Around the Horn: Week 4
March 12, 2024
Welcome to the Around the Horn blog, where our Prep Baseball Mississippi staff will provide readers with scores, game recaps, and highlights from the games that took place throughout the week. In conjunction with our comprehensive in-game coverage throughout the 2024 season, we’ll publish this Around the Horn to keep readers informed on the latest happenings across the state.
We obtain most of our scores by following teams on GameChanger, as well as through MaxPreps and Twitter. Follow us on Twitter at @PBR_Mississippi to keep up with our season-long coverage, as it’s the place where we publish our MHSAA news and notes, from the Around the Horn to the Scout Blog, Player of the Week stories, as well as Power 25 updates.
AROUND THE HORN: WEEK 4 (March 4-10)
POWER 25
+ No. 5 West Jones Mustangs
The Mustangs swept their first district matchup of the season from a solid Hattiesburg High team that was previously 8-0, and jump to #5 in the new Power 25. Head Coach Trey Sutton has several quality arms and power in the middle of the lineup which always give you a chance to compete. Add a quality defense, typical of a Sutton coached team, and you have the makings of a team that can go deep into the playoffs. Senior Camden Clark is a two way threat the Mustangs will rely on as the season moves on. The Pearl River CC recruit can swing it but his pitching has been dominant early, going 2-1 with a 1.29 ERA and a whopping 52 strikeouts in just 21 ⅔ innings! He's getting help from a couple of Copiah Lincoln CC recruits in Jaxon Rayborn (3-0 0.37) and Carson Leggett (1-0 2.92). West Jones will face rival Northeast Jones in a non district game on Thursday, March 14th as they look to continue their hot start.
DATE | TEAM | SCORE |
3/5 | West Jones vs. Hattiesburg | 6-4 |
3/7 | West Jones vs. Hattiesburg | 7-4 |
3/9 | West Jones vs. Hattiesburg | 4-1 |
+ No. 9 Sumrall Bobcats
After an impressive week that saw the Bobcats knock off Oak Grove and Purvis in consecutive days, they jump to #9 in the latest Power 25. Uncommitted 2025 3B Landon Hawkins and Senior OF/C Cade Clinton, a Holmes CC recruit have been on fire lately and are both hitting over .400, with Hawkins connecting on 3 home runs and driving in 17 runs, Pitching has been solid as well, led by Ole Miss recruit Leo Odom who along with his 92 mph fastball and wicked slider has started off 3-0 with a 1.81 ERA and 35 strikeouts in 19 innings of work. Drew Davis (3-1 1.81), Jack Miller (2-0 0.51), and Cadyn Williamson (1-0 1.97) have also been major contributors on the mound. Sumrall heads to the beach this week for a big test as they take on Jackson Prep, Oxford, and Northwest Rankin all this week.
DATE | TEAM | SCORE |
3/7 | Sumrall vs. Oak Forest Academy | 5-3 |
3/7 | Sumrall vs. Oak Forest Academy | 4-6 |
3/9 | Sumrall vs. Oak Grove | 11-4 |
3/9 | Sumrall vs. Purvis | 18-5 |
+ No. 23 Madison-Ridgeland Academy
The Patriots make their return to the Power 25 as Coach Allen Pavatte has his guys playing very well over the past week including a 3-1 win over a very strong Hernando team. Starting pitching received a boost as Meridian CC recruit Ryan Carpenter has emerged recently after a couple of years of dealing with arm issues, and has been making up for lost time. Carpenter was our Pitcher of the Week last week after turning in a big start that saw him throw a 7 inning no hitter with 13 strikeouts. He, along with Jones College recruit Drew Lambert give the Patriots a solid one-two punch on the mound. The lineup has some punch too with just about every member of the Patriot team helping with production, though senior Nicholas Arnold has driven in the most runs with 9. MRA will face off with Vancleave tonight as they look to keep trending up!
DATE | TEAM | SCORE |
3/9 | MRA vs. Desoto Central | 9-8 |
3/9 | MRA vs. Hernando | 3-1 |
OTHER TEAMS TRENDING UP
+ 3A No. 1 Kossuth Aggies
Jumping out to an impressive (10-0) start and pleading their case for Power 25 spot, the Kossuth Aggies are having success both on the mound and at the plate this spring. A trio of arms for the Aggies have been vital to their early hot start. Uncommitted '26 RHP/3B Ayden Wilbanks has logged 19 innings and is a perfect (3-0) on the mound and has picked up 29 K’s in that span, all while holding opponents to a .102 batting average. Auburn recruit Hank Eaton has been another top guy on the mound for the Aggies as he has cashed in 17 innings and picked up another 28 K’s, all while holding opposing hitting to a .069 average. Another arm for Kossuth that has had early success this spring is Itawamba CC recruit Hunter Hutchens, as he has picked up 10 K’s in 15 innings of work as well. At the plate, the Aggies have relied on '28 C Ethan Killough, Ayden Wilbanks and Hank Eaton who are all hitting north of .485 this spring and have accumulated a combined total of 37 RBI’s so far this spring. