Pearl River Community College baseball emphasizing “closeness” ahead of NJCAA DII World Series

POPLARVILLE, Miss. (WXXV) — WXXV is continuing its coverage of Pearl River Community College’s elite baseball program ahead of the Wildcats’ upcoming trip to the NJCAA Division II World Series with a look at something that sets them apart from the rest of the competition.

Every team has talented pitchers and explosive batters, but few have the level of team closeness that the Wildcats have. It is a big part of their identity and has truly played a part in how well the team has fared through an incredibly tough regular season and Region 23 postseason action.

Competition for playing time and recognition among student-athletes on the same team can be detrimental to any program, but according to head coach Michael Avalon, that’s far from the case for PRCC.

“[It’s] just in their daily interactions everyday, how they push each other, how they don’t care who gets the credit,” Avalon said. “They’re selfless. They want to see the guy next to them — whether they’re competing with them or not at the same position — they want to see him be successful. Ultimately, what’s most important for each one of these guys is that this team wins and this team plays to their abilities. That’s not always normal; that’s tough to do, especially in this day and age, where everything is so self-promoted and you want to do well yourself.”

According to players KK Clark, Logan Terry and Jacob Johnson, the team’s chemistry extends far beyond what their coaches see on the field.

“In our dorms up there, we’ve got six roommates, and one of our rules is ‘don’t lock the doors,'” Clark said. “Everybody just walks in the room, and everybody’s just… it’s basically [that] everybody’s in one room together, so I think that’s kind of helped us a lot. We’ve all been going through this year. I mean, we’ve had struggles, we’ve had ups and downs, and we’ve been persevering through it all year, so I think that just kind of helps us throughout everything.”

“Coach has said that there’s been teams that have been close in the past, but I honestly don’t see how this team now is not the closest that’s ever come through here,” Terry added.

“You know, some teams you can see they kind of go against each other,” Johnson explained. “Like, one person goes up and does something bad, and they kind of look at them like, ‘Wow. What happened?’ We pick each other up if something happens, we keep each other accountable. We just hold each other accountable… it’s awesome!”

The No. 2 overall seeded Wildcats will face either seventh-seeded Southeastern or tenth-seeded Kellogg on Sunday, May 25th, at 7 p.m.