SENATOBIA — Nationally-ranked Pearl River recorded back-to-back victories over host Northwest Mississippi and Itawamba here Saturday in the MACJC State Tournament to earn a shot at a state championship "repeat"? in Sunday title bout.
    PRCC, ranked second in the NJCAA's Division II, defeated host Northwest 7-4 to kick off Saturday's tournament action; then tossed ICC into the loser's bracket in the afternoon nightcap with a 12-8 victory and copped a berth in the championship game. Itawamba, the North Division No. 2 seed, will face off with Central No. 1 Meridian at 9 a.m. Sunday to decide the Wildcats' 3 p.m. opponent.
    Meridian eliminated Holmes in Saturday's 12 noon battle. MCC threw the Wildcats into the loser's bracket Friday with a 4-2 win in 10 innings.
    Fourth-year PRCC head coach Jay Artigues says his team is in a good position to repeat.
    "Whoever we wind up play tomorrow afternoon, it's going to a great game," he said. "Both Itawamba and Meridian have pretty solid pitching staffs, but I think we're in a pretty good position to repeat. We played 18 tough innings of baseball today and I can't say enough about our guys' effort in both games."
    Artigues lauded sidewinder reliever Jacob Smith who pitched the final three innings in the ICC victory.
    "We came out on fire for the first five innings, then kind of lost it in the sixth before Jacob came in and changed up the tempo a bit," he continued. 
    Against ICC, PRCC went up 3-0 in the bottom of the first inning off a Richard Imhoff lead off double, a walk, a sacrifice, an RBI single by John Wayne Donahue, and a passed ball; then padded its lead in the third to 6-0 off a walk, an error, and a two-run homer by Donahue.
    Imhoff's RBI single in the fifth made it 7-0, but the Indians rallied back with five in the top of the sixth when Wildcat starter Rene Ritchie gave up back-to-back singles to set the stage for Kyle Mills' RBI double. Ritchie exited the mound at that point for Donahue, who walked two straight for another run, then ICC made it 7-3 off a passed ball. Another walk and an RBI single by Adam Yoe saw the Indians add a fourth run, then Caleb Kidd's RBI sacrifice made it 7-5 before Donahue retired Clay Dozier for the third out.
    Pearl River avenged the Indians' scoring surge with two runs in the bottom of the frame off a Ryne Lovdahl single, a walk, an error, a hit batter, and a sacrifice by Ritchie.
    In the top of the seventh, Smith relieved Donahue and Mills reached on a one-out error to set the stage for Andy Rice's two-run homer to cut PRCC's lead to two. Smith recorded back-to-back strike outs to get out of the inning. Donahue sacrificed in another run in the bottom of the frame before Martin Roark singled, stole second, and scored off J.P. Moreaux's double. Moreaux scored off Ritchie's single to make it 12-7.
    Rice smashed his second homer in the ninth, before Smith ended the game with back-to-back strikeouts.
    Ritchie (3-0) picked up the win, while Smith finished with 5 Ks. Moreaux paced PRCC's 11-hit effort with a double and two singles.
    Against Northwest, Wildcat righthander Josh Troxclair (7-1) picked up the win; striking out 10 in going the distance.
    Things were scoreless for the first two innings, but Grant Hogue was belted by a pitch to lead off the top of the third. Hogue stole second and wound up on third via a passed ball before scoring off Bailey Hartel's sacrifice. Keith Winstead's bases-loaded single padded the Wildcats' lead to 3-0 in the fourth, but three singles and a hit batter gave the host Rangers their first run in the bottom of the frame.
    PRCC made it 5-1 in the fifth off singles by Donahue, Roark, and Moreaux; while Northwest's Felix Bruno led off the bottom of the seventh with a solo homer before Landon Oakley lined a single down the first base line scoring Dustin Young to make it 5-3. Hartel cracked a two-RBI double in the top of the final inning to end the Wildcats' score, while Young's solo homer in the bottom of the frame was the game's final run.
    PRCC finished with 11 hits, led by Donahue with three singles; while Northwest had nine hits.
 
Itawamba vs. Pearl River
MACJC State Tournament Game played April 30, 2005 @ Senatobia, MS
Ranger Field / Northwest Mississippi CC 

3 P.M. GAME 

Itawamba (38-12) 000 005 201 — 8 9 2
Pearl River (43-9) 300 312 30X — 12 11 1 
WP: Rene Ritchie (3-0), starter, 5 innings, 2 K, 5 BB, 0 HB.
Others: John Wayne Donahue (6), 1 inning, 0 K, 3 BB, 0 HB; Jacob Smith (7), 3 innings, 5 K, 0 BB, 0 HB.
Catcher: Keith Winstead. 
LP: Kirk Gatlin (NA), starter, 2/3 inning, 0 K, 2 BB, 0 HB.
Others: Ben Russell (1), 4 1/3 innings, 0 K, 2 BB, 2 HB; Hunter Scott (6), 4 innings, 1 K, 2 BB, 0 HB.
Catcher: Scott Deloach. 
ITAWAMBA Hitters: Andy Rice 2-HR, Adam Yoe 2B, 1B; Clay Dozier 2-1B, Kyle Mills 2B, Scott Deloach 1B, Clay Weatherford 1B. 
PEARL RIVER Hitters: J.P. Moreaux 2B, 2-1B; John Wayne Donahue HR, 1B; Richard Imhoff 2-2B, Martin Roark 1B, Jordan Rogers 1B, Rene Ritchie 1B, Ryne Lovdahl 1B. 
Pearl River vs. Northwest Mississippi
Second-Round MACJC State Tournament Game played April 30, 2005 @ Senatobia, MS
Ranger Field / Northwest Mississippi CC

9 A.M. GAME 
Pearl River (42-9) 001 220 002 — 7 11 0
Northwest (29-19) 0000 100 201 — 4 9 2 
WP: Josh Troxclair (7-1), starter, distance, 10 K, 1 BB, 1 HB.
Others: None.
Catcher: Martin Roark. 
LP: Ken Ellis (NA), starter, distance, 3 K, 2 BB, 2 HB.
Others: None.
Catcher: Landon Oakley. 
PEARL RIVER Hitters: John Wayne Donahue 3-1B, Keith Winstead 2-1B, Bailey Hartel 2B, J.P. Moreaux 2B, Jordan Rogers 1B, Grant Hogue 1B, Martin Roark 1B, Richard Imhoff 1B. 
NORTHWEST Hitters: Dustin Young HR, 1B; Alex Acevedo 2B, 1B; Landon Oakley 2-1B, Felix Bruno HR, B.W. Beckwith 1B, Josh Irvin 1B.