WINNSBORO, La. — Another day, another comeback for Porters Chapel Academy.

Gabby Hays drove in the go-ahead runs with a two-run single, Colby Rushing belted a two-run homer, and PCA rallied for five runs in the top of the seventh inning Wednesday to beat Franklin Academy, 6-2, in Game 2 of a second-round MPSA Class A playoff series.

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Porters Chapel hosts Riverdale/University Christian

May 5, Time TBA

It was the third time in four playoff games that the Eagles (21-8) have scored the eventual winning runs in the sixth inning or later. The win also gave them a sweep of the series, and a berth in the South State finals against either University Christian or Riverdale beginning on Tuesday. Game 1 will be at PCA.

“This team has come together and just refuses to get beat,” said PCA coach Randy Wright, who has his team in the Class A semifinals for the fifth time in the last nine seasons. “The bottom line is, they just refuse to lose. We’re making a great run.”

For Franklin (20-8), it was a kick in the gut. The Cougars lost in eight innings in Game 1 — after taking a lead in the top of the eighth — and wasted another lead in Game 2.

Eighth-grader Hunter Chann held PCA to one run on just three hits in 6 1/3 innings. Chann retired 12 of the first 14 batters he faced, including 10 in a row, and took a no-hitter into the fifth inning. He walked two and struck out six, and left with a 2-1 lead after allowing a one-out single to Josh Hill in the top of the seventh.

“I’ll say this. That  kid mowed us down for six innings. I was not unhappy to see him go,” Wright said.

Franklin coach Chris Sullivan — filling in for head coach Ryan Ellington, who was serving a one-game suspension after his ejection in Game 1 — brought in his ace and Game 1 starter Caleb Kratzler to try and finish the game.

The move backfired.

Matthew Warren followed Hill’s hit with a double off the left field fence, putting runners at second and third. After Reed Gordon was hit by a pitch to load the bases, Hays dropped a 3-2 pitch over the head of drawn-in third baseman Ryne Ford to bring in both runners and put PCA ahead 3-2.

“I was just trying to hit it over the third baseman. We’d been going at it for a little bit, and I wanted to burn him,” said Hays, who had jawed with Ford throughout the series.

Gordon scored on a wild pitch to give PCA a two-run cushion, and with two outs, Rushing put the dagger into the Cougars. He hammered a Kratzler pitch over the fence in left-center to make it 6-2. Franklin was retired in order in the bottom of the inning, bringing a quiet end to a thrilling series.

“Our kids played well. I couldn’t ask for anything more. The ball just didn’t go our way. We couldn’t get a break,” Sullivan said. “It’s just a fun bunch of boys. I’ll take this team into battle any time.”

Warren (4-2) earned the win for PCA with two innings of scoreless relief, and Gordon matched Chann’s effort through the first five. He allowed two runs, one earned, and three hits while walking four batters and striking out five.

PCA couldn’t do much against Chann, though, until Hill doubled to lead off the fifth and scored two batters later on a single by Gordon to cut Franklin’s lead to 2-1.

Hill went 2-for-3 and scored two runs for PCA. Franklin’s Adam Walley was 2-for-4 and drove in a run with a single in the first inning. Franklin’s other run came in on a bases-loaded walk to Tucker Ellington in the fourth inning.

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Contact Ernest Bowker at ebowker@vicksburgpost.com