Two heavyweight ball clubs battled for the potential lead in Region 6-5A baseball action Friday night as the Pearl River Central Blue Devils managed to escape Moyer Field with a 8-6 victory over the Brookhaven Panthers.

“This was a good game,” said BHS coach Randy Spring. “We could have packed it in early when we got down early, but our guys continued to battle hard to get back into the contest. Overall, I was pleased with their effort. We stuck together as a team and made things happen to give ourselves a chance to win at the end.”

The Panthers (12-8, 5-1) will resume district action Monday as they travel to Natchez to take on the Natchez Bulldogs. Junior varsity action starts at 4:30 p.m., followed by the varsity game at 6:30 p.m.

PRC 8, Brookhaven 6 

The Panthers and Blue Devils enter into Friday’s contest with a lot on the line as both teams provided an exciting ball game for their baseball fans.

Pearl River Central came out strong in the first four innings of action as they managed to capitalize on a few Brookhaven miscues to gather an 8-0 advantage over the Panthers.

In the bottom of the fifth inning, Ole Brook’s offense managed to come alive and answered the Blue Devil’s challenge with a six-run explosion to cut into PRC’s lead at 8-6.

In the bottom of the sixth and seventh innings, Brookhaven threatened on several occasions to capture the lead from Pearl River Central, but fell short at the end.

Chance Putnam was the winning pitcher for the Blue Devils with eight strikeouts and six walks.

Myles Tipton suffered the setback for the Panthers with no strikeouts and four walks.

During the game, Brookhaven and Pearl River Central coaches made several pitcher changes.

Wesley Mitchell, Christian Travis, Caleb Morales, Mason Songy and Chance Putnam were the offensive leaders at the plate for the Blue Devils (12-2, 4-0).

Brett Spring and Michael Lambert powered the Panthers’ offense with a single apiece.

In junior varsity action,  Pearl River Central won 10-3 over Brookhaven.