PRC Lady Blue Devils ready to take aim at Neshoba Central in State Championship series

The Pearl River Central Lady Blue Devils made school history over the weekend by reaching the state championship series capturing the South State title by defeating North Pike in three games. They now will try to add another chapter to their magical run when they take the field at Nusz Park on the campus of Mississippi State University on Thursday.

Below--Coach Labella (center) observes practice on Tuesday

The opponent is five-time defending state champion Neshoba Central and their high-profile pitcher Aspen Wesley. Wesley, a junior and Mississippi State commit, has near been nearly untouchable with her 0.16 ERA and 285 strike outs in 129.1 innings this season.

In her last two outings against Lewisburg in the North State Championship series, she faced only 22 batters in each game, allowing a baserunner via a walk in each game, and recorded 13 and 11 strike outs respectively in those games.

Wesley has also been productive at the plate this season with .420 batting average and 29 RBIs.

The Rockets (32-0) sport a .379 team batting average with junior Rivers Gray leading the way with a .500 batting average and 41 RBIs. She also has stolen 15 bases. Junior Tori Henderson sports a .455 average with 2 HRs, 35 RBIs, and 11 steals. Tenly Grisham is hitting .448 and has swiped 24 bases. As a team, the Rockets have stolen 134 bases.

Pearl River Central (26-5) is hitting .278 as a team. Senior Shelby Archer is hitting .375 with 29 RBIs and leads the team with 7 HRs. Sophomore Keigan Pearson has a .325 batting average, has hit 6 HRs, and driven in a team high 33 runs. Senior Madison Gower has hit 4 HRs, stolen 10 bases, 18 RBIs, and a .323 batting average. Senior Jade Latham is hitting .322 with 25 RBIs and 2 HRs.

Latham is 17-2 in the circle and has an ERA of 1.55 with 193 strike outs in 131.1 innings.

PRC practicing bunt coverages on Tuesday

Game 1 is scheduled for 6:30pm with WRJW 1320 AM covering starting at 6:15pm. Audio streaming is also available at wrjwradio.com and the WRJW smart phone app.

Below, Head Coach Tony Labella and senior Harlee Davis shared their thoughts on winning the South State Championship and the upcoming series against Neshoba Central.