By Stan Caldwell
stanmansportsfan.com
LAUREL – Let the record show that there is no one named Murphy on the Pearl River Central baseball roster.
But there might as well have been the way things went for the Blue Devils in the second game of their Region 3-6A showdown series with West Jones, because if it could go wrong, it did go wrong for PRC Thursday night at Mustang Field.
The Blue Devils were charged with three errors, they issued six walks, had three wild pitches, hit a pair of batters and collected just two hits. It all added up to an 8-2 victory for the Mustangs, who evened the three-game series at a game apiece.
West Jones improved to 17-4 overall, pulling back into a tie with Pearl River Central (20-3 overall) at 7-1 in region. The rubber game of the series is scheduled for 7 p.m. Friday back at Carriere.
“We were terrible,” said PRC coach Neil Walther. “Tomorrow, we’re just going to have to be a lot better, and I think our kids will respond.”
For brief moment it looked like the Blue Devils might have carried over momentum from Tuesday’s dramatic 2-1 triumph in the opening game of the series.
Freshman John Morreale worked Mustang ace Jaxon Rayborn to a full count then blasted a stand-up double to wall in left-centerfield. Senior Riley Wilson followed with a walk, and PRC looked to be in business early.
But that’s when the wheels started falling off.
Senior Connor Dyess missed on a bunt attempt then rolled into a 4-6-3 double play, and on the next pitch Rayborn induced a groundout to third, leaving Morreale stranded at third.
“First inning, we get first and second, then we hit into the double play, when we needed to get the bunt down, and we failed to do that,” said Walther. “So it’s different if we can punch them in the mouth early and see what happens.
“If we get the bunt down, then the ground ball scores a run and we take an early lead. Then we loaded the bases in the fourth and only got one run out of it. So offensively, we didn’t execute.”
Sophomore starter Isaias Ryan (4-1) was in trouble from the beginning, although at first it seemed like he might get out it.
Senior Camden Clark, leading off for the Mustangs, tapped a slow roller down the first-base line, and by the time Ryan realized it wasn’t going foul, it was too late to make a play, resulting in an infield single.
Clark was sacrificed to second, but Ryan got a ground ball for the second out of the inning. But then he simply lost command of the strike zone, giving up three straight walks that resulted in a run for West Jones.
Ryan did finally get out of the inning, but when he walked senior Gage Locklear to lead off the bottom of the second, Walther went out and got Ryan, bringing in senior right-hander Landon Lamartina.
But he too couldn’t make a play on a bunt attempt from the Mustang 9-hole hitter, junior Carson Green, and the throw got past first base, allowing Locklear to reach third.
“The reason (Ryan) didn’t have command of the strike zone was because he was letting up and aiming the ball,” said Walther. “I thought he had good velocity in the first inning, but he was kind of amped up and it got away from him.
“Again, if he makes the play on the first ball, it’s a different game. He made a good pitch, sawed the kid off. I mean, they had four runs in the first two innings and didn’t hit a ball 70 feet in either of them.”
It was the first of two errors in the inning, along with a wild pitch, that resulted in a decisive three-run rally. Against Rayborn (6-0), who came into the game with a 0.78 earned-run average, that was pretty much the ball game.
“I feel like we’ve done a pretty good, especially the last month or so of not going out of the zone very much,” said West Jones coach Trey Sutton. “That makes it tough on pitchers, because they have to come into the zone.
“So, yeah, I thought we did a real good job at the plate. We didn’t light the scoreboard up with hits, but we worked a lot of walks, went deep in a lot of counts, and made things happen with the bunt and running a little bit.”
PRC had a chance to get back in the game in the top of the fourth, when some uncharacteristic wildness on the part of Rayborn – two hit batters and a sharp single by Dyess – allowed the Blue Devils to load the bases with none out.
But Pearl River Central only got one run out of it, as Rayborn delivered a strikeout, a run-scoring sacrifice fly and another strikeout to limit the damage.
“He had a real good fastball that ran away for the lefties and ran in for the righties,” said Dyess. “He had a really good slider, and that’s what got us tonight.”
And West Jones put the game out of reach in the bottom of the fourth with three more runs. Clark drew a leadoff walk, senior Dakota Smith singled and both runners moved up on a sacrifice bunt.
Lamartina got a strikeout for the second out of the inning, but Rayborn hit a sharp ground ball that Wilson at shortstop knocked down but was unable to make a play on.
Freshman Clay Tolbert followed by beating out a sharp grounder up the middle on a full count to drive in two more runs for West Jones.
“We counted seven errors and 12 walks or hit batters, so it’s a little surprising that we played seven innings,” said Walther. “Outside of the first inning, I don’t think our pitchers pitched badly at all, and we should have gotten out of those innings where they scored.”
The Blue Devils got an unearned run in the fifth, when junior Samuel Tumminello reached on an error leading off, but once again Rayborn limited the damage, and the Mustangs tacked on another run in the sixth.
Rayborn went the distance, needing just 87 pitches to get the job done. He struck out seven and walked just one.
“He’s been dealing with some back spasms, pretty much all season,” said Sutton. “It was kind of biting him a little tonight, and you could see it sometimes. He still threw a great game. He still had his velocity, and his secondary pitches, his change-up and slider, were working.”
Pearl River Central now has to hope its home cooking is up to snuff in Friday’s all-important series clincher.
“We just have to put this behind us,” said Dyess. “We’ve got a new day tomorrow, new atmosphere. We’ll be at our home turf, with our fans there and they’ll be fired up. It’ll be good.”
PREP BASEBALL LINESCORE
Thursday at Laurel
West Jones 8, Pearl River Central 2
PR Central 000 110 0 – 2 2 3
West Jones 130 301 X – 8 6 1
PEARL RIVER CENTRAL (20-4, 7-1 in 3-6A): John Morreale 2B; Carson Dyess 1B. LP – Isaias Ryan (4-1). Also pitching – Landon Lamartina; Konnor Cazenave; John Morreale.
WEST JONES (17-4, 7-1 in 3-6A): Camden Clark 1B; Jaxon Rayborn 1B; Luke Everwine 1B; Clay Tolbert 1B; Carson Green 1B. WP – Jaxon Rayborn (6-0) 7 Ks.
