(#131)
Six team tournaments are tough unless you win every game. It even takes four wins if you go undefeated. And then there are variations of the bracket such as if 5 teams are remaining after game x, or 4 teams remaining after game x, etc.
The participant teams have to run on all cylinders, with great pitching and defense, timely hitting, and some luck. So far, Pearl River has been flawless with two big, easy 10-run rule wins. They are the current state champions, the number 1 team in the D2 polls, and the host at their fine facility and have built their team and program for this stage.
LSUE comes in a close second and is still in the hunt. They lost a 4-3 opening game to Hinds and then destroyed a good East Mississippi team 10-0 in five innings. They have plenty of pitching and offense left in the tank. A win today over #5 Jones, puts them in Thursday’s championship game… again.
Hinds got the tough draw just because of the seed they landed on when Meridian was upset and eliminated the weekend before. Because Hinds is the fourth seed and for some reason LSUE is always the third seed, the Eagles drew that #3 seed, the defending Region 23 and national champion (and 7 time national champion). Our reward for beating Eunice was to play #1 seed, current state champion, and the #1 team in the country. If Meridian, was in the tournament, they would be in this spot. However, if Hinds beat PRCC, things would be looking better for them.
Jeff Willis, the longtime LSUE head coach, told me with the way the bracket is drawn, you can afford to lose the opener like they did against Hinds, but you absolutely cannot afford to lose the second game, like Hinds did against PRCC, because then you will become the only team in the tournament that has to play two games in one day. And if you win the first one, you will match up with the #1 seed again later that day. Jeff should know. He helped craft the brackets. Advantage to the number 1 and 3 seeds.
A Jones win over Eunice will advance them to the championship game on Thursday. They beat the 2 seed, the 6 seed, and the 3 seed, if they win today. Knock off LSUE and play for the Region 23 championship. The Bobcats have won it twice, going to Enid and finishing second one year and winning the national championship another year.
It’s the luck of the draw and of course, the quality of play that makes all of these things happen.
If Hinds were to beat EMCC today at noon and PRCC tonight at 7, the Eagles would advance to Friday’s single championship game. Wow! Big task, but big rewards. A win over #3, a loss to #1, and win over #2 and win over #1. There’s a 50-50 chance that could happen. It would take a really good day’s work.
Confusius say: “Yesterday, yesterday. Today, today.” Let’s go play and leave everything we have on the field and see what happens.
Not sure how long the Region 23 tournament has had this bracket, but it would be safe to say the LSUE has won it most of the time. Pearl River did in 2019. Covid did in 2020. Hinds and Jones have won it twice.
And since the Bengals are an independent team, not having to play the 28 game conference schedule or the best-of-three play-in series, it would be safe to say that with an advantageous 3-seed every year, LSUE builds a team equipped, especially with a deep pitching staff, to win four games in the tournament and advance to the World Series and have a reasonable chance to win there.
Only Hinds and Jones have pulled it off twice, and one of those might have been in the 4 team format, Pearl River once, and LSUE, 10 times.
I love Sulley’s Tavern in Hattiesburg.
Let’s play ball!
Rick Clarke's Diary of a Mad Baseball Coach 