The Hattiesburg Tigers have not forgotten last year’s season-ending loss to Pearl River Central. The Blue Devils formed a dogpile on the Smokie Harrington Park infield, as they celebrated their Class 5A South State Championship.
All the Tigers could do was watch and hope for revenge in 2018. It made for a long offseason, according to senior Dexter Jordan.
“Coaches have been preaching it all year. PRC, PRC.”
It finally clicked Thursday night, as Jordan and the Tigers got back on the winning side against the Blue Devils, 12-5, at Smokie Harrington Park. The win came just two days after Hattiesburg dropped game one of the regular season series, 10-9, in Carriere.
“Tuesday was a real tough loss,” Hattiesburg head coach Joe Hartfield said.
That, coupled with last season’s bitter ending, created somewhat of a perfect storm.
“It’s been motivation ever since we lost to them. It’s gotten brought up an awful lot,” Hartfield said. “We felt like we were a better team than when we played against them last year, and we want to make sure we don’t repeat that.”
Thursday’s win was certainly a step in the right direction. The Tigers pounded out 10 hits en route to the victory and got a stellar outing on the mound from Jordan, a Louisiana-Lafayette signee.
Jordan got run support early in the first inning off a two-run inside the park home run off the bat and legs of Kameron Wells. But in the very next inning, Pearl River Central tied it, 2-2, off a Hattiesburg fielding error.
The Tigers then buckled down in the field and kept it going at the plate, scoring a run in the third, fourth and fifth inning in taking a 5-2 lead. The Blue Devils pulled to within two runs in the sixth, only to see the Tigers plate seven runs in their half on the way to blowing the game wide-open.
Wells, Adrian Felts, and AJ Stinson finished with two RBI apiece for Hattiesburg. Ole Miss signee Joe Gray added one to go along with his game-high three hits.
Down 12-3 in the seventh inning, Pearl River Central tried to make it interesting, as they scored a run and then proceeded to load the bases with only one out. Only one other Blue Devil baserunner would come home though, as Stinson put out the mini fire to end the game.
“We walked a couple there, and that hurt us,” Hartfield said. “But at the end of the day, AJ got the job done.”
As for Jordan, the senior picked up his third win of the season, striking out 11 Pearl River Central batters in his six innings of work. At this point in Jordan’s career, Hartfield expects nothing less from his ace.
“Dexter’s certainly our horse and certainly our most reliable pitcher. We felt good tonight having him on the mound.”
Jordan felt good about the win and his Tigers’ chances coming into the contest. With revenge on his mind, he delivered.
“Last year, they beat me,” Jordan said. “So I really wanted some revenge on the mound.”
Hattiesburg, who has won five of its last six games, improved to 9-3 with the win over Pearl River Central. It’s their first win over the Blue Devils since their miraculous comeback in game one of last year’s Class 5A South State Championship.
“This is a big confidence boost. It lets us know we can play with a team that’s really good,” Jordan added. “That’s the defending state champions. We went out there and played like we wanted to be state champions. We keep playing like that the rest of the year, good things will happen.”
