With the brief summer season winding down, Porters Chapel coach Jerry Bourne took a look at his team’s impressive record and smiled a bit. Then, as he talked about how the Eagles got there, he smiled some more.

PCA improved to 10-2 on the summer with a doubleheader sweep of the Vicksburg Juniors Thursday at Bazinsky Field. PCA won the first game 12-4 behind homers from Talbot Buys and Montana McDaniel, then won game two 13-6.

PCA has seven games remaining, including two at home Saturday against Copiah Academy and a select team from the Natchez area, and Bourne was happy with what he’s seen so far.

“The record isn’t the number one thing we’re looking at. The main thing to me is to improve and get the young guys varsity-ready,” Bourne said. “Our pitching has looked really good. We’re throwing a lot of strikes. Hitting-wise, we’ve cut down on strikeouts. Guys are putting our philosophies into action.”

Although Thursday’s game pitted PCA’s varsity against Vicksburg High’s overmatched ninth and 10th graders, the Eagles’ performance was that of a sharp team. They had seven hits in game one, including the two homers, and jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the first inning. McDaniel went 2-for-2 with three RBIs and two runs scored, while pitcher Matthew Warren allowed one unearned run in three innings to get the victory.

“I do like what I’ve seen,” said Bourne, who led PCA to the MAIS Class A semifinals in his first season as coach. “We use the summer league to develop the younger guys and improve the older ones. Every game we’re doing the things we want to do right during the season.”

Vicksburg, meanwhile, is nearing the end of an abbreviated summer schedule. The Junior Gators — all freshman and sophomores — have practiced once per week this month and followed it up with a doubleheader. They finish the summer with two games at Port Gibson on Wednesday and another doubleheader June 29 at Bazinsky Field against Port Gibson.

Like PCA and other teams, the main focus for Vicksburg has been on developing young players. The team committed three throwing errors in game one Thursday, leading to six unearned runs. Coach Kevin Cooksey noted that a couple of the errors came after his infielders made good plays just to get to the ball and he wasn’t discouraged.

“We made errors with the throwing, but we showed good gloves in the field,” said Cooksey, who coaches Vicksburg’s ninth-grade team during the high school season. “Pitching, we’re looking to get stronger in the area of control and at this stage of the game, we’re having fun.”