BATON ROUGE, La. – The No. 3 Pearl River baseball team faced a familiar foe in Baton Rouge on Sunday. After sweeping Baton Rouge in Poplarville on Friday, the Wildcats swept the Bears on the road on Sunday. The Wildcats clicked on all cylinders in defeating Baton Rouge 10-3 in game one and 16-4 in the nightcap.
Pearl River relied on strong pitching and explosive offense highlighted by big days at the plate by Marshall Phillips (Hattiesburg; Sumrall) and Jeff Ince (Brandon; Jackson Prep), who combined for four extra-base hits.
“We were thankful to get to play today, with the weather coming in potentially. I thought our guys handled that well, traveling early this morning and playing a noon start,” PRCC head coach Michael Avalon on the Wildcats performance. “And now we will get back on the road Tuesday at Coastal South; hopefully, we can continue to play well.
No. 3 PEARL RIVER 10, BATON ROUGE 3
Pearl River (7-1 overall) pitcher JT Schnoor (Pascagoula; Resurrection Catholic) put on a pitching display for the Wildcats as he kept the Baton Rouge (0-9) hitters off balance through five innings of work.
Schnoor set the pace early, striking out two batters in the bottom of the first inning.
The Wildcats got on the board in the top of the second inning to open the scoring. Jeff Ince opened the inning with a walk. After stealing second, Ince scored on a Phillips single to left field on the first pitch of his at-bat, 1-0.
Schnoor picked up his third strikeout of the game to open the bottom of the second. Schnoor got help on defense from Creek Robertson (Oxford; Madison Central). With a runner on first, Robertson snagged a line drive at shortstop and gunned down a Bear baserunner trying to make it back to first base for a double play to end the inning.
At the top of the third inning, the Wildcats’ offense picked up where it left off in the second inning. Alex Wade (Decatur, Ala.; Madison Academy) drew a leadoff walk and advanced to second on a steal. Bryce Fowler (Madison; Germantown) wasted no time scoring Wade by sending the first pitch of the at-bat to right field for a single, 2-0. Hollis Porter (Hurley; East Central) added to the Wildcat lead by sending a ball to deep right field for a triple, scoring Fowler, 3-0. Following an Ince walk, Caston Thompson (Jayess; Brookhaven Academy) jumped on the first pitch he saw and sent it deep over the right field wall for a three-run home run, 6-0.
The Wildcat defense kept the Bears at bay in the third in fourth, with Schnoor picking up strikeouts four and five.
With bases loaded, The River threatened in the top of the fifth but could not take advantage and bring a runner home.
Schnoor found his groove in the bottom of the fifth, striking out the side, bringing his strikeout total to eight for the game.
Pearl River’s offense exploded once again in the top of the sixth as the Wildcats plated four runs.
Logan Terry (Semmes, Ala; East Central) drew a walk and promptly stole second base. A Fowler walk gave the Wildcats base runners on first and second. A Robertson single to left field scored Terry, 7-0. With runners on first and second, the Bears intentionally walked Porter to load the bases for PRCC. Ince singled on a line drive to center field, scoring Fowler and Robertson, 9-0. Thompson scored Porter with a sacrifice fly to center field to bring the score to 10-0.
Reed McCrillis (Madison; Madison Central) entered the game in the bottom of the sixth in relief of Schnoor, striking out three of the first four batters he faced in his Pearl River debut.
With McCrillis on the mound in the bottom of the seventh, the Bears were able to plate two runs to bring the Wildcat lead down to eight, 10-2. Blaine Knight ((Kiln; Hancock) closed out the game for the Wildcats, striking out two Baton Rouge batters and giving up one unearned run, 10-3.
BY THE NUMBERS
Schnoor had a dominant outing on the mound for the Wildcats. Pitching five scoreless innings, Schnoor struck out eight and only allowed one hit in his second win of the season.
“I thought JT set the tone for the day,” Avalon said of Schnoor’s performance. “That is what you want on your returning veteran arms. You want him to go out on the road, put zeros up, and give your offense time to get going. And that is what he did for us today.”
In his first action of the season, McCrillis struck out three batters and gave up three runs on three hits.
“His first inning was really good. He has been a guy who has waited his turn for us this year,” Avalon commented on McCrillis. “He is somebody who is going to help us. He has got be ready when his number is called. Today, he threw really well.”
Knight struck out two Bears batters and allowed one hit.
Thompson had a huge game at the plate one for the Wildcats, going 2-for-3 with a three-run home run.
