By CURTIS ROCKWELL/Sports Director

PASCAGOULA — The first year on the job didn’t end the way new Pascagoula head coach Colton Caver had hoped.

But the Panthers did win their final two Region 4-6A games of the season and barely missed qualifying for the Class 6A state playoffs, so Pascagoula ended the season on a positive note.

“The season definitely had its ups and downs but, our guys fought to the very end and that should give us some confidence going into the off-season.” Carver said Wednesday. “We lost seven or eight games this season by either one run or losing the game in the last inning including some big games in region play.”

Pascagoula went into the last week of league play and the regular season still in the thick of the playoff chase, just a game behind West Harrison in the region race as the two teams began a key three game series that would decide the all-important fourth slot in the seedings.

In game one, in Pascagoula, the teams went into the top of the seventh stanza all knotted up at 4-4 before the Hurricanes rallied for three runs to pull out a 7-4 win in the final at-bat and clinch the final playoff berth.

The loss marked the third straight Saturday that the Panthers lost a league game in the final at-bat for their opponent, after George County pulled out a win in 11 innings the week before that with five runs in the 11th and Long Beach slipped past Pascagoula the week before that 4-2 with a three-run rally in the bottom of the seventh to snap a 1-1 deadlock.

“Baseball is a crazy game at times,” Caver added. “We definitely had a lot of close games that came down to the end this year and it showed by missing the playoffs by one game. Heck, we beat Region 4-5A Champs and Region 4-7A champs but couldn’t get in the playoffs in our region in Class 6A.”

Caver was referring to a tough pre-region schedule that saw PHS nip both Vancleave and Ocean Springs in early season action. And even though the Panthers finished the season 11-15 overall and 5-10 in region play, they also lost one run games to East Central, St. Martin and Hancock as well as a one-run loss to Vancleave as they split that two game set with the Bulldogs.

Pascagoula came back to beat West Harrison in the final two games of the season after that decisive first game in the series. The Panthers lose several key performers in Griffin Wells, Adrian Rosado and Denzel Melendez among others. The biggest loss may well be the senior versatile stand out Wells, however, who was productive all season long on the mound, at shortstop and at the plate for the Panthers. He is bound for the baseball diamond at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College.

“Griffin was one of our team captains this year and how he went we went on most nights,” Caver said. “He is a solid baseball player and even better person who gives it his all, and we will miss having him in the lineup for us next season. In my personal opinion, he was one of the top two arms in our region this year and he will definitely be hard to replace on the mound. We look forward to seeing him do great things on the diamond next year at MGCCC.”

Caver faced a bit of a tough task when he replaced veteran PHS head coach Richie Tillman, as the Panthers lost six of their top seven position players and top four leading hitters as well as three of their top four pitchers from a team that didn’t even make the state playoffs last season. 

Pascagoula has missed the playoffs for three consecutive seasons dating back to 2021 when the Panthers fell in the Class 5A state championship series to Saltillo. They’ve made the playoffs just once since the 2018 season.

“Our team only had one or two returning starters from the previous year’s team, and I applaud our young guys and even our older guys with little experience for competing the way they did this season,” Caver concluded. “That being said, our main focus going into next season is to learn to finish games and with five or six key guys coming back for next season, I’m looking forward to seeing our progress.”