Good players make plays when a situation presents itself, but great players have an extra gear. That’s the best way to explain the PineBeltSPORTS Players of the Year, Hattiesburg seniors Joe Gray and Dexter Jordan.
Although it seemed like the entire Hattiesburg team elevated themselves down the stretch of the regular season and into the postseason en route to a state championship, Gray and Jordan were the difference makers to propel the Tigers to their first title since 2006.
“Job well done,” Gray said. “That’s all I can say other than the fact that it’s something we’ve been chasing since the first day we stepped on this campus and the first game we played under coach (Joe) Hatfield, so I feel like it’s a good thing to finally got the job done.”
Jordan, the ace of the pitching staff as well as the team’s second-leading hitter, accomplished a feat not too many pitchers can claim in the 5A State Championship series. He closed out the 9-5 Game 1 win over Lewisburg then pitched five innings in Game 2 on the way to an 11-1, run-rule shortened game to sweep the series. He did all of that while dealing with arm soreness.
“It was crunch time,” Jordan said. “Either win or go home. Even though I had arm soreness, I asked myself, ‘Dex, do you really want a state championship?’ Joe told me, he came to me and he was like, ‘Just get the job done. Just do it,’ and that’s what I did. Whatever I had to do, I did.”
Jordan capped off his career by turning in a 7-3, 1.46 ERA season in 62.1 innings. He struck out 61 batters, walked 22 and allowed just 13 earned runs. At the plate, he was one of three Hattiesburg batters to hit better than .400, finishing the season with a .411 average, two home runs, nine doubles, five triples, a team-high 50 RBI and 30 runs scored. Keep in mind, he didn’t run the bases when he pitched either.
“It can be and it can’t,” Jordan said of the difficulties of being a dual player. “You just have to lock yourself in. It depends on how you start yourself off. To be honest, sometimes when I start off pitching first then go hit, it’s kind of a hard deal. The way Joe and I commutate, we’re offensive guys. What we love to do is hit, and for us to go up there and hit first then pitch is a different toll. If we can get a hit, then it’ll give us the confidence to get on the mound.”
Gray hit a blistering .491 from the plate, which included a 15-for-27, seven-RBI performance in the nine playoff games. Gray led the team with 16 doubles, six home runs and 60 runs, and he was third on the team with 36 RBI.
“I had to get on base and I had to work with what was given,” Gray said of his playoff numbers. “Man, they were just leaving the ball up. Against Wayne County, I was pressing myself the first two games and I was like, ‘What is wrong with me?’ I was just letting them elevate the ball and I wasn’t going to let anybody beat me with a fastball.”
Now the two will look ahead to the MLB Draft in June. The two will either be playing minor league baseball this summer or getting ready to join a Division I program in the fall.
After Hattiesburg won the state championship, graduation day was the following day. Just two days later, Gray and Jordan were having MLB workouts. The two joked they had one day to grow up fast.
“I think it’s more of a toll mentally,” Gray said. “Obviously, we’d love to go play colligate baseball, but we’d obviously love to go start our professional careers. I think that’s where the mental aspect comes in. Are we ready for that?”
Gray has been a high-draft prospect for a while now, but Jordan has seen his stock rise in the last year, too.
“I’m like Joe,” Jordan said. “Lafayette is a great program, but being from Mississippi, it’s a big opportunity for us. I don’t know the last time two guys got drafted or went through that deal with each other. Me and him, coming up together, going through elementary together and being across the street from each other, for us to get drafted together and get a chance to play at that level is a really big deal.”
The two have been through a lot together, and there’s no doubt they’ve leaned on each other throughout their baseball careers, but Joe Gray and Dexter Jordan are primed for success whether that’s in college or professional baseball.
And it all started in Hattiesburg.