“We need Caston to be a run scorer for us,” Avalon on Thompson. “He is capable of hitting for power. It was good for him to have a good day today.”
Robertson was 2-for-4 with one RBI and one run scored. Porter scored 1-for-4 with one RBI and two runs, and Fowler scored 1-for-4 with 1 RBI and two runs.
No. 3 PEARL RIVER 16, BATON ROUGE 4
The Pearl River (8-1 overall) offense was dominant in the Wildcats 16-4 game two win over Baton Rouge (0-10).
Fowler opened game two with a stand-up double off a laser to deep left field. Ince plated Fowler with a triple to right center, 1-0. Thompson liked the second pitch he saw in the next at-bat and crushed a double to center field, scoring Ince, 2-0.
In game two, Marshall Phillips put on a hitting clinic. In Phillips’s first at-bat, he smashed a ball deep over the left field wall for a two-run home run, 4-0.
In JP Robertson‘s second pitcher appearance this season, he showed poise and control during his start. In the first two innings, he struck out three batters.
In the top of the third, Ince struck again with a double to right center to give the Wildcats a runner-in-scoring position. Following two consecutive Wildcat batters, Phillips and Wade, getting hit by pitches, Pearl River had loaded bases for Jonah Katsaboulas (Brandon). Katsaboulas answered the call and plated two runners with an infield single, 6-0.
The Bears responded to the Wildcats offensive outburst by scoring a run in the bottom of the third and fourth innings, 6-2.
Ince opened the top of the fifth with a walk, then advanced to second after a dropped ball by the catcher. Thompson moved Ince to third with a sacrifice bunt. In the next at-bat, Phillips continued with the hot hand, hitting a double to left center, scoring Ince, 7-2. Wade scored Phillips with an RBI single to right field to increase the Wildcat lead to 8-2. Later in the inning, Katsaboulas had his second hit of the day on a two-out single to center field. Parker Ryan (Madison; Jackson Academy) gave Pearl River another baserunner after being hit by a pitch. Fowler plated Katsaboulas with a single to center field, bringing the score to 9-2. Robertson rewarded Ryan and Fowler for their efforts with a double off the right field wall, increasing the Wildcat lead to 11-2 after four and a half innings.
The Bears answered with two runs in the bottom of the fifth with a line drive down the third base line, bringing in two runs, 11-4.
A two-out rally by Pearl River increased the Wildcat lead to 11 in the top of the sixth. With Phillips on first base following an outfield single, a Katsaboulas double to right field scored Phillips, bringing the score to 12-4. Ryan scored Katsaboulas with an infield single to the Baton Rouge shortstop, 13-4. In the next at-bat, Ashton Schepens (Long Beach) reached base on a walk, giving Pearl River runners on first and second. Robertson crushed a two-run double to centerfield, scoring Ryan and Schepens, 15-4. Robertson advanced to third on an error by Baton Rouge. Three pitches later, Robertson scored on a passed ball, bringing the final score to 16-4.
LEADING THE WAY
Phillips was 3-for-3 from the plate with one home run, four runs, and three RBIs. For the day, Phillips was 4-for-5 with one home run, four RBIs, and four runs scored.
“Marshall had a really good day for us, all day long,” Avalon said of Phillips’s performance. “He hit his home run with two strikes, expanding the lead for us. That is what we need him to do on the road.”
Ince was 2-for-3 in game two with a double and a triple, one RBI and three runs scored. For the day, Ince was 3-for-5 with three RBI, three stolen bases and five runs scored.
“Ince is just a really good player,” Avalon commented on Ince. “Not the biggest guy in the world but has pop to all fields. A couple of balls off the left-center wall in a big ballpark, that’s as big of a ballpark we will play in all year. He drove the ball to the middle of the field really well today.”
JP Robertson had another strong outing for Pearl River. In four innings, Robertson allowed one earned run on four hits and striking out four Bears batters.
“He has thrown really well for us; he made a mistake or two in game two,” Avalon said of Robertson. “But, the bottom line is that his first two outings in college have been very good for him. We are going to continue to see him get better.”
NEXT UP
The Wildcats will hit the road on Tuesday to take on Coastal Alabama-South. The opening pitch in Bay Minette is scheduled for 2 p.m. You can follow the Wildcats on the road over the air in Pearl River County by tuning into 1320-AM and 106.9 FM. The radio broadcast is also available at WRJWRadio.com and by downloading the WRJW app.
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