By Stan Caldwell/Sports Writer

CARRIERE — In 2017, Neil Walther led Pearl River Central to its one and only visit to the mountain top, the Class 5A state championship in baseball.

The Blue Devils have been sniffing around for a second state title in the years since, but have come up short in the postseason, all third-round defeats – four times to West Jones and once against Pascagoula.

Does PRC have what it takes in 2024 to grab that elusive second championship? The Blue Devils certainly have the makings of another championship contender, this time in the newly-realigned Class 6A.

Pearl River Central is currently 21-4 overall, and took a big step toward the Region 3-6A championship by taking two games in the key best-of-three region series against West Jones.

The Blue Devils took Game 1 Tuesday in Carriere in dramatic fashion, 2-1 in an eighth-inning walk off. The Mustangs exploited a rare poor outing by PRC to take an 8-2 win on Thursday at Soso, but the Blue Devils rebounded at home in the rubber game, winning 6-0.

“I think the first six times we met West Jones in the playoffs, we were 4-2, but they’ve won the last four, so now it’s 4-6,” said Walther. “It seems like if we’re in the playoffs, we don’t know who we’re going to get in the first round, but at some point we’re going to play West Jones.

“Trey (Sutton) does a great job at West Jones. It’s a baseball culture, about the same as what we’ve got. The big thing is being mentally-tough.””

Pearl River Central has maintained a high profile in the seasons since it hoisted its championship trophy. The Blue Devils are 125-56 (69.1 percent) in the past seven seasons, included a 10-3 record when the season ended early in 2020 due to Covid 19.

And PRC was a player in Class 5A in the seasons before its championship season, winning 96 games from 2012 through 2016, an average of just over 19 wins a season.

Walther says each of his now 17 seasons at the Blue Devils’ coach unfolds a little differently, for often unforeseen reasons.

“I think we have the same mentality that we always do,” said Walther. “It’s about a program, not a team. Every one is a little different.

“People talk about rebuilding, it’s ridiculous to talk about rebuilding in high school. You’re always rebuilding. I asked the kids the other day, ‘raise your hand if you heard somebody from the community say we weren’t going to be that good this year.’ And everyone’s hand went up.”

Truthfully, expectations weren’t necessarily that high in 2017 – until the playoffs rolled around. 

The Blue Devils had a modest 18-9 record heading into the playoffs in 2017, and finished second behind Hattiesburg in Region 7-5A at 6-3. Moreover, they were coming off a three-game losing streak to end the regular season

But PRC went 10-3 in the playoffs, including a six-game winning streak, defeated Pascagoula in three games in the opening round, swept West Jones and Long Beach, then won third-game showdowns against Hattiesburg for South State and Oxford in the 5A finals.

Last week’s series win over the Mustangs showed off the Pearl River Central blueprint for victory in 2024.

The Blue Devils used hard-nosed pitching and flawless defense in their two wins, with senior Connor Dyess getting the victory both nights.

The senior right-hander got the win in relief on Tuesday, pitching around a double in the top of the eighth inning of a 1-1 tie. Then he pitched a four-hit shutout, with five strikeouts, on Friday.

“It would be really, really, really good, because it’s been since 2017 that we won the last one,” said Dyess. “That’s our whole goal this season, to get back to Jackson and win another state championship.”

The victory in the third game wiped away the wreckage of the Game 2 defeat, in which the Blue Devils were charged with three errors, and had at least three other plays that Walther considered to be errors.

“We counted seven errors and 12 walks or hit batters, so it’s a little surprising that we played seven innings,” said Walther after Thursday’s debacle. “We should have only played five after getting run-ruled.”

By contrast, PRC only had one error on Tuesday and none on Friday.

Generally, the Blue Devils have been led by a pair of seniors, guiding a team heavy on talented freshmen and sophomores.

Dyess leads the team in hitting, with a .373 batting average, and on the mound, with a 6-0 record, five saves and a 0.99 earned-run average.

Isaias Ryan had a sub-par outing on Thursday, walking four of the eight batters he faced in an inning-plus, but he’s still 4-1 with a 1.44 ERA, and he’s the team’s top run-producer, with a team-high 24 RBIs, along with a .333 average.

This season, of course, is a new world for Mississippi high school sports, with seven classes now, and Pearl River Central in 6A, which is chock-full of championship caliber teams.

“I don’t think it’s really affected us any,” said Walther. “I think if you if you take 5A last year; I think that was tougher than 6A this year, as a whole. Of course, you had eight more teams.”

Walther usually lines up a formidable non-region schedule to get his team ready for region pay and beyond, and this year was no different. 

The Blue Devils have wins over Stone, Hancock and Poplarville, losses to Biloxi and West Marion, a contender in Class 3A. Pearl River Central then finishes its season with a two-game non-region series against South Jones, a team with title aspirations in Class 5A.

“I think both (South) regions have a couple of different teams that could make a run for it,” said Walther. “And there are some teams on the Coast that you look at their record, and you think ‘they’re not there,’ but they can beat you in a three-game series.

“What really matters is how you’re playing when the playoffs start, because the first 28 games really don’t make much of a difference.”

Taking the series from West Jones last week is a big psychological boost for Pearl River Central in getting past their nemesis, should the two teams meet again in May. 

But PRC still has business to attend to, with a three-game region series against resurgent Hattiesburg (17-5, 6-3). As was the case last week, the Blue Devils are at home Tuesday, they will play at HHS Thursday, then the final region game of the year will be Friday at Carriere.

“It was a tough environment at West Jones, and it’s going to be a tough environment at Hattiesburg,” said Walther. “Of course, Carriere is not an easy environment to come and play in either.

“We don’t like to travel, but I absolutely love the fact that West Jones and Hattiesburg are in our district again, because those have been such good games in the past. We’re actually more of a rival with them than some of the (Gulf) Coast teams.”

There is still a lot of baseball left to play, then, but Walther likes the direction his team is heading.

“They haven’t surprised us,” said Walther. “And I think we’re getting better each week.”