Prep baseball: Warren Central, PCA, Tallulah notch district wins
Published 10:13 pm Tuesday, March 21, 2023
There’s still a long way to go in the MHSAA Region 6-6A baseball schedule, but so far Warren Central is the team to beat — and no one has.
Brooks Willoughby allowed one run in six innings, and the Vikings scored five times in the third inning to blow the game open as they beat Pearl 9-2 on Tuesday.
Warren Central (9-6, 2-0 Region 6-6A) remained undefeated in region play. It’ll face Pearl again Friday, on the road at 7 p.m.
After Jack Wright put Warren Central ahead 1-0 with an RBI single in the second inning Tuesday, the Vikings took control with their big rally in the third.
Maddox Lynch brought in a run with a ground out, and Connor Watkins followed with an RBI single to make it 3-0. Two walks loaded the bases, and then Wright singled to center field. An error in the outfield allowed all three runners to score and gave Warren Central a 6-0 lead.
A bases loaded walk to Ryan Nelson and a two-run single by Ishmael Trujillo in the fifth inning increased the lead to 9-0, and Willoughby had it from there.
Willoughby took a shutout into the sixth inning and finished with six strikeouts. He allowed three hits and two walks to get the win.
Wright led the Vikings’ hitters by going 2-for-3 with two RBIs. Watkins was 2-for-4 with one RBI and one run scored, Cade Fairley scored three runs and Seth Sterling had two hits.
Porter’s Chapel 6, Greenville Christian 0
Zach Ashley threw a one-hit shutout, and Gavin Pugh went 2-for-3 with three RBIs as Porter’s Chapel Academy (8-8, 2-2 MAIS District 3-3A) defeated Greenville Christian.
Ashley finished with nine strikeouts and only walked two batters. Greenville Christian’s lone hit was a single by Aaron Lee with one out in the third inning.
PCA got RBI singles by Gage Palmer in the second inning and Pugh in the third. Pugh also hit a sacrifice fly in the fifth to help build a 3-0 lead.
In the bottom of the sixth, Ashley singled in one run and Pugh singled in two to push the lead to 6-0. Ashley then retired the side in order in the seventh to finish the shutout.
PCA and Greenville Christian will play again Thursday at 6 p.m. in Greenville.
Madison-St. Joe 5, St. Aloysius 0
Madison-St. Joseph pitcher Andrew Bonds had 13 strikeouts and allowed only one hit as the Bruins defeated St. Aloysius (3-10) for the second day in a row.
Carson Smith had St. Al’s only hit, a one-out single in the sixth inning.
Bonds walked three batters and hit one, but the only real jam he got into was in the fourth inning. St. Al loaded the bases with two outs following a hit batter and two walks, before Bonds escaped with a strikeout.
Jennings Kimbrell and John Gibson Eartherly each had two hits and scored a run for Madison-St. Joe. The Bruins scored twice in the third inning and twice more in the fourth to take control.
St. Al and St. Joe will play again Friday at 6 p.m. in Madison.
Tallulah Academy 6, Prairie View 4
Landry Tweedle drove in the tying and go-ahead runs with a two-run double in the bottom of the sixth inning, then scored an insurance run on a single by Dee Morgan as Tallulah Academy (11-2) rallied late to beat Prairie View Academy.
Tweedle walked twice, but the double was his only hit of the game. Morgan was 2-for-2 with a double, two walks, one RBI and one run scored. J.T. McDaniel hit a two-run home run in the fourth inning.
Hayes Hopkins allowed four runs, two earned, in seven innings pitched. He walked two batters, struck out six, and allowed seven hits. Hopkins also drove in a run with a ground out in the fourth inning.
Tallulah and Prairie View will play a doubleheader Friday in Bastrop, La., beginning at 4 p.m.