By CURTIS ROCKWELL/Sports Director

For the third time in four days, Stone thumped Laurel in three innings to maintain its grip on the top spot in Region 4-5A Thursday night.
The Tomcats tore through the Golden Tornadoes 17-1 in the latest outing, and that comes on the heels of a 16-1 beating in Wiggins Thursday night and a 14-0 thumping on the road Tuesday night.
The Tomcats moved to a perfect 9-0 in the region race with the mercy-rule win, while the Golden Tornadoes drop to 0-7.

“We are playing well right now,” Stone High head coach Sean Miller said. “We’ve been pitching well and limiting walks. Also playing good defense. Offensively we’ve been able to get guys on base and have been putting pressure on the defense. We also have limited strike outs and moved runners.”
In Friday’s win over Laurel, Daylon Collins had three hits, including a triple and drove in four runs in the winning effort both of which were game-high totals. Braxton Jones chipped in two hits, including a double, and three RBIs to the winning effort. Jhase Jackson also had two hits for the Tomcats.
Jones picked up the win.

Miller was asked if the strong start in the new league by his squad was a surprise.
“Maybe with our record,” he added. “We were 3-8 going into region play. We returned about seven starters from last year and we won our district. But this district is a lot tougher, especially with the three game series format. I think starting the way we did helped us. I think our guys needed some humble pie.”
Meanwhile, in other Region 4-5A play Friday night, Gautier stunned two-time defending Class 5A state champion East Central with a seven run rally in the top of the seventh inning to overcome a seemingly insurmountable 8-3 deficit and snatch victory from the jaws of defeat with a 10-8 win.

The win guides the Gators into third place in the region race at 4-4, while the Hornets have lost seven region games for the first time in school history and sit in fifth place at 2-7 in the league standings and as of now are out of the playoffs.
With the game tied up at 8-8, a ground ball off the bat of Gautier’s Frederick Nicholson was booted into a two-run error by the Hornets for the eventual game-winning runs. Matthew Tanner’s run-scoring single preceded that play and set the stage for the climactic end.
Peyton McLean smacked a two-run home run as the Hornets built that 8-3 advantage. He had a game-high three RBIs as did Payton Youngblood who also had two hits in the loss. Christian McFaul had a pair of doubles for the Hornets.

Tanner collected a game-high four hits in the win for Gautier, while he and Ashton King, Enrique Flores, Gregory Johnson, Darrie Slay and Issac Lopez each drove in a run apiece in the winning effort.
Lopez tossed four solid frames of relief to earn the win on the mound. Jaxon Cripps, one of four Hornet hurlers, took the loss.
The win allowed Gautier to take a series from East Central for the first time in school history. The loss also jeopardizes even more the playoff hopes for the Hornets, who have reached the postseason 14 straight seasons.