SUMMIT, Miss. — The No. 5 Pearl River baseball team had itself a day at the dish Sunday afternoon, pounding 25 hits, clubbing nine extra-base hits and plating 27 runs across a round-robin sweep of No. 22 Lansing and Southwest. The Wildcats began the day by thumping the Stars 18-2 in five innings and capped it off with a 9-0 shutout of the Bears.

"We took what they gave us early in both games," head coach Michael Avalon said. "We stayed within the zone. We were patient but were aggressive in hitter's counts. That helped us get runners on and drive them in with big hits. It was a great day offensively."

The Wildcats got an incredible effort from freshman Ethan Garner (Gulfport) across the doubleheader. Garner originally planned to redshirt this season but entered the lineup Sunday afternoon and finished the doubleheader 5-for 7 with two doubles, a homer and four RBIs. 

"Ethan was very talented out of high school, and it took him a while to settle in," Avalon said. "He told me in my office this week that he felt like he could help us, and I agreed. We were thankful to have him and look forward to him hopefully having similar days. He needs to keep working and be a consistent piece for us."

PEARL RIVER 18, LANSING 2.
The Wildcats (14-4 overall) set the tone right from the opening frame, scoring a pair of runs to start the day. Caston Thompson (Jayess; Brookhaven Academy) pushed the first run across by dropping the ball into no man's land for an RBI double. A few at-bats later, Thompson scored on a Jackson Hood (Madison; Germantown) bases-loaded walk.

The second inning of the afternoon was where things got crazy for the Wildcats. PRCC was at the plate for north of 30 minutes, scoring 12 runs and sending an incredible 16 batters to the plate. Milam brought in the first two runs of the frame with a two-run double. Thompson's RBI single followed. Topher Jones (Hernando) was plunked with the bases loaded, and Hood and Tyrese Johnson (West Point) drew bases-loaded walks. Garner then delivered a blow, dropping a two-run single into center field. A Milam ground and a Thompson sacrifice fly added the next two runs. Back-to-back doubles off the bats of Jacob Keys (Brandon) and Keegan Giger (Petal) brought home the final two runs of the inning and set the score at 14-0.

Pearl River added a three-spot in the fourth. Milam singled, Reese Mooney (Clinton; Denham Springs) singled and a pitch hit Giger to load the bases for Hood. The freshman wasted no time in his at-bat, turning on a pitch and sending it down the left field line and into the corner for a three-run double, 17-0.

Garner's unbelievable debut continued in the fifth as the freshman sent the third pitch thrown to him flying over the wall in right field for the first home run of his career, 18-0.

The Stars (1-5) broke up the shutout in their half of the fifth, but the Wildcats closed the door to secure an 18-2 run-rule victory.

Patrick Spencer Jr. (Greenville; Washington School) threw two innings and allowed two hits. He struck out three batters. Nico Williams (Gulfport) pitched the next two innings and gave up one hit. Dylan Wallace (Columbia) and Landon Watts (Picayune) combined to close out the final inning of the night.

Garner made the most of his opportunity, going 3-for-4 at the plate with three RBIs, one double and one home run. Milam and Thompson each finished 2-for-4 with two runs and three RBIs. Giger went 2-for-3 with two runs. Hood went 2-for-2 with five RBIs and two walks.

PEARL RIVER 9, SOUTHWEST 0.
The Wildcats again did early damage in the second game of the day, scratching across six first-inning runs against Southwest (7-12). The first three batters of the game drew walks to set up Keys for a two-run double. Giger followed him up with an RBI single, and Jones dropped a perfect bunt for an RBI single. Hood kept the hit parade going with a run-scoring single, and Garner continued his stellar day with an RBI double, 6-0.

The Wildcats stole a run from the Bears in the third inning. With Hood standing on third base, Kyler King (Picayune) intentionally got caught in a run down to allow Hood to swipe home plate, 7-0.

Starting pitcher Jacob Johnson (Carriere; Pearl River Central) kept the Southwest hitters off-balance throughout the first four innings of the afternoon, and PRCC gave him two additional runs in the top of the fifth. Hood and Garner singled and both came around to score when Chap Cook (Canton; Canton Academy) hit a ball that resulted in a two-run error, 9-0.

Pearl River turned to Caleb Dyess (Carriere; Pearl River Central) in the fifth, Peyton Lacy (Pass Christian) in the sixth and AJ Hansen (Mobile, Ala.; McGill-Toolen) in the seventh to close things out and get the 9-0 victory.

Johnson earned the win with four innings of two-hit baseball. He struck out four batters. Dyess allowed one hit in one inning of work. Lacy threw a hitless inning and Hansen punched out two in a hitless inning.

Giger and Garner both went 2-for-3 with a run and an RBI. Hood was 2-for-2 with a run and an RBI. 

NEXT UP
Pearl River heads to Meridian on Wednesday for a 12/3 p.m. round robin against Meridian and Copiah-Lincoln. The games will be livestreamed at MCCEagles.live.