High School Baseball State Championships: recapping Pearl River Central’s title, Gulfport’s Game 3 loss

Of all the high school baseball teams from the six coastal counties to reach the playoffs, only two of them made it to State. Between Gulfport and Pearl River Central, only the latter ended its season with a win.
On Saturday, both schools played winner-take-all game threes and the Blue Devils took it all in Class 5A. They beat Oxford for the crown, dethroning the reigning state champion Chargers with a 7-3 victory.
As for the Admirals, they stumbled out of the gates, falling behind 3-0 in the third inning versus Tupelo. Neither team would score again as Gulfport saw its historic run come to a screeching halt.
After having a couple of days to reflect on the season that was, head coach Jamie McMahon says coming up short of the ultimate goal doesn’t make 2017 any less special. “It means a ton to us. This team that we had, and I kind of just reiterated that to them again, about how proud I was of them and just making it to the state championship. And this is my sixth year here and I haven’t been here with this program, we hadn’t been here since 2005. So I don’t think they understand quite what they did for the community, but it’s definitely a building block for these guys.”
The Gulfport baseball team will be honored at MGM Park before the Biloxi Shuckers game on Thursday, June 1st.