POPLARVILLE, Miss. — Rivalry games always come down to the wire, and that was no different Wednesday night as No. 3 Pearl River played 25 innings of baseball against Gulf Coast and Jones College and came away with two thrilling walk-off wins. PRCC took down Gulf Coast 4-3 in 11 innings before winning a marathon game over Jones College 5-4 in 14.
"Six innings before the walkoff, I was proud of these guys. It didn't matter whether we won or loss," head coach Michael Avalon said. "I was proud of these guys because they battled all day. I'm very proud of them. It's rivalry day and you get everyone's best. We gave our best today and came out on top twice."
PEARL RIVER 6, GULF COAST 5.
Right-hander Thomas Crabtree (Collierville, Tenn.) was locked in early on against Gulf Coast (11-5) as he retired the first six batters of the game in order while striking out three of them.
Marshall Phillips (Hattiesburg; Sumrall) provided some fireworks in the bottom of the second as he stepped to the plate and bashed a 0-0 pitch over the left field wall, 1-0. It was the left fielder's third of the year.
An RBI single by Gulf Coast evened things up in the top of the third, 1-1. Phillips' fine day continued in the bottom half of the inning as he ripped an RBI double down the left field line to push the Wildcats back ahead. Soon after, JP Robertson (Madison; Germantown) made it a two-run lead when his chopper resulted in an RBI infield single, 3-1.
Gulf Coast cut into the deficit in the top of the fourth, but Phillips proved that he could play defense as well, fielding a bouncing ball into left field and firing a strike to home plate to nab the runner trying to score, 3-2.
The Wildcats went to the bullpen in the fifth, and the Bulldogs took advantage of seeing a new arm, mashing a three-run home run to take a 5-3 lead.
Blake Gollott (Saucier; D'Iberville) was handed the ball to begin the sixth inning, and he immediately provided the electricity, forcing back-to-back groundouts before striking out the final batter of the inning.
The long ball helped PRCC rally in the bottom of the sixth. Logan Terry (Semmes, Ala.; East Central) opened the inning with a single, bringing up Bryce Fowler (Madison; Germantown) in a lefty-on-lefty situation. He wasted no time tying the game, obliterating the first pitch thrown to him deep over the right field wall, 5-5.
Gollott activated his clutch gene again in the top of seventh. MGCCC battled to load up the bases before Gollott placed a perfect pitch on the edge of the strike zone to end the frame. The top of the eighth was a 1-2-3 inning for Gollott to wrap up his day.
The eighth, ninth and tenth innings were quiet for Pearl River, but luckily for the Wildcats, flamethrower Carson Fair (Southaven) was focused on the mound, delivering three consecutive fantastic relief innings to send PRCC to the plate in the bottom of the 11th still tied at 5-5.
Jeff Ince (Brandon; Jackson Prep) began the frame by smashing a double over the head of the Bulldog right fielder to get into scoring position. Alex Wade (Decatur, Ala.; Madison Academy) followed with a single as his ground ball resulted in a single into left field, setting up runners on first and third. Pearl River was daring with its call, signaling a safety squeeze. Phillips caught the defense off guard, dropping down the bunt perfectly, which allowed Ince to cross the plate — sending the PRCC bench into pandamonium with a 6-5 walk-off victory.
Crabtree threw four innings, allowing two runs on four hits and two walks. He struck out seven. Eli Waters (Petal) gave up three runs on three hits in his one inning of work. He struck out two. Gollott threw three innings, giving up just two hits and one walk. The left-hander picked up three strikeouts. Fair tossed three no-hit innings, walking two and striking out two.
Phillips finished 3-for-5 with three RBIs and a walk. He had a double and a home run. JP Robertson went 2-for-4 with an RBI. Fowler finished 1-for-5 but drove in two runs.
PEARL RIVER 5, JONES COLLEGE 4.
The Bobcats snatched the first lead of the nightcap, scoring a run when a fly ball into left field dropped to the ground, 1-0. An error helped Pearl River in the bottom of the first. Fowler and Creek Robertson (Oxford; Madison Central) began the frame with back-to-back singles. Caston Thompson (Jayess; Brookhaven) then lofted a fly ball into right field that looked routine, but miscommunication allowed the ball to drop in and a run to score, 1-1. A bit later, Phillips sent a fly ball into the outfield, resulting in a sacrifice fly, 2-1.
