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:
Purvis 1, St. Stanislaus 1
Purvis evened its first-round series with St. Stanislaus Saturday with a 3-1 win over the Rock-a-chaws. The decisive Game 3 is set for 6 p.m. Monday at St. Stanislaus.
Mason Kendrick pitched a complete game with seven strikeouts and only one walk. He allowed just one earned run off six hits in the season-saving win.
The Tornadoes jumped out early after leadoff solo home run by Hunter Robinson in the first inning. They took the slim 1-0 run into the fifth inning when the Tornadoes pushed across two more runs to jump ahead 3-0.
Kendrick walked to start the fifth inning, then reached second on an error by the St. Stanislaus infield. Two batters later, Parker Sharff singled to bring Kendrick home and give Purvis a 2-0 advantage. Dakota Lee later scored when Hayden Williamson reached on a fielder’s choice.
The Rock-a-Chaws were able to scratch across one run in the seventh off a solo home run, but nothing else.
Sharff led the Purvis offense with two hits.
Game 1: St. Stanislaus 5, Purvis 3
Purvis’ comeback bid fell short Friday afternoon, as St. Stanislaus held on for the 5-3 win over the Tornadoes in Bay St. Louis. Purvis will try to bounce back Saturday at home to even the series. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m.
Purvis entered the top of the seventh inning trailing 5-1 to the Rock-a-Chaws. Gabe Beall singled then Mason Kendrick and Hunter Robinson walked to load the bases with two outs. A Dakota Lee single cut the lead to 5-2 and an error by the St. Stanislaus infield brought Purvis to within 5-3. However, a fly out to first base ended the game.
The Tornadoes only picked up four hits in the contest, but Beall led the team with two of those hits.
St. Stanislaus scored the game’s first run in the bottom of the first, then added two more in the third and one more in the fourth to take a 4-1 lead. A fifth-inning run in the sixth came before Purvis’ two-run seventh.
Purvis tied the game in the second inning 1-1 off a Beall single.
Petal 1, D’Iberville 0
Petal jumped on the Warriors early and it was good enough to finish off the sweep in the first round of the 6A playoffs. In Game 2 on Saturday, the Panthers scored five runs in the second inning to grab control of the contest, then they plated three more in the sixth to hold on for an 11-8 win.
Petal (13-14) will now turn its attention to Biloxi (25-3) in a second-round matchup. That series will start Thursday at Biloxi. Petal and Indians met earlier this season, as Petal earned a 7-4 win during the Battle at the Beach tournament at MGM Park in Biloxi.
On Saturday, DeCarlos Nicholson scored the game’s first run of the game off a wild pitch in the first inning. D’Iberville tied the game in the second, but Petal scored five runs in the bottom half of inning to grab a 6-1 lead. Matt Mercer reached on an error to score two runs, then Blake Hooks doubled to plate two more runs. Hooks later scored after a wild pitch.
The Warriors scored four runs in the fourth inning to cut Petal’s lead to 6-5, then the two traded half innings with one run each before D’Iberville tied the game 8-8 with a two-run sixth inning.
The Panthers, however, matched the Warriors when they got their turn in the sixth. Michael Windham used his speed to reach base on a bunt attempt, then he moved around the bases off an error by the D’Iberville catcher. He eventually scored on a wild pitch to give Petal a 9-8 lead.
Hooks and Devin Stringer added back-to-back singles with the bases loaded later in the inning, and that score two more runs.
In the top of the seventh, D’Iberville had the first two batters reach base, but Nicholson entered to pitch and closed the door with two strikeouts and a groundout.
Hooks, Stringer Mercer and Colton Rainey all had two hits each, while Hooks led the team with three RBI.
Game 1: Petal 11, D’Iberville 7
The Petal Panthers used a seven-run fourth inning to defeat D’Iberville 11-7 in Game 1 Friday night. They’ll try to sweep the Warriors Saturday at 7 p.m. in Petal.
With Petal trailing 4-3 in the fourth inning, Windham started the frame with a hit by pitch, then Josh Cary bunt singled to put two on with no outs. Two at-bats later, Colton Rainey grounded out to third to tie the game, and Colden Carter and Hooks hit back-to-back home runs to give the Panthers a 7-4 advantage.
Petal wasn’t done, though. Peyton Rehm singled with two men on base to make it 8-4, and back-to-back bases-loaded walks by Cary and Mercer gave Petal a commanding 10-4 lead.
