POPLARVILLE — No. 6 Pearl River provided the thunder and Mother Nature supplied the lightning Friday as the Wildcats belted four homers en route to a convincing sweep of Holmes at Dub Herring Park. The Wildcats used a seven-run first to run rule HCC 10-0 in Game 1.
The MHSAA high school baseball playoffs began Friday and there were five teams in our coverage area that competed. Six total teams are playing in the postseason, but Oak Grove is the lone team with a bye into the second round.
Below is a recap of area Game 1s:
Petal vs. D’Iberville
For the fourth straight season, the Petal Panthers are a No. 3 seed heading into the 6A playoffs. Despite the seeding, though, the Panthers are trying to win a first-round series against a coast counterpart for the third time out of those four years.
The Sacred Heart Crusaders baseball team has pulled off an impressive feat. On Friday, they’ll start postseason play with zero seniors on their roster and only four juniors.
The Sumrall Bobcats ended the regular season with only one loss to a Mississippi team, posting a 24-3 overall record entering the 4A playoffs.
Both sides of the ball at Southern Miss’ Black and Gold spring game seemed very parallel compared to this past season. The defense, again, looks to be dominant, but the eyebrow raiser for the day went to Gold Team members sophomore quarterback Tate Whatley and senior wide receiver Neil McLaurin.
The Sacred Heart Crusaders swept a doubleheader with Salem Friday night, which allowed them to finish third in Region 8-1A and clinch a playoff spot. They won the first game 7-1 then capped off the night with a 6-3 victory.
So many things I never expected to see, hear or write when I started writing about sports more than half a century ago. Here is just a sampling:
After a fun-filled day of skiing at Paul B. Johnson State Park a long, long time ago, my friends (both of 'em) and I were headed back to Hattiesburg when a pickup, towing a really nice (as in expensive) ocean-going fishing vessel, blew by us like a rocket and topped the hill. When we reached the top, a frightful sight greeted us.
