Wildcats split with No. 3-ranked Bears
PRCC playoff hopes vanish with 6-3 loss, but ’Cats bounce back with 6-5 victory over division-leading Southwest in nightcap

     POPLARVILLE — All hopes of Pearl River’s Wildcats copping a post-season baseball playoff berth vanished here Thursday with their split with No. 3-ranked Southwest Mississippi.
     PRCC’s 6-3 setback in the first game of the MACJC South Division doubleheader killed its playoff hopes, but the Wildcats bounced back with a 6-5 victory over the Bears in the nightcap to improve to 36-12 overall and 7-7 in division play.
     Division-leading SMCC, on the other hand, improved to 31-7 and 11-3.
     The Wildcats will wrap up their 2006 season Saturday with a 2 p.m. division doubleheader against Jones in Ellisville, while the playoff-bound SMCC finishes its regular season against playoff-bound Mississippi Gulf Coast Saturday (10-4 in division) in Perkinston.
     In the first game, Southwest went up 1-0 in the top of the second off an RBI-double by Stephen Bryant; who ended the Bears scoring an inning later with a grand slam home run to put the visitors up 6-0. Jessie Boyd’s preceded Bryant’s centerfield smash with a bases-loaded sacrifice to drive in the Bears’ second run of the afternoon.
Dustin Thibodeaux of Picayune High led off the bottom of the third with a solo homer for the Wildcats’ first run, then Jeremy Greene of Purvis followed with an RBI-single to cut the Bears’ lead to 6-2 after three.
     PRCC scored the game’s final run in the bottom of the sixth when Greene led off with a single and scored off a single by Brock White of Columbia High two outs later.
SMCC starter Brandon Towery (3-0) picked up the win in his three innings of action, striking out two and walking none; while Paul Falkenberry relieved in the fourth to close it out. He struck out four, walked one, and hit one batter.
     Wildcat starter Baron Short (7-1), an Alcorn State transfer, picked up his first loss of the year. He struck out two and walked three in his three-and-one-thirds innings on the mound. Justin Tucker of Purvis relieved in the fourth, striking out two and walking one.
     Bryant’s grand slam and single paced Southwest’s seven-hit effort, while Lindsey Lang doubled. Pat Barnes, Boyd, Darrod Dyson, and Richie Field all singled.
Pearl River finished with 10 hits, led by Greene and J.P. Moreaux of Picayune High with two singles each; while Thibodeaux homered and Grant Hogue of Oak Grove, Rene Ritchie of Thibodeaux, La., Heath Stevens and Chris Stewart, both of Picayune High; and White all singled.
     PRCC committed two errors in the game to SMCC’s one.
In the nightcap, Pearl River went up 3-0 after two innings; but the Bears bounced back with four in the top of the third to take the lead. The Wildcats tied it up at 4-4 in the bottom of the frame, then scored their final two runs in the bottom of the fourth to make it 6-4. Southwest’s solo run in the top of the sixth ended the scoring.
     Wildcat starter Josh Troxclair (4-2) of Pauling, La., got the win in his four-and-one-thirds innings on the mound. He struck out three and walked five before Jody Lee of Pearl River Central relieved in the fifth. Brennen Hodge of Poplarville High took over in the sixth and closed it out, striking out four and walking one.
     SMCC starter Matt Sessions was the loser in his three innings, striking out one, walking one, and hitting one batter; while Jared Keen relieved in the fourth. He struck out three and walked one before Jeremy Wallace relieved in the sixth.
Lang’s double paced the Bears’ six-hit effort, while Barnes, Bryant, Dyson, Michael Lewis, and Brandon Pearce all singled.
     Stevens and Stewart cracked two singles each to lead PRCC’s nine-hit attack, while Adrian Bowens of Lumberton High homered and Greene, Hogue, Moreaux, and Thibodeaux all singled.
     Pearl River wraps up its 2006 season when it travels to Jones in Ellisville for an MACJC South Division doubleheader Saturday beginning at 2 p.m.