Petal twice had a lead before the big fourth inning, but D’Iberville was able to take the jump ahead both times. It couldn’t overcome the seven-run inning, however.
Hooks picked up an RBI single in the first inning to give the Panthers a 1-0 lead, but the Warriors scored twice in the bottom half of frame to go up 2-1. Hooks and Devin Stringer had back-to-back walks in the third inning to plate two runs and jump back on top 3-2, but D’Iberville scored two more runs in the next half inning to regain the lead once again.
Petal held on for the win once it grabbed the lead for the third time, though.
Mercer and Hooks each had two hits, while Hooks led the offense with three RBI. On the mound, Josh Cary got the win with 5.1 innings of work. He struck out seven and allowed five earned runs on eight hits. Seth Bailey pitched the final 1.2 innings.
RELATED: Lumberton sweeps Mount Olive in Friday’s doubleheader.
RELATED: Sumrall cruises past Pass High in Game 1
Pass High 1, Sumrall 1
Pass Christian bounced back Saturday after its 10-run loss Friday, and the Pirates forced a winner-take-all Game 3 against the Bobcats with an 8-7 win. First pitch for Game 3 will be 7 p.m. Monday at Sumrall.
Pass High saw its 7-2 lead evaporate in the sixth inning as Sumrall scored five runs off two hits in the top half of the frame to tie the game. The Bobcats loaded the bases thanks to an error off the bat of Graham Crawford, then Billy Garrity doubled and Mason Story was hit by a pitch.
Another error scored the first run of the inning, and a Seth Mitchell singled to cut Pass High’s lead to 7-4. Dannis Jackson and Zane Berry walked back-to-back to score two more runs, and Crawford was hit by a pitch to plate the fifth and final run.
In the bottom of the seventh, the Pirates loaded the bases with one out before an infield error scored the game-winning run.
Sumrall was held to just four hits, as Jackson, Garrity, Mitchell and Javan Williams all recorded base hits. Jackson also walked twice.
Pass Christian also only tallied four hits, but four Sumrall errors proved costly.
Game 1: Sumrall 10, Pass High 0
The Sumrall Bobcats needed six innings to claim Game 1 of their first-round, best-of-3 series with Pass Christian. Sumrall scored in all but one inning en route to a 10-0, six-inning win.
Game 2 is set for 7 p.m. Saturday in Pass Christian.
The Bobcats plated three runs in the first, two in the second, two more in the third, one in the fourth and the final two in the sixth to close out the 10-hit performance. Zane Berry led the offense with three hits and three RBI, while Tanner Morgan added a two-hit, one-RBI night. Graham Crawford and Billy Garrity also picked up two RBI each, and Dannis Jackson scored four times.
Berry doubled home Jackson in the first inning, then Garrity scored Berry on a sacrifice fly. Morgan singled home Javan Williams later in the inning to give Sumrall an early 3-0 lead. Again, Berry brought Jackson home in the second inning, and Garrity added his second RBI two batters later to make it 5-0.
Berry picked up his third and final RBI in the third, then he later scored on an error by the pitcher to push Sumrall’s lead to 7-0. Sully Clark singled in a run in the fourth, and Crawford’s base hit in the sixth ended the game.
Sebastopol 1, Sacred Heart 0
Sebastopol scored twice in the bottom of the sixth inning to upend Sacred Heart 6-5 Saturday afternoon in Game 1. The Crusaders will try to force a Game 3 when they host Sebastopol Monday at 6 p.m.
If necessary, Game 3 would be back at Sebastopol for a 6 p.m. contest Tuesday.
Sebastopol started the sixth inning by loading the base with one out. Trailing 5-4, Sebastopol got a single and a sacrifice fly during back-to-back at-bats to take the 6-5 lead for good.
Sacred Heart fell behind 3-0 through the first three innings, but it scored three runs in the fourth and two in the fifth to jump ahead 5-4. John McKee picked up an RBI in the fourth on a groundout to the shortstop, then Gavin Pierce scored two off a double later in the inning.
After Sebastopol regained the lead 4-3 in the bottom half of the inning, McKee and Luke Wiest had consecutive RBI to give the Crusaders the 5-4 lead in the top of the fifth.
Pierce paced the Sacred Heart offense with two hits and two RBI, while McKee also collected two RBI.
