Sun Herald Top 10: 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

Region 8-3A

Standings: St. Patrick (16-2, 6-0), Perry Central (10-4-1, 5-1), West Marion (5-6, 2-3), Seminary (3-13, 1-4), Collins (0-6, 0-6).

St. Patrick’s remaining region games: TURSDAY: At Perry Central

Region 8-2A

Standings: Taylorsville (11-5, 5-0), Our Lady Academy (13-5, 4-1), Richton (6-5, 2-2), Mize (10-9-1, 3-3), East Marion (6-11, 0-8)

OLA’s remaining region games: TUESDAY: Vs. Taylorsville; APRIL 18: At Taylorsville

Region 8-1A

Standings: Resurrection (11-6, 6-0), Stringer (5-15, 2-2), Sacred Heart (1-6, 1-3), Mount Olive (0-5, 0-4), Lumberton (0-7, 0-5)

No remaining region games

This story was originally published April 10, 2017 at 1:54 PM with the headline "Sun Herald Top 10: Time’s running out for playoff hopefuls."