A storybook season has come to an end for the Pearl River Community College baseball team with the Wildcats falling just short of their second-ever national championship.
Michael Avalon’s club concluded the 2025 campaign as the title runner-up after losing a hard-fought matchup to No. 1 Pasco-Hernando 11-7 on Sunday.
Pearl River (53-10) took an early lead on a Logan Terry home run over the left field wall. Pasco-Hernando (51-10) responded with three runs in the third inning to take a 3-1 lead, beginning a round of volleying between the two juggernauts. The Wildcats reclaimed the lead in the sixth inning. Jaxon Milam singled, and Madison native Jackson Hood hit a subsequent long ball, putting Pearl River up 4-3.
Another three runs were scored in the seventh for Pearl River, with Jacob Keys driving in a run on a sacrifice fly and Caston Thompson mashing an opposite-field two-run homer. But an eight-spot in the seventh inning saw the Bobcats move back in front 11-7. The Bobcats retired the Wildcats in order to secure victory in each of the eighth and ninth innings.
“It wasn’t meant to be. Most importantly, in this moment, I felt like the good Lord had prepared me for this,” Avalon said. “I never thought we would lose. I can’t allow myself to think that way. I’ll tell you one thing. These young men are fine men from fine families. They are men of faith, and I am so proud of them. I reminded them to walk off this field with their heads up. It’s a special group with much to be proud of.”
Though the Wildcats cannot don the title victor’s crown this year as they did in 2022, the team did rack up an impressive résumé this year. Pearl River claimed a second consecutive Mississippi Association of Community Colleges Conference championship and a No. 2 overall ranking in the successful campaign.
