By CURTS ROCKWELL/Sports Director

Picayune maintained the pace with George County in Region 4-6A on Saturday, completing a three game sweep of Hancock.
The Maroon Tide moved to 10-2 in the region race with a 13-6 road win over the Hawks in the series finale. Picayune sits deadlocked with George County atop the league standings but the Rebels own the tie-breaker due to taking two of three from Picayune recently.
Hancock, meanwhile, slid further into third place with its fourth straight league loss and now sits at 7-5 and now must face George County in a three game series this week with all kinds of seeding aspirations on the line.

“Good to bounce back after dropping the series last week,” Picayune head coach Evan Nichelson said. “The at bats were a lot more competitive this week . Hopefully getting some things going at the right time.”
Picayune got a pair of two run home runs in the fourth frame on Saturday, one each from Morgan Craft and Landon Watts, in holding off Hancock. Craft had two hits and drove in a game-high four runs in the winning 11-hit attack, while Kyler King collected a game-high three three hits including a double and drove in three runs as well. Cooper Moreaux had two hits and drove in two runs for the Tide, while Watts also drove in two with his round-tripper.

Brandon Arcement had a two run home run of his own for Hancock, and he drove in three runs while both Jaxson Knight and Chace Brown added two hits apiece for the Hawks.
King took the win on the mound, while Brown took the loss.
On Friday night, at Kent Kirkland Field in Picayune, the Maroon Tide took a 7-0 win behind a dominant pitching performance from Tanner Busby.
Busby threw a complete game, three-hit shutout striking out 11 and walking none in an impressive performance on the hill to earn the win.
He got support at the plate from Jamie Lumpkin, who had two hits including a double and drove in two runs, along with King who chipped in a two-run single to the winning effort.
Busby scattered three singles in the game.
Arcement took the loss.

Elsewhere in Region 4-6A action on Saturday, West Harrison stands on the verge of clinching a berth in the upcoming Class 5A South State playoffs after completing a three game sweep of Long Beach with an 18-6 win in 11 innings.
The game was tied up at 6-6 after seven stanzas, and then the Hurricanes exploded for a dozen runs in the top of the fourth extra session to capture the key win.
Landon Wallace had a game-high four hits, including a home run, and drove in three runs for West Harrison while Reece Parker posted a game-high five RBIs in the winning effort on three hits. Dezi Curley, Carlos Pena, Kenny Linell and Jack Mann each also had three hits apiece for the Hurricanes as they collected 24 hits in the contest.

West Harrison meets Pascagoula in a battle for the fourth and final spot in Region 4-6A this week.