By CURTIS ROCKWELL/Sports Director

LUCEDALE — The Class 6A South State championship prep baseball series pits one of the longest-tenured head coaches in the “Southern Six” against one of the newest.

Defending Class 6A state champ George County and veteran headmaster Brandon Davis faces visiting Pearl River Central starting Monday night here at Claude Passeau Field at 7 p.m. The Blue Devils are under the direction first-year mentor Buddy Turnage, who crossed over the state line after many years in the Louisiana prep baseball circles, to take the helm of PRC last year.

Davis has registered over 420 wins in his 13 seasons at the helm of his his alma mater, and has guided the Rebels to five South State championship series in that time. This is the second straight season that GCHS and PRC have squared off in the Class 6A South State title tilt.

Turnage spent the three prior seasons just across the state line at Pearl River (La.) High School, about 30 minutes from Carriere. Last season, he guided the Rebels to one of their best seasons in program history as PRHS went 29-10 and made it to the Non-Select Division II overall semifinal round before falling to North Vermillion 6-1. Pearl River lost nine seniors off of that squad.

This season, despite getting off to a slow 1-4 start, PRC has bounced back and stands 19-11 overall after sweeping both Pascagoula and Hattiesburg so far in the state playoffs. Turnage has recent experience in winning big games in the state playoffs just as Davis does, after Pearl River (La.) knocked off No. 23 Morgan City, along with higher seeds in No. 7 West Feliciana and No. 2 Iota to get to the semifinals in Sulphur last season.

“The big thing that I try to bring to every program that I’m at is just the mental toughness side of it,” Turnage said, in a recent interview. “Baseball is a hard game. It’s a very difficult game to play, and the mental side of it is the big key. So, I definitely try to make sure my players are mentally tough.”

Turnage had been the baseball coach since 2021 at Pearl River and enjoyed a solid coaching career for many years serving at Loyola University in New Orleans in two different stints as pitching coach. Turnage has also served as the head coach at Chalmette and at Belle Chasse, earning Class 4A Coach of the Year honors with the Cardinals when he led them to the state semifinals in 2009.

Turnage was hired last summer to replace Neil Walther, who resigned unceremoniously near the end of last season after 17 years on the job that included a Class 5A state championship in 2017.

Under Walther, the Blue Devils had 12 consecutive winning seasons, a streak that continued this year under Turnage. It was that championship potential that drew Turnage to the job.

“I felt this was an opportunity here,” said Turnage a few weeks ago. “Especially with the chance to develop the kids seventh through 12th graders, without having to wait until they get to the high school, I thought that was a big advantage to this job.

“Having a winning culture does help,” said Turnage. “But, obviously, everybody has different ways of doing things. I have a different style than most people. So, it’s still a matter of I have to prove myself to the players as well, and get their belief in what we’re doing here.”

On its march to the state title last season, George County took down PRC in three games. Game two in the current series is set for Carriere at the same time Tuesday night and if needed a game three would take place back in Lucedale Thursday night at the same time.

Monday will mark the 15th meeting in the past five seasons on the diamond between the Rebels and Blue Devils. This will also mark the fourth straight season that one team will end the season for the other in the state playoffs.

The Blue Devils are up slightly 8-6 in the series since the Covid season ended the 2020 season prematurely. However,the Rebels clipped PRC in three games last season also in the Class 6A South State championship series en route to capturing the state title.

“We haven’t seen them yet but it’s the same blueprint,” Davis, who enters his fifth South State championship series at the helm of his alma mater, said. “They throw strikes, play defense and they are scrappy at the plate.”We haven’t seen them yet but it’s the same blueprint,” Davis, who enters his fifth South State championship series at the helm of his alma mater, said. “They throw strikes, play defense and they are scrappy at the plate.”