April 13, 2010

Maroon Tide rolls in 12-2 win over Pearl River Central

by Carey Meitzler

Carriere--Picayune clinched a playoff spot with an easier than expected 12-2 victory over the Pearl River Central Blue Devils

at the Pearl River Central Sports Complex.  Picayune used another solid pitching effort by junior Jon-Jon Hickman and

an ample supply of timely hitting to post the win.

Picayune scored in the top of the first when junior Braxton Lee reached on an infield single.  Lee stole second for his 22nd

steal of the year and moved to third base when the attempted throw to second base got away from the PRC defender

covering the bag.   Junior Eric Smith's grounder plated Lee for a 1-0 lead.

Photos by Jill Lee

Braxton Lee coasts into the third where Assistant Coach Richard Imhoff gives the hold sign in the 1st inning.

Eric Smith watches a pitch in the first inning.  Smith would ground out driving in Braxton Lee for a 1-0 lead.

The Maroon Tide added three runs in the third inning.  Colton Lee reached on an error, his cousin Braxton Lee beat

out a bunt for a hit, and Eric Smith was safe on a throwing error to load the bases.  A wild pitch by PRC starter Ramsey

Graham allowed Colton Lee to score from third.  Graham bowed up and recorded strikeouts for the first two outs, but

Jon-Jon Hickman help his own cause when he laced a single to left center that brought in Braxton Lee and Smith for

a 4-0 lead.

PRC got a run in the bottom of the inning.  With one out, Aaron Lee reached on a single and scored on Kevin Briggs

double to left center.

Picayune responded with two runs in the top of the fourth.  Senior Kyle Beech, who had three hits on the night, lead off

with a double to right center. Drew Hedgepeth delivered a sacrifice bunt to move Beech to third base.  After a flyout,

sophomore Colton Lee singled sharply to right field bringing in Beech for a 5-1 lead.  Braxton Lee reached on a fielder's

choice and Eric Smith drew a walk to load the bases.  Senior Jay Dedeaux was hit by a pitch forcing in Colton Lee to

make it 6-1.

PRC scored a run in the fourth on a Maroon Tide throwing error on a pickoff attempt. With Hickman keeping the Blue

Devils scoreless for the next two innings, his bat delivered again at the plate with a single to left field to start the fifth inning. 

Courtesy runner Tevin Stubbs raced to third base on Beech's third hit of the night, a single to right field.  Senior Drew

Hedgepeth delivered a near perfect bunt on a safety squeeze to score Stubbs. 

In the sixth inning, Hickman drove in another run with a single to center that plated Brandon Jurich who had reached base

after being hit by a pitch.

Picayune finished the scoring in the top of the seventh.  Freshman Jacob Taylor single to right to start the inning and Colton

Lee followed with a single to left   Braxton Lee reached on a fielder's choice that forced out Colton (Lee) at second base

and moved Taylor to third base.  Eric Smith reached on catcher's interference to load the bases.  Jay Dedeaux lined a

single to centerfield, and when the ball skipped past the centerfielder, all three runners scored and Dedeaux ended up on

third base with a single and a two base error.  Senior Brandon Jurich singled to right field to score courtesy runner

Marvin "Peanut" Van Buren who came on to run for the catcher Dedeaux at third base.

Hickman walked the first two batters he faced in the bottom of the seventh and was replaced by junior J.D. Stockstill.

Stockstill got a flyout, a groundout, and a strikeout on a called third strike to end the game.

Hickman struck out eight PRC batters and scattered six hits in picking up the win on the mound.

Picayune hosts PRC on Friday with JV action slated for 5:00pm and Varsity action set for 7:00pm.

All photos by Jill Lee

Jonathan Hickman releases a pitch in the first inning against PRC.

Jay Dedeaux looks to the Maroon Tide dugout.

Brandon Jurich awaits the delivery of a pitch.

Maroon Tide's Kyle Beech gets ready for a pitch.