in Biloxi relieved in the fifth (one walk), R.J. Gasaway of Pascagoula High in the sixth (one walk), and Ryan Knight of Sumrall High in the eighth (one strikeout, one hit batter).B.J. Smith of Sumrall High led PRCC at the plate with a double, while Zach Farrar and Temple Harvey, both out of Brandon High, had singles.Raph Rhymes paced the Bengals” 12-hit attack with two doubles (two RBIs), while Les Auld (two RBIs) and Zach Kirksey both doubled and singled. Matt Richard had two base hits, while Edred Barnett (one RBI), Jordan Bourque (one RBI), Jacob Fisher (one RBI), and Jacque Fruge (one RBI) all had singles.Pearl River, which dropped to 21-25 overall with the loss, committed one error in the contest; while LSU-E played error free.