The Hattiesburg Tigers and the Oak Grove Warriors had the luxury of a free pass to the second round. The pass was earned by winning the region, so the two played exhibition games and worked on itself preparing for the 5A and 6A playoffs, respectively.
The Tigers (18-9) didn’t know their opponent until Monday night when Wayne County back-ended its first-round series with Long Beach by winning Games 2 and 3. Now Hattiesburg and Wayne County will play a second-round series beginning Friday. After playing Game 1 in Hattiesburg, Game 2 will be at Wayne County, and if necessary, Game 3 will be back in Hattiesburg on Monday. All game times are set for 7 p.m.
The War Eagles (17-9) lost the first game against Long Beach 4-2, then proceeded to win the next two 3-2 and 10-6 to take the series. Hattiesburg coach Joe Hartfield watched Game 1 and he was impressed with the steps the Wayne County program has taken this season.
“They’re very improved,” Hartfield said. “We saw them early in the year when we hosted them in the jamboree, then I got a chance to see them the other night. They lost the close game, but I was amazed with how much they’ve improved on the mound and their approaches at the plate. It just looked like every individual on the team has improved quite a bit.”
As a pitching staff, three junior pitchers dominate the production. Tanner Johnson, Brenon Sehon and Tanner Wells all have logged at least 42 innings this season, and the next highest pitcher has 12.2 innings. Wells leads the team with a 2.13 earned run average, Sehon has 57 strikeouts and Johnson has the most innings with 51.2 innings.
Senior Dexter Jordan will most likely trot out to the mound for Game 1, which gives Hartfield and Tigers a lot of confidence. Jordan is 4-2 this season with a 1.62 ERA in 39 innings.
“He’s probably the most important player all around on our team, and most of that is because of what he can accomplish on the mound,” Hartfield said. “Dexter is very difficult to beat. We’ve had a chance to win every game Dexter has pitched this year, and just about every game he’s pitched in his high school career.”
Led by Jordan, the Hattiesburg senior class is accustom to deep playoff runs. The class played for a state championship as sophomores in 2016 and made it to the 5A South State series last season.
Seniors Joe Gray, Jay Reedy, A.J. Stinson, Kam Wells and Jordan all pace the Tigers’ offense with batting averages better than .300, which includes Gray’s .493 average. Wells’ ERA sits at a team-high of 1.45, while Reedy (2.10 ERA), Gray (2.78) and Stinson (3.38) all put up good marks on the mound, too.
The Warriors (15-9) are set to face their toughest second-round in recent history. The Pearl Pirates (22-6) travel to Oak Grove for Game 1 on Friday, Game 2 will be in Pearl Saturday, and if necessary, Game 3 will be back at Oak Grove Monday night. First pitch for every game will be 7 p.m.
Pearl swept Ocean Springs 4-1 and 8-0 in the first round to advance to play Oak Grove.
Like football, Pearl baseball is riding the 2018 senior class to success on the diamond. The football team’s quarterback, Jake Smithart is also the ace of the Pirates’ pitching staff with a 6-2 record and a 2.64 ERA in 47.2 innings, and senior Tucker Jones has logged 42 innings with a 6-1 record and a 2.17 ERA.
“That’s a big-time advantage for them,” Oak Grove coach Chris McCardle said. “Senior teams play with a different kind of mentally than guys who haven’t really done it. They know what to do, there’s really not much pressure on them and a lot of those guys played football, so they have the mentally to win. Those guys who play football definitely bring that winning mentality.”
At the plate, seven of Pearl’s top hitters have a batting average of .303 or better. Ole Miss football signee Tylan Knight paces the Pirates’ offense with a .400 average and 29 runs scored, and senior Michael Westerfield adds a team-high 26 RBI with a .387 average.
Contrary to the makeup of Pearl’s roster, Oak Grove is fairly young. Led by two sophomores, Luke Lyon and Turner Swistak, on the mound, the Warriors’ future is bright but they’d still like to make some noise early in their prep career. Lyon has pitched 40.1 innings this season with a 2.26 ERA and Swistak is second with 31.1 innings and a 2.90 ERA.
Both pitchers, and the rest of the pitching staff, have been hampered with below average defense behind them. Of the 107 runs scored on the Warriors, 59 are earned runs.
“They’ve done a good job for us,” McCardle said. “They’ve kept us in game, but our defense has let Luke down a pretty good bit for whatever reason. Luke has thrown the ball well and he’s more comfortable on the mound. Turner is doing exactly what I figured he would do, and he’s gotten better and better.”
