River splits Sunday twin bill

POPLARVILLE Pearl River Community College split baseball contests here Sunday, downing St. Louis-Meramec (Mo.) 7-2 before falling to Garden City (Kan.) 5-1 in its nightcap game. Garden City, which defeated St. Louis-Meramec 4-1 immediately following the Cougars loss to the Wildcats, is 13-8 overall after its win over PRCC. SL-M is 12-7 overall, while Pearl River is 12-4. Against the SL-M Cougars, The River went up 3-0 in the bottom of the first when lead off DaVonte Linear of Wayne County High singled to right center and stole second and third before Braxton Lee of Picayune High walked. Lee stole second, setting the stage for an up-the-middle RBI single by Chad Livingston, a Southeastern Louisiana transfer who prepped at Slidell (La.) High. Lee scored a second run from third off a passed ball before Marcus Lawton Jr. drew a base on balls and Livingston scored when Chase Lewallen of Sumrall High reached on a fielder choice. Austin Carter of Sumrall High was then belted by a pitch, but Matt Linton of East Central High flew to left with two on to end the inning. After a scoreless second, the Cougars managed a base runner via a single by James Sharp in the top of the third, while PRCC padded its lead to 6-0 in the bottom of the frame. Braxton Lee led off with a walk, then Livingston was hit by a pitch. After Lawton struck out and Chase Lewallen of Sumrall High grounded out, Carter walked to load the bases before Linton pushed two runs home by reaching on an error. Clint Willoughby of Clinton High and Linear drew back-to-back walks to push in the Wildcats sixth run before Aaron Lee of Pearl River Central High grounded to third to end the inning. St. Louis-Meramec went three up, three down in the top of the fourth; while Livingston cracked a one-out double to left center in the bottom of the frame. Again, SL-M went three up, three down in the fifth, but PRCC added a run in the bottom of the inning when lead off Carter was belted by a pitch, moved to second off Linton ground out and on to third off Willoughby ground ball before scoring on a passed ball to make it 7-0. Linear grounded out to short to end the inning. The sixth went scoreless, but the Cougars managed a pair of runs in the top of the final inning when Matt Weiss smashed a double off the left field wall, Brett Schuh singled, and Dalton Bray walked to load the bases. After River starter Ryan Deemes out of Holy Cross High in Chalmette, La., struck out John Lauber, Jacob Rhodes pushes to runs home with a single to right field. With runners at first and third, Sharp popped to short to end the game. Deemes (1-0) got the win in going the distance, giving up five hits, striking out seven, and walking one; while Cougar starter Eric Tiefenthaler got the loss in his three innings on the mound. He gave up two hits, walked six, and hit two batters; before Matthew Linderer relieved in the fourth. Linderer gave up two hits, struck out one, and hit a batter. Matt Weiss paced SL-M five-hit effort with a double and a single, while Rhodes (two RBIs), Schuh, and Sharp all had base hits. Livingston led Pearl River four-hit attack with a double and a single (two RBIs), while Braxton Lee and Linear both had base hits. Linton and Lewallen each had an RBI for the Wildcats, while both squads committed one error in the contest. Against Garden City, the visiting Broncbusters scored three in the third and two in the sixth; while the Wildcats managed a solo run in the bottom of the sixth. Starter Brenton Higgins got the win in going the distance, giving up three hits, striking out five and walking one; while Christian Talley of Hancock County High got the loss. Talley gave up a hit and walked a batter in his one inning on the mound; while Anthony Lusco out of Bay High pitched four-and-two-thirds, giving up four hits, striking out four, and walking a batter. Scott Ashford out of Catholic High in Baton Rouge, La., pitched one-and-a-third, striking out two. The Wildcats committed four errors in the game to the Broncbusters one.

Each community college president is asked to bring two (2) wrapped door prizes, minimum value of $50 each. We will have a station set up at the conference for you to drop off the door prizes.

Each community college is asked to provide name tags for their Board members, administration, and staff attending the conference.