Wildcats split with Bobcats

ELLISVILLE Pearl River split with Jones County in MACJC South Division doubleheader baseball action here Saturday, bombing the host Bobcats 10-4 in the come-from-behind first game before falling 8-2 in the nightcap. The Wildcats are now 22-16 overall and 7-11 in division play, while division-leading JCJC is 22-15 and 10-5. After two scoreless innings opened the first game, JCJC went up 2-0 in the bottom of the third before Pearl River scored its first run in the top of the fourth. From that point, it was all Wildcats, who scored two in the top of the fifth and sixth before adding five in the seventh. The Bobcats scored solo runs in the sixth and seventh. Starter Ryan Deems (4-0) out of Holy Cross High in Chalmette, La., got the win in going the distance, giving up nine hits; while Jones starter Vito Perna (8-3) got the loss in his four innings on the mound. Dylan Delaune relieved in the fifth, while Stanley Farrar took over in the seventh. Chad Livingston, a Southeastern Louisiana transfer who prepped at Slidell (La.) High, paced the Wildcats 11-hit attack with a double and two singles; while Clint Willoughby of Clinton High tripled and singled, Chase Toussaint of Petal High doubled and singled, Chase Lewallen of Sumrall High had two base hits, and Braxton Lee of Picayune High and Matt Linton of East Central High both had singles. Jones County finished with nine hits, led by Zach Allen and Chad Guice with two singles each; while Jay Dedeaux doubled, and Benji Sullivan, Perna, Zac Fowler, and Max Wade all had base hits. The Bobcats committed three errors in the game to the Wildcats two. In the nightcap game, JCJC went up 4-0 in the bottom of the first inning and never looked back. PRCC scored its only runs of the game in the top of the second, while Jones scored its final four in the bottom of the frame. Starter Logan Riddell (5-2) got the win in his six innings of action, while Jeremy Kidd relieved in the seventh. For the Wildcats, starter Trace Robinson (2-1) of Purvis High got the loss. He was relieved in the first inning by Martin Anderson out of Cedar Creek High in Calhoun, La., while Scott Ashford out of Catholic High in Baton Rouge, La., and Anthony Lusco of Bay High both pitched in the second. Pearl River managed only three hits in the game, including a double and a single by Linton and a double by Aaron Lee of Pearl River Central High. Fowler led the Bobcats nine-hit effort with a double and a single, while Perna and Tilur Smith had two singles each and Dedeaux, Guice, and Sullivan all had base hits. Each team committed three errors in the game. Jones County swept Pearl River in an earlier meeting played March 20 in Poplarville. JCJC won the first game 3-2 before bombing PRCC 11-1 in five innings in the nightcap game.PRCC returns to action when it hosts division rival Copiah-Lincoln Saturday, April 21, in Wildcat Stadium (1 p.m. doubleheader) in Poplarville before traveling to division foe East Central in Decatur Wednesday, April 25 (2 p.m. doubleheader). The River wraps its regular season Saturday, April 28, against division opponent Southwest Mississippi in Summit (1 p.m. doubleheader).