By CURTIS ROCKWELL/Sports Director

CARRIERE — Pearl River Central moved to the verge of clinching the top seed in Region 3-6A entering the upcoming Class 6A South State playoffs Thursday night.

But the Blue Devils did so without their long time head coach.

PRC bounced back in a big way from a close 3-2 loss two days before to Hattiesburg in league play to take a 12-5 win over the Tigers. The win pushes PRC to 9-2 in the region race, and the Blue Devils can secure the top seed in the league with a win Friday night back in Hattiesburg.

The Tigers drop to 7-4 in the region race, and are in third place in the league standings. West Jones sits in the second spot at 7-2. The Blue Devils won two of three from West Jones last week so they hold the tie-breaker for the top seed even if the Mustangs would sweep three games from Terry over the next two days.

The Blue Devils played the game without their veteran head coach, Neil Walther. Walther was apparently suspended from his duties after an incident at the end of Tuesday nights game. No other information was available at this time.

In the latest league win, PRC jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead in the second stanza on a two-run single by Sam Tuminello. That lead remained until the fourth frame, when the Blue Devils took control of the contest with a five run eruption.

Tuminello got that uprising started as well with a run-scoring single, then Kendall Morrison drove in a run on a sacrifice fly to make it 4-0. J.J. Morealle had the big blow in the inning with a two-run single, and Isaias Ryan also had an RBI-single and suddenly it was 7-0 home team.

Tuminello would later add another RBI-single for PRC, and Morrison cracked a two-run single also to complete the scoring.

Tuminello’s three hits and four RBIs were both game highs, while Morrison had the three RBIs and morale drove in the two runs. Conner Dyess had a triple in the win as well.

Morealle started and picked up the pitching win as well for PRC.Damon Johnson took the loss for Hattiesburg.

Both teams face off in the third game of the season back in the Hub City Friday night.