By Robert Wilson
Pisgah baseball coach Sam Starnes led his team to the state championship series two years ago before running into a talented East Union team, led by Mississippi State signee and pitcher Landon Harmon.
Starnes would love to get a shot at winning a state championship game again this season, and so far, the Dragons have showed they are headed that way with two-game sweeps in the first three rounds of the MHSAA Class 2A state playoffs.
Starnes, in his fifth season as Pisgah’s head coach, has led his team to 11 straight wins, six in the playoffs, and a 27-7 record this season, one short of tying the school record for wins, set in 2022. Pisgah defeated Amite County 16-1 and 15-0, Lake 7-6 and 14-3 and North Forrest 11-3 and 9-0 in the first three rounds of the playoffs. Pisgah now plays Clarkdale in the semifinals. Game 1 is scheduled for Friday at Pisgah, Game 2 Saturday at Clarkdale, and Game 3, if necessary, Tuesday at Pisgah.
It is the third time Starnes has taken Pisgah to the semifinals. He had seven returning starters from last year’s team that lost to Clarkdale in three games in the quarterfinals.
Starnes has a 127-49 record, a 72.2 winning percentage, at Pisgah.
“The biggest reason for our success has been our pitching staff,” Starnes said. “We have a lot of depth on the mound this year, with six guys logging more than 20 innings thus far. Our pitchers really bought in and went to work with our pitching coach, Ben Smith, this offseason. He’s done a great job getting those guys better and more consistent. Our offense has done what we’ve asked, we’re a different hitting team than we’ve been the last two or three years, but we have bought in to a different approach and found ways to score without the large number of extra base hits we’ve had in the past.”
In addition, the players’ dedication and competitive attitude has been important in Pisgah’s success.
“The competitiveness our guys bring within their selves on a daily basis every year is what helps us be successful,” Starnes said. “They give each other a hard time for mistakes and try to outdo one another on anything they can find to compete in. I believe finding the competitive nature in anything and everything is what leads to competing on the field at a higher level. The guys learn to not like to lose at anything if they compete in everything.”
Starnes moved last year’s eight and nine hitters, senior shortstop McCade Bricker and freshman second baseman-outfielder Jackson Carlisle, to the leadoff and second spot respectively to set the table for his offense.
“Those two guys have done a tremendous job getting on ahead of (senior third baseman-pitcher Ian) Holiday, (senior pitcher-first baseman Paxton) Prisock and (junior centerfielder-pitcher Ryder) White, who have been starting for several years now and drive in the majority of our runs,” Starnes said. “In addition to our starting pitchers (Paxton, junior Brody Tanner, and Holiday), (senior) Warner Young, (junior) Payne Henley and (junior) Austin Sanders are top relievers that have been good for us all year.”
Bricker leads the team with a .423 batting average, followed by Carlisle at .373, Priscok at .370 and Holiday at .364. Holiday and White led the team with nine doubles and Prisock with four home runs. Bricker has a team-high 50 runs scored and Prisock has a team-high 52 runs batted in.
Prisock has a 7-1 pitching record, Tanner is 5-0 and Sanders 4-1. Sanders has a 1.41 earned run average, Young 1.69, Henley 1.93 and Prisock 1.94.
