The Pine Belt area has four schools out of five classifications up for the south state title. The 2007 baseball play-offs has the Pine Belt area pretty excited. Area teams battled last weekend in the quarterfinals of state playoffs. With Oak Grove, Purvis, Sumrall and Richton already set to play for the South State Championship this weekend, Lumberton and Petal needs to win this Thursday to advance.

In 2A, Lumberton (22-9) lost the first game, 8-4 last Friday night but rebounded Saturday, 11-0 against St. Andrew's (26-10). Lumberton's 11-0 win was stopped in the fifth inning with the 10-run rule in affect. Pitcher Kody Lancaster went the distance, giving up one hit and striking out five batters to earn the win. Lumberton needs to win over St. Andrew's in order to advance to go head-to-head against the Rebels who beat Lumberton in the district tournament.
Richton (27-8) swept Clarkdale by a score of 8-1 in game one and 5-4 in game two. In game two, Jacoby Jones pitched the entire game striking out six batters and allowed four runs on four hits. The Rebels host the winner between Lumberton or St. Andrew's in Thursday's deciding game. Richton has already beat Lumberton during district tournament but Lumberton has the potiential to win.

In class 3A will be the most anticipated game between Sumrall and Purvis. Purvis (18-10) swept Richland (22-12) by a score 4-2 in game one and 9-5 in game two. Purvis have seem to blossom in the playoffs going 4-0. Sophomore, Robert Marzoni (9-2) went the distance in the in game two, gave up eight hits, walked two and had 10 strikeouts.
Sumrall(31-3) swept the 28-4 Columbia Wildcats over the weekend. In game one, the Bobcats came back from a 4-0 defecit in the final three innings to beat the Wildcats 5-4. Wildcat lefty, Mandela Mingo allowed two runs, five hits, had 10 strikeouts which pushed him over the 100-strikeout mark. Josh Jones (8-3) came in to relieve Mingo in the seventh inning which led to a Bobcat come back. Junior right-hander, Jake Hawkins (8-0) got the win with Jim Roseberry getting the save. In game two, Sumrall managed to shut out the the Wildcats, 7-0. Senior pitcher, Kyle Sumlin tossed his first complete game of the year who gave up three hits and struck out four batters and did not allow a runner to reach third base the entire game. Jones took the loss, striking out three, walking one and giving up six runs.

Purvis won 3A state title in 2004 and 2005. During 2007 season, Sumrall drummed the Tornadoes by a score of 10-0 on March 27th but Purvis prevailed on April 13th to beat the Bobcats in extra innings, 6-5.

In class 4A, Petal (27-5) also lost the first game, 7-3 and won the second, 8-3 against Terry (24-10). Petal's standout, Matt Warren (10-1) took the lost Friday Night who gave up two singles and retired the last nine straight batters going into the fifth. However, during the fifth inning, Warren faced six batters and threw a few un-catchable passed balls which led to a pitching change with John Michael Williamson. The inning ended with a score of 6-3 in favor of Terry. Terry got another run on a solo HR in the top of the seventh from junior catcher, Rashun Dixon. Jerry Duncan also had a solo shot in the third inning. In Saturday's game, Chase Ezelle (8-2) went the distance for the Panthers beating Terry, 8-3 who allowed six hits with eight strikeouts. Darin Farris hit a 2-run HR and had two singles for the Panthers. Farris broke a school record with 59 hits who also broke it last year with 54 hits.

If Petal beats Terry this Thursday, the Panthers will have play two days later, Saturday between Pearl River Central(20-10) and D'Iberville (24-11), D'Iberville won game one over Pearl River Central, 8-7. The Warriors, Clayton Seymour (9-2) got the win, throwing a complete game. The Blue Devils's star player, Mike Lehmann (9-3) took the loss, despite striking out nine batters. In game two, Matt Lee hit a game-tying three-run triple in the bottom of the eighth and scored the winning run on a throwing error from third to lead Pearl River to victory, 7-6. Sean Kelly earned the victory for Pearl River Central who will travel to D'Iberville this Thursday for the deciding game.

In class 5A, Oak Grove (27-6) swept Pascagoula by a score of 9-4 on Friday and 6-0 on Saturday. The Warriors will host the winner between George County and Harrison Central who also will play this Thursday. Pascagoula led off with a 2-0 score in two innings but things started to shape up for Oak Grove. Taiwan Easterling walked four batters and gave up three hits in the first three innings but did not allow a player to advance past second, had five strikeouts and allowed four more walks in his last three innings. Logan Sobiesk went 3-for3, including two doubles and an RBI. Easterling went 3-for-4 with an RBI. The Warriors mangaed 16 total hits. In game two, Junior, Tyler Kittrell (7-1) threw a complete game striking out 10, gave up three hits and did not allow any runs. Kittrell also hit a 2-run HR. Easterling and Scott Ashley both had RBI single's and Zachary Robertson hit an RBI double.