Blue Devils storm back; Take Game 1 over Oxford 8-4
The Pearl River Central Blue Devils rallied for 6 runs in the top of the seventh and beat Oxford 8-4 in Game 1 of the Class 5A State Championship series Tuesday in Pearl at Trustmark Park.
Junior Rigel Robison went the distance on the mound scattering five hits, striking out eight, and walking just two batters. Two of the four runs were un-earned.
Offensively, the Blue Devils banged out 13 hits on the night. Tristian Schlottman plated the first run in the 5th on a ground out. Pearl River Central tied the game at 2-2 on Caleb Tynes RBI groundout in the sixth.
But Oxford re-took the lead in the bottom of the sixth inning scoring two runs on a single by Preston Perkins with two outs.
Down 4-2 in their last at bat, the Blue Devils went to work. Schlottman led the inning off with a fly ball out to center field. Austen Izzio reached on an error to give PRC a baserunner. Hayden Dunhurst doubled off the base of the right field wall putting Izzio at third base as he stood on second base after just missing a home run. Eli Lee crushed a pitch over the head of the centerfielder for a triple to score Izzio and Dunhurst and tie the game at 4-4.
After a strikeout, Cade Lee singled to right on a 2-0 pitch to bring in Eli Lee and give PRC its first lead of the game. Josh Kennedy doubled to bring in Cade Lee and Zach Roussell doubled to score Kennedy. Roussell stole third base and scored when Mason Treat singled to centerfield.
Robinson worked a three up three down at the bottom of the seventh to close the win and move his record to 7-3 on the year.
Eli Lee and Josh Kennedy had 3 hits while Dunhurst and Roussell each had 2 hits to pace the Blue Devils.
For an audio replay of the game, go to wrjwradio.com and check out our On Demand, Sports tab. While on our website, check out our postgame video interviews with Head Coach Neil Walther and Blue Devil players from last night.
Game 2 will be played on Friday at 1:00pm at Trustmark Park in Pearl, and don’t forget students from PRC can ride the bus to and from the game Friday for $5, just stop by the high school office to find out more!
WRJW radio coverage will begin at 12:45pm, tune in!
