TIME'S RUNNING OUT FOR PLAYOFF HOPEFULS

The regular seasons for high school baseball and softball are winding down. Some regions look pretty locked up, like Gulfport’s top-ranked baseball team, which has a commanding 7-1 record in Region 8-6A. Other regions, like Region 8-4A in softball, will go down to Friday night, when No. 5 Pass Christian hosts No. 4 East Central. The two teams clashed March 23, with new Sun Herald Girls Player of the Week Amber Funderburk one-hitting ECHS in a 2-1 decision. Because both teams have a region loss, Friday is a winner-take-all matchup for the region crown. “The game will come down to their first four hitters,” ECHS coach Kyle Long said. “It’ll come down to us containing them. I don’t know if we can stop them, but the last game we did a good job of limiting their damage. We’ll need to do that again. “And then it’ll come down to getting the key hit.” Baseball’s 8-4A may be one of the more jumbled regions on the Coast. Heading into the final week of region play, St. Stanislaus is 6-2, with both East Central and Vancleave entering the week at 5-3. Pass Christian and Bay are knotted at 4-4, with Moss Point at 0-8. With SSC playing Bay, Pass Christian facing Vancleave, and East Central going head-to-head against Moss Point, there’s still plenty of jockeying for position left in 8-4A. Here’s how the Coast’s baseball and softball teams are looking heading into the final weeks of the regular season: Baseball Region 8-6A Standings: Gulfport (22-1, 7-1), Biloxi (15-7, 4-4), Harrison Central (12-11, 3-5), Hancock (5-16, 0-8) Remaining region series: Hancock/Gulfport, Harrison Central/Biloxi Region 7-6A Standings: Ocean Springs (14-9, 6-2), St. Martin (14-8, 4-4), George County (14-9-1, 4-4), D’Iberville (11-11, 4-4) Remaining region series: D’Iberville/George County, Ocean Springs/St. Martin Region 8-5A Standings: West Harrison (16-6, 5-1), Long Beach (14-8, 4-2), Pascagoula (10-13, 3-3), Gautier (3-15, 0-6) Remaining region games: TUESDAY: West Harrison at Gautier, Pascagoula at Long Beach; THURSDAY: West Harrison at Pascagoula, Long Beach at Gautier; SATURDAY: Long Beach at West Harrison, Gautier at Pascagoula Region 7-5A Standings: Pearl River Central (18-6, 6-2), Hattiesburg (17-7, 6-2), Picayune (10-11, 3-5), Stone (9-11, 1-7) Remaining region games: TUESDAY: Picayune at Pearl River Central, Stone at Hattiesburg Region 8-4A Standings: St. Stanislaus (12-8, 6-2), East Central (13-9, 5-3), Vancleave (14-8, 5-3), Pass Christian (10-13, 4-4), Bay (13-7, 4-4), Moss Point (2-19, 0-8) Remaining region series: St. Stanislaus/Bay, Pass Christian/Vancleave, East Central/Moss Point Region 7-4A Standings: Sumrall (14-5, 7-1), Forrest County AHS (6-12, 5-3), Columbia (9-12, 5-3), Greene County (9-13, 3-5), Purvis (8-11, 2-6), Poplarville (8-13, 2-6) Remaining region series: Poplarville/FCAHS, Greene County/Columbia, Sumrall/Purvis Region 8-3A Standings: Seminary (11-6, 6-0), West Marion (7-10, 4-2), St. Patrick (6-11, 3-2), Perry Central (6-14, 1-5), Tylertown (6-12, 1-6) St. Patrick’s remaining games: MONDAY: Vs. Perry Central; TUESDAY: At West Marion; APRIL 17: Vs. Seminary Region 8-1A Standings: Resurrection (14-6, 5-1), Stringer (8-10, 5-1), Sacred Heart (4-13, 1-5), Lumberton (10-10, 1-5) No remaining region games. Softball Region 8-6A Standings: Harrison Central (19-3, 5-0), Hancock (8-8, 4-1), Gulfport (10-9, 1-4), Biloxi (3-18, 0-5) Remaining region games: TUESDAY: Harrison Central at Hancock, Biloxi at Gulfport Region 7-6A Standings: Ocean Springs (19-2, 4-0), George County (14-8, 4-1), St. Martin (10-11, 1-3), D’Iberville (7-13, 0-5) Remaining region games: TUESDAY: George County at Ocean Springs, St. Martin at D’Iberville; WEDNESDAY: St. Martin at Ocean Springs Region 8-5A Standings: West Harrison (16-7, 4-0), Long Beach (8-11, 3-1), Pascagoula (5-11-1, 1-3), Gautier (7-12-1, 0-4) Remaining region games: TUESDAY: West Harrison at Pascagoula, Gautier at Long Beach; THURSDAY: West Harrison at Long Beach, Pascagoula at Gautier Region 7-5A Standings: Picayune (16-4-1, 5-0), Pearl River Central (15-6, 3-1), Stone (5-10, 0-3), Hattiesburg (N/A) Remaining region games: TUESDAY: Picayune at Pearl River Central, Hattiesburg at Stone; THURSDAY: Stone at Pearl River Central Region 8-4A Standings: Pass Christian (13-3, 7-1), East Central (19-5, 7-1), Vancleave (10-14, 4-4), Bay (3-15, 3-4), Moss Point (4-13, 1-5), Forrest County AHS (3-11-1, 0-7) Remaining region games: TUESDAY: Pass Christian at Bay; Moss Point at East Central; Vancleave at FCAHS; FRIDAY: East Central at Pass Christian; APRIL 18: Moss Point at Bay; APRIL 19: Bay at FCAHS Region 7-4A Standings: North Pike (11-4-1, 5-0), Purvis (8-4, 6-1), Poplarville (13-6, 4-2), Columbia (8-10-1, 3-5), Sumrall (5-11, 2-7), McComb (8-8, 0-5) Poplarville’s remaining region games: THURSDAY: At North Pike; April 18: Vs. Sumrall ; APRIL 20: Doubleheader at McComb

TIME'S RUNNING OUT FOR PLAYOFF HOPEFULS

Photo Credit: Vancleave Athletics

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