By CURTIS ROCKWELL/Sports Director

Pearl River County will play host to a trio of big prep baseball region series this week in two different classifications.
Tuesday night is set to be the premiere showcase for just that, as important league encounters will take place in Picayune, Carriere and Poplarville.
In Class 6A the Maroon Tide hosts George County in the biggest Region 4-6A clash so far in the current campaign. The Rebels invade Kent Kirkland Field with first place in the loop on the line for the first date of a three game series.
Picayune maintained its grip on the top spot in Region 4-6A with a 4-0 road win over West Harrison over the weekend.
The win completes a three game sweep of the Hurricanes for the Maroon Tide, who moved to a perfect 6-0 in the region race after sweeping Pascagoula to open league play.
“We have to get better in a lot of areas, but if we can grind like that good things are going to happen.” Picayune head coach Evan Nicholson said earlier in the week.

The Maroon Tide sits a game ahead of both George County and Hancock in the region race, as the Rebels and Hawks both sit at 5-1. George County swept Long Beach in three games last week, while Hancock took two out of three from Pascagoula after sweeping Long Beach to open league play.
The Rebels will host the Maroon Tide in Lucedale at Claude Passeau Field on Friday night and then the two teams return to Picayune for game three Saturday afternoon.
Just about six miles up the road Tuesday night, Pearl River Central hosts West Jones in a battle of Region 3-6A perennial state powers.
The Blue Devils and Mustangs both sit at 6-0 in the region race heading into the big match-up, which will see the teams face off three times in five days in the battle for league supremacy. In all likelihood, the top seed in the region will be decided this week.

Veteran head coach Neil Walthers has his PRC squad sitting at an impressive 19-2 overall after a three game sweep of Terry in league play last week. West Jones sits at 16-3 overall. The Blue Devils host the Mustangs Tuesday night, then travel to Soso Thursday night before heading back to Carriere to wrap things up Friday night.
The Blue Devis won the Class 5A state championship in 2017 and the Mustangs followed suit in the same class two years later in taking the title in 2019. Both schools moved up a level upon a first-ever expansion to seven classifications by the Mississippi High School Activities Association before the current school year began.
Meanwhile, about 20 miles up the road in Poplarville Tuesday night, the Hornets host Greene County in a key region 8-4A affair.
Poplarville continues to set the pace in Region 8-4A as league play begins to wind down.

The Hornets completed a two game sweep of Moss Point with a 12-3 win at home on Friday, moving to 5-1 in the region race. Poplarville has a full two game lead in the league standings over Pass Christian, which sits in the second spot at 3-3, but the Hornets swept the Pirates to open region action several weeks back so they hold the tiebreaker over PCHS.
Bay High and Greene County each sit at 2-2 in the region race, and Moss Point pulls up the rear at 0-4 with only two weeks of league play left.
The Hornets have already clinched a berth in the upcoming Class 4A South State playoffs. A sweep this week over the Wildcats would secure the top seed for the Hornets in the region race, as they wrap up league play with their two games this week before finishing up their regular season play with two straight weeks of non-region opponents.
The two teams will wrap up the home and home series with a game in Leakesville Friday night.