Pearl River baseball set to host Region 23 Tournament

Dylan Dunaway - PRCC Sports Information Director

POPLARVILLE, Miss. — Some of the top baseball action in the country will be at Pearl River Community College's Dub Herring Park May 5-9 as the Wildcats host the Region 23 Tournament for a second straight season.

Top-seeded Pearl River earned the right to host one side of the bracket after clinching back-to-back MACCC Championships and a fourth in the last five seasons. The Wildcats are currently 45-7 and had an incredible 25-3 record in conference play.

ABOUT THE TOURNAMENT

The week-long tournament begins with a winner-take-all play-in game on May 5 at 4 p.m. between 8-seed Northwest and 9-seed Meridian. The winner of the contest advances to the four-team double-elimination bracket that begins May 6 and faces 1-seed Pearl River. The other matchup will be between 4-seed Gulf Coast and 5-seed Northeast. Each team in Pearl River's bracket has spent time ranked in the NJCAA Division II poll this season.

The Bulldogs and Tigers square off Tuesday at 2 p.m. while Pearl River takes on the play-in game winner Tuesday at 6 p.m.

The other side of the bracket is hosted by 2-seed East Central and features 3-seed Jones College, 6-seed Copiah-Lincoln, 7-seed Southwest and 10-seed Holmes. The teams that come out on top after the week advance to a best-of-three championship series May 14-16, which is hosted by the highest remaining seed.

TICKETS

Tickets are on sale now at PRCCAthletics.com/tickets and are $15 per day. Pearl River box offices are CASHLESS. Fans are encouraged to purchase tickets in advance. 

ABOUT PEARL RIVER

The Wildcats are ranked among the best nationally in nearly every pitching category. Pearl River currently ranks first in ERA (2.51), first in strikeouts (487), first in WHIP (1.11) and sixth in K/9 (11.21). 

Pearl River has six pitchers that have made starts on the mound this season: Southern Miss commit Camden Clark (Laurel; West Jones), Louisiana Tech signee KK Clark (Brandon), Southern Miss signee Caleb Dyess (Carriere; Pearl River Central), Auburn commit Jacob Johnson (Carriere; Pearl River Central), South Alabama signee Max Miller (Vancleave) and Mississippi State signee Patrick Spencer Jr. (Greenville; Washington School). The pitchers currently have ERAs of 2.68, 1.64, 2.92, 1.75, 2.33 and 3.05, respectively. 

Five other Wildcats have logged at least 10 innings pitched. Drew Harrison (Madison; Germantown) has thrown 24 1/3 innings and has a 0.74 ERA. Colin Jenkins (Mt. Olive; Simpson Academy) has thrown 21 innings and has a 3.43 ERA. Carson Fair (Southaven) has added 19 2/3 innings, earned eight saves and has a 3.20 ERA. Landon Watts (Picayune) possesses a 3.55 ERA in 12 2/3 innings, and Peyton Lacy (Pass Christian) rounds out the group with 10 2/3 innings pitched.

On offense, PRCC is 10th nationally in RBIs (394), 10th in hits (503), 13th in home runs (60), 15th in extra-base hits (170), 17th in slugging percentage (.520) and 21st in doubles (101).

Caston Thompson (Jayess; Brookhaven) and Topher Jones (Hernando) are battling each other for the team lead in batting average and RBIs. Thompson is hitting .371 with 56 RBIs, while Jones is hitting .370 with 59 RBIs. Thompson leads the team in doubles and homers with 16 and 12, respectively. Jones has bashed 13 doubles, eight homers and two triples. Jacob Keys (Brandon) and Keegan Giger (Petal) are both hitting .346. Keys has 13 doubles and nine long balls. Giger has added 15 doubles, four homers and three triples.

Among players with at least 80 at-bats, Ethan Garner (Gulfport), Logan Terry (Semmes, Ala.; East Central), Jackson Hood (Madison; Germantown) and Jaxon Milam (Phenix City, Ala.; Glenwood Academy) are all hitting above the .300 mark.

During conference play, PRCC swept Gulf Coast (W 13-3, W 12-2), split with Northeast (L 2-1, W 7-1), swept Northwest (W 16-1, W 13-1) and swept Meridian (W 6-4, W 14-0).

ABOUT GULF COAST

Gulf Coast will enter the tournament with a 37-17 overall record, going 19-9 in MACCC play. Kaden Irving leads the Bulldogs in hitting with a .348 batting average and 48 RBIs. He has hit 10 homers, eight doubles and three triples. Dom Jackson has 12 homers, five doubles, one triple and 42 RBIs. 

James Vines and Eli Waters lead the way in the rotation. Vines has thrown 64 1/3 innings and has an ERA of 1.96. Waters has tossed 75 innings and holds a 3.00 ERA. Vines has punched out 89 batters, and Waters has racked up 72.

ABOUT NORTHEAST

NEMCC went 17-11 in conference play and finished the year with a 30-22 overall record. Among those with at least 100 at-bats, Kieran Coleman leads the Tigers in hitting with a .329 batting average and 35 RBIs. Cooper Davis is second on the team in RBIs with 31 and is currently hitting .286. 

JB Williams leads NEMCC starters in innings pitched (67.1), ERA (3.48) and WHIP (1.32). He has tallied 56 strikeouts and walked 25. Dean McCalla is second on the team in innings pitched with 56 and leads the Tigers in strikeouts with 66.

ABOUT NORTHWEST

The Rangers wrapped up the year 31-18 overall and had a 14-14 MACCC record. The top Northwest hitter on the season is Levi Lang, who holds a .343 batting average and has driven in 36 runs. He has added 11 doubles and five homers. Mason McMillin is second on the team in batting average at .331 and has a team-high eight homers. 

Connor McCaslin currently leads the Rangers in innings pitched (52), ERA (2.94), WHIP (1.23) and strikeouts (54). 

ABOUT MERIDIAN

Meridian heads to the postseason with a 27-23 record overall and a 14-14 record in conference play. Brennon Wright leads MCC in batting average (.379), RBIs (35), doubles (17) and slugging percentage (.588). Harlin Hovater is second with a .355 batting average and third in RBIs with 31. 

Peyton Fowler and Connor Gehr have been two solid arms for the Eagles this season. Fowler has a 4.18 ERA in 64 2/3 innings, while Gehr has a 2.54 ERA in 56 2/3 innings. Fowler has struck out 83 and Gehr has added 78.

TOURNAMENT CENTRAL

Pearl River's tournament central page will soon be active at PRCCAthletics.com/Region23. It will be home for all tournament information, including livestreams, brackets, directions, scores and more.

TUNE IN

The entirety of the tournament will be livestreamed at PRCCMedia.com/Gold. All Pearl River games can be heard at WRJW 1320-AM, 106.9 FM and WRJWRadio.com.

For the latest on Pearl River Community College athletics, follow us on X (@PRCCAthletics) and Facebook (PRCCAthletics).