The Bobcats capitalized on a Wildcat miscue in the top of the third, fighting to push two runs across the plate and take a 3-2 lead. It looked like PRCC was going down without much fight in the bottom half of the frame with two quick strikeouts. Ince wasn't going to let that happen, though, ripping a laser on a 2-2 count over the short porch in right field for a game-tying solo home run, 3-3.
AJ Hansen (Mobile, Ala.; McGill-Toolen) was nearly untouchable out of the pen in the fourth, fifth and sixth, keeping the Bobcat hitters off-balance and off the basepaths to keep the game knotted up at three apiece.
Heads-up base running and a confused Bobcat defense helped Pearl River move back in front in the bottom of the seventh. Fowler drew a leadoff walk, and Creek Robertson hit a slow rolling ball to the shortstop for an out. Fowler never checked up, taking third base on the play. Immediately after, Ince drew a walk, and when the Bobcat defenders weren't paying attention, he took off for second base. He purposely forced a throw down, and Fowler swiped home plate for a double steal, 4-3.
Austin Tommasini (Madison; Madison Central) escaped a jam in the seventh inning. Back-to-back singles forced the right-hander into the game. He walked the first batter he faced and was the recipient of a fielder's interference call moments later. He locked in for the final two batters of the inning, striking them both out swinging.
Jones College didn't waver, fighting back to even up the game once more in the eighth on an RBI single, 4-4.
The Wildcat arms were electric from the ninth inning forward as Tommasini, JT Schnoor (Pascagoula; Resurrection) and Reed McCrillis (Madison; Madison Central) delivered big-pitch after big-pitch to continuously stifle any momentum that the Bobcats gained.
Finally, the bottom of the 14th inning came, and into the right-handed batter's box walked Wade. The Auburn transfer had previously barreled up a few baseballs that, unfortunately, all found the gloves of nearby Bobcats. The redshirt freshman flushed the earlier at-bats, received a pitch he liked and put a beautiful swing on the ball, sending a no-doubter over the left field wall for a massive 5-4 walk-off victory.
"He kept sticking with it. He's a tough kid," Avalon said. "All 32 players and all of us coaches believe in him. He believed in himself. He had some bad luck throughout the day. In that moment, he forgot about the past at-bats and came through."
"I was seeing the ball really well. I was just trying to get on base to start the inning off right," Wade said of the heroic blast. "I was looking for a pitch that I could drive. I got the head out in front and good things happened."
Caleb Dyess (Carriere; Pearl River Central) threw two innings, allowing three runs on two hits and three walks. He picked up three strikeouts. Hansen was fantastic in relief, pitching four innings and allowing just three hits and two walks while striking out seven. Tommasini followed with three innings of one-run, two-hit, three-walk baseball. He racked up six strikeouts. Schnoor went three innings, giving up two hits and striking out five. McCrillis picked up the win, allowing just one hit in two innings, striking out three.
"They wanted the baseball. That was the message this morning was that no matter how long we play today that they needed to want the baseball," Avalon said. "Everyone who came into the game wanted the baseball. It was a really fun to see We're really proud of them."
Fowler, Ince and Jonah Katsaboulas (Brandon) each finished the game with two hits. Creek Robertson, Thompson and Phillips all drew two walks.
UP NEXT
Pearl River returns to Dub Herring Park on Sunday for a 1/4 p.m. doubleheader against Illinois Central.
TICKETS
Tickets are on sale now at PRCCAthletics.com/Tickets. General admission tickets are $8 per game. Season passes can be purchased for $75 for softball or a softball/baseball season pass can be purchased for $100.
HOW TO WATCH
The Wildcats livestream all games for free at PRCCMedia.com/gold. Fans who have Roku, Amazon Fire or Apple TV devices can also watch the Wildcat broadcasts by downloading the "Pearl River CC" channel from their app stores.
Games can also be heard at WRJW 1320-AM, 106.9 FM and WRJWRadio.com.
For the latest on Pearl River Community College athletics, follow us on X (@PRCCAthletics) and Facebook (PRCCAthletics).