follow the leaders

The finish line draws near on the state junior college regular season. Pearl River Community College and Jones County Junior College, who have a rather large showdown looming next week, are running neck-and-neck in the MACJC South, while Northeast Mississippi CC has pulled ahead in North. Northeast swept past East Mississippi and Northwest last week to move to 13-5 in the division and 22-13 overall. The Tigers’ Justin Neal, the MACJC player of the week, went 9-for-18 with four homers and 14 RBIs in a monster five-game stretch. Northeast hosts Coahoma for a pair today. Pearl River (30-10), ranked ninth in the last NJCAA Division II poll, got a grand slam and six RBIs all told from Nathan Pugh in a sweep of Mississippi Gulf Coast on Saturday and stands at 13-5 in the South, tied with No. 17 JCJC. The Bobcats (25-11) whipped Copiah-Lincoln twice on Saturday, fueled by homers from Alex Shermer and Jordan Stark. PRCC hosts Hinds today, and JCJC gets Gulf Coast at home. The South leaders meet next Tuesday in Ellisville. The regular season ends next weekend.