By CURTIS ROCKWELL/Sports Director

The phrase “Game Three” in the Mississippi High School Baseball Playoffs carries the same weight as “Game Seven” does in World Series or NBA circles.

And the “Southern Six” is blessed with four such all-important game threes involving six squads Monday night. 

In Class 6A, there are a pair of contests fitting that description in the South State semifinals, beginning with George County hosting West Jones in the rubber match of that three game affair at Claude Passeau Field in Lucedale. Both teams have registered 3-0 shutout decisions on the road so far.

George County is the top seed from Region 4-6A, while the Mustangs are the number two seed from Region 3-6A. The Rebels have played for three state championships in two different classifications over the past decade, with their last trip to Pearl coming in 2018.

The winner of that series will face the winner of the Picayune-Pearl River Central neighborhood war. Game three of that long-time rivalry is set for Carriere. Both teams have registered one run home wins in the first two games, as the Blue Devils won game one Friday night 4-3 and the Maroon Tide followed suit with an exciting 5-4 walk-off win at Kent Kirkland Field Saturday night to stave off elimination and keep its season alive.

In Pearl River County, the Maroon Tide and Blue Devils didn’t meet in the regular season for the first time in at least 23 years. 

According to sources on both sides, the new athletic administration at PRC this season informed Picayune officials that they weren’t interested in keeping the football rivalry alive since the two teams weren’t in the same region anymore after reclassification and expansion by the MHSAA over the Summer.

Picayune officials responded by telling the PRC folks that if that was the case, then the two schools wouldn’t meet in any other regularly scheduled sports either causing the two longtime rivals on the diamond to not face off this season.

Pearl River Central, the number one seed from Region 3-6A, has the home-field advantage over Picayune, the number two seed from Region 4-6A, in the series.

In Class 5A, and not to be outdone, Jackson County has its own neighborhood war going on as East Central heads to Vancleave for the fourth time this season Monday night for the third and final game in the affair.

Both teams have recorded road wins in the first two games, as the Bulldogs kept their season alive with a 3-0 win in Hurley Saturday afternoon after the Hornets took a 4-1 win in Vancleave Friday night.

Monday night’s match-up will mark the sixth of the season between the two long-time county rivals, the most ever in the history of the series that goes back over five decades. Vancleave has a slight 3-2 series lead this season.

Vancleave wrestled the Region 4-6A top seed away from ECHS this season, and the Hornets finished as the third seed in the loop after winning the last two Class 5A state championships. 

Vancleave won the Class 4A state title in 2017.

The survivor of this series faces South jones, which easily dispatched Stone in two quick games over the weekend.

And, speaking of state titles, two-time and back-to-back Class 1A state champion Resurrection hits the road to Ethel for the second time in five days for the rubber match in that Class 1A South State semifinal series. Both teams have taken home wins so far in the affair, as the Tigers took game one 3-2 on Thursday before the defending state champ Eagles bounced back with a big 9-1 win on Saturday night in Pascagoula.

The winer of this series faces Taylorsville in the Class 1A South State finals.