No. 7 Pearl River baseball splits doubleheader against Meridian
MERIDIAN, Miss. — The No. 7 Pearl River baseball team split a competitive doubleheader against South Division foe Meridian on Sunday afternoon. The Wildcats took the first game by force, run ruling Meridian 13-2. PRCC dropped the second game 9-8.
"That's a quality team we played today," Head coach Michael Avalon said. "They have one of the best offenses in the league. We handled them the first game but as we've tried to explain (to the players) when you play quality teams in these doubleheaders what you did in the first game doesn't matter."
GAME 1: Pearl River 13, Merdian 2 (5 inn.)
The Wildcats got the scoring started early in the top of the first inning when Tate Parker (Gulfport; West Harrison) hit a solo shot to make it 1-0. Kasey Donaldson(Gulfport; West Harrison) then reached on an error that scored Von Seibert (Mobile, Ala.; Daphne) to make it a 2-0 game.
Taylor Woodcock (Pass Christian; West Harrison) added to the Wildcat lead in the top of the second when he hit an RBI single to make it 3-0. Meridian responded in the bottom of the second inning when they hit a solo shot to cut the Wildcat lead to 3-1.
The Wildcats exploded in the top of the third inning, plating six runs. Seibert hit an RBI double that was followed later by back-to-back RBIs from Eric Newsom (Madison; Germantown) and Dalton Cummins (Seminary) to make it 7-1. Newsom then scored on a passed ball and John Griffin Bell (Mobile, Ala.; Faith Academy) batted in the last run of the inning with a sacrifice fly.
The Wildcats added to their lead in the top of the fourth when Graham Crawford (Hattiesburg; Sumrall) hit an RBI single followed up by a double from Donaldson to make it a 11-1 game. The Wildcats scored their last runs of the contest in the top of the fifth inning when Seibert and Crawford batted in two more runs.
Parker led the Wildcats in hits with three while Newsom led the team in RBIs with two. Turner Swistak (Hattiesburg; Oak Grove) picked up the win for the Wildcats, pitching 4 1/3 innings and allowing three hits, one walk, and two earned runs while striking out one.
"Turner had really really good stuff today," Avalon said. "We beat them pretty badly in the first game and that's because he set the tone and they didn't have an answer for him."
Turner Swistak pitched in a winning effort in the Wildcats split with Meridian Sunday afternoon (JACOB COCHRAN/PRCCATHLETICS)
GAME 2: Meridian 9, Pearl River 8
Meridian struck first in the bottom of the first to take a 1-0 lead. The Eagles were threatening to add to their lead in the bottom of the second inning with runners at first and second with no outs but two back to back pickoffs by Wildcat catcher Matt Mercer (Petal) slammed the door shut.
The Wildcats tied it up in the top of the fourth inning when Mercer plated a run on a fielders choice. Meridian answered right back, scoring a run and taking the lead again but the Wildcats responded in the top of the fifth inning when Newsom hit a solo shot to tie it up.
Seibert and Mercer later drove in runs with a sac fly and double to make it 4-2. Meridian tied it back up in the bottom of the fifth, plating two runs and then plated two more in the sixth to take a 6-4 lead. The Wildcats regained the lead when Crawford hit a grand slam in the top of the seventh to make it an 8-6 game but unfortunately Meridian walked off the Cats by plating three runs in the bottom of the seventh.
Bell led the Wildcats in hits with two while Crawford led them in RBIs with four.
UP NEXT
The Wildcats return to "The Dub" when they take on Southwest on Tuesday at
2 p.m. They then take on Northwest on Saturday in Senatobia.
First pitch is set for 1 p.m.
HOW TO TUNE IN
Most games will be broadcast at PRCCMedia.com/Gold but in some instances where multiple teams are at home, PRCC will also have a feed on its auxiliary channel at PRCCMedia.com/Maroon. Fans who have Roku or Amazon Fire devices can also watch the Wildcats on their televisions by downloading the "Pearl River CC" channel from their app store.
All games will also be broadcast on WRJWRadio.com.
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