Baseball | 5/16/2019 9:04:00 AM
FULTON – Fourth-ranked Jones College could not come up with the big hit when needed and dropped a 4-2 decision to No. 6 Pearl River here Wednesday afternoon at Roy Cresap Field in the opening round of the Region 23 Tournament.
Jones, 37-11, will now face Mississippi Gulf Coast in an elimination game at noon Thursday. MGCCC dropped an 8-7 decision to host No. 3 Itawamba and No.1 LSU-Eunice rallied past No. 9 Northwest 8-6 in other first round games.
In other games on Thursday, Pearl River, 37-12, faces Northwest at 3:30 p.m. and Itawamba battles LSU-Eunice at 7 p.m.
The tournament concludes this weekend with the champion going to the NJCAA Division II World Series May 25-June 1 in Enid, Oklahoma.
Bobcat pitchers recorded 16 strikeouts vs. the Wildcats.
Starter
Lane Thomas (Walker, Louisiana) went 5.1 innings, allowed three runs, six hits, walked three and struck out 11. He took the loss, falling to 9-2 on the season.
Hunter Eldridge (West Lauderdale) followed Thomas to the mound. He pitched 1.2 innings, giving up a run, three hits and a walk.
Payton Harris (Oak Grove) went the final 2.0 innings. He gave up no runs, two hits, walked one and struck out five.
Jones took a 1-0 lead in the second inning when
Blake Johnson (Gulfport) singled to left, took second base on a passed ball, advanced to third on a ground out by
Brandon Hale (Pontotoc) and scored on a ground out by
Jake Mason (West Lauderdale).
The Wildcats would go up 2-1 in the fifth.
Luke Harper singled and with two outs, Austen Izzio walked and Wiley Cleland walked to load the bases. Shemar Page followed with a two-run single to right-center.
The Bobcats answered in the bottom of the fifth and tied it up when Hale led off with a double to left and Mason singled him home.
Pearl River regained the lead for good in the sixth when Reece Ewing walked, advanced to second and third on wild pitches and scored on a single by Kasey Donaldson.
The Wildcats added a run in the eighth when Donaldson led off the inning with a home run to right-center.
Jones got a one-out single from
Robbie Woody (Madison Central) in the bottom of the eighth, but could not score.
In the bottom of the ninth,
O'Neill Burgos (Brookhaven Academy) led off with a single and Johnson was hit by a pitch to give the Bobcats two runners on with no outs. But a ground out and a pair of strikeouts ended the game.
Burgos had two singles and Hale doubled for Jones. Woody,
Bailee Hendon (Vancleave), Johnson and Mason added singles. Mason had two RBIs.
Starter Miles Smith, 8-3, got the win for the Wildcats. He went 8.0 innings, giving up two runs (one earned), seven hits, no walks and had four strikeouts. Jerod Meggs pitched the final inning, had two strikeouts and notched his second save.
Page had three singles for Pearl River. Donaldson homered and singled and Dexter Jordan doubled and singles. Matt Taylor and Izzio had doubles with Cleland and Harper adding singles.
Region 23 Tournament
Itawamba Community College
Roy Cresap Field
Wednesday's results
G1, LSU-Eunice 8, Northwest 6
G2, Pearl River 4, Jones College 2
G3, Itawamba 8, Mississippi Gulf Coast 7
Thursday's games
G4, Mississippi Gulf Coast vs. Jones College, Noon
G5, Pearl River vs. Northwest, 3:30 p.m.
G6, LSU-Eunice vs. Itawamba, 7 p.m.
Friday's games
G7, G4 Winner vs. G6 Loser, Noon
G8, G5 Winner vs. G6 Winner, 3:30 p.m.
G9, G8 Loser vs. G7 winner, 7 p.m.
Saturday's game
G10, G8 Winner vs. G2 Winner, 3 p.m.
Sunday's game
G11, if necessary, 1 p.m.
If 5 teams remain after Game 6
Friday's games
G7, G5 Loser vs. G6 Loser, Noon
G8, G4 winner vs. G5 Winner, 3:30 p.m.
G9, G6 Winner vs. G7 winner, 7 p.m.
Saturday's game
G10, G8 winner vs. G9 winner, 3 p.m.
Sunday's game
G10, if necessary, 1 p.m.
If 3 teams remain after Game 9
Saturday's game
G10, G8 winner vs. G9 loser, 3 p.m.
Sunday's game
G11, G10 winner vs. G9 winner, 1 p.m.
