Porter’s Chapel Academy used an early burst and an outstanding pitching performance by freshman Gage Palmer to earn a needed district victory over Greenville-St. Joseph on Saturday.

Palmer struck out 11 batters and walked only one in 6 2/3 innings for the Eagles (8-12, 5-3 MAIS District 4-2A). He also went 2-for-3 with one RBI and one run scored at the plate.

Palmer drove in the tying run with a single in the bottom of the first inning, and John Wyatt Massey followed with a two-run home run to put the Eagles ahead 3-1.

Taylor Osborne drove in another run in the second inning with a sacrifice fly to make it 4-1.
Greenville-St. Joe cut it to 4-2 in the sixth on an RBI single by Kaleb Locket, but Palmer escaped the jam with a strikeout.

In the seventh, Palmer gave up a two-out hit that ended his day, and Chase Hearn got the final out to earn a save.

PCA snapped a three-game losing streak.