POPLARVILLE, Miss. — The Pearl River baseball team continued a tradition under head coach Michael Avalon on Tuesday. The Wildcats have been a mainstay in the NJCAA's rankings during his tenure and for the third straight year PRCC opens the season in the Top 10. After setting a program high-water mark a year ago at No. 5, PRCC opens the 2021 season at No. 7. PRCC was ranked No. 8 to open the 2019 season.

The baseball Wildcats were the second PRCC squad to receive good news Tuesday after the men's basketball team debuted in the NJCAA preseason poll at No. 5.

The NJCAA's poll was the second JUCO baseball ranking that was released Tuesday. JBB, which covers JUCO baseball at all levels, ranked PRCC No. 2 in its Division II prediction.

Perfect Game also announced its JUCO Top 25 on Tuesday. The Wildcats were the lone Mississippi representative in the Top 25 at No. 16. PG's ranking includes all three NJCAA divisions.

LOOKING BACK
Fresh off of a Region XXIII Championship and trip to the NJCAA Division II World Series in Enid, Oklahoma, in 2019, PRCC was off to a strong 12-4 start in 2020 prior to athletics being shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic. One of the highlights of last season was a doubleheader no-hitter at Nunez.

GETTING STARTED
Pearl River is set to open the season Feb. 3 at Dub Herring Park against East Central. PRCC's full schedule will be released at a later date.

TUNE IN
Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Pearl River will only broadcast home contests during the regular season. Livestreams will be available at PRCCMedia.com. Carey Meitzler will once again call the action alongside Mark Franklin on WRJW 1320 AM and WRJWRadio.com.

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