Separated by less than 25 miles, Hattiesburg and South Jones have developed a playoff rivalry over the past couple of seasons. Since Hattiesburg moved to 5A prior to the 2016 season, the two teams have played five playoff games and two series.
When the third-round playoff matchup begins Thursday, it’ll be the third time the Tigers and Braves have met in the postseason, and it’s sure to be another exciting series. Hattiesburg swept a second-round meeting in 2016, then the two played a thrilling three-game series last season.
No. 1 seed Hattiesburg will host second-seeded South Jones Thursday at 7 p.m. for Game 1, then the two will play at South Jones Friday at 7 p.m. for the second game of the series. If necessary, Hattiesburg will host Game 3 at the same time on Saturday.
Hattiesburg coach Joe Hartfield is never thrilled when he sees South Jones across the diamond in the other dugout.
“It’s been a battle every time we’ve played them,” Hartfield said. “We swept them the first year, but both games were really tight. I’ve always say they’re a bad matchup for us. They’re a blue-collar team, they play hard and they’re not scared to get hit by pitches and do the little things to win ball games.
“I don’t like playing these guys, I’ll just be upfront about it.”
South Jones has a 16-10 overall mark and finished in second behind West Jones (25-2) in Region 5-5A, but Hartfield believes the record does not indicate how good of a team the Braves have been.
“They’re a lot like us. Their record is deceiving because they’ve had a difficult time finding opponents,” Hartfield said. “When you had a good team the previous year, sometimes teams don’t want to play you because you have a lot of those guys coming back.”
For the most part, the 2018 Braves have a lot of the same players Hattiesburg played against in last season’s postseason, as the top two hitters and pitchers returned to the team from a year ago. Seniors Ricky Boleware and Max Sharp were back to lead the pitching staff, and senior Bryson Sumrall and Boleware pace the offense with a .387 and .380 batting averages, respectively.
Both Sharp and Boleware pitched against Hattiesburg last season, as Sharp took the Game 1 loss while Boleware earned a win in Game 2. This season, Sharp has a 0.76 earned run average to go along with his 5-2 record, and Boleware is 6-1 on the season with a 4.44 ERA.
Hattiesburg senior pitcher Dexter Jordan has had the Game 1 starting position solidified since he was a sophomore, and senior A.J. Stinson proved last week that Hattiesburg has a tough 1-2 punch. Against Wayne County in Game 2, he struck out 13 of 15 batters at one point of his outing.
“(Stinson) had a heck of a game,” Hartfield said. “You have a chance to win every game with those two guys as long as they continue to do what they’re doing.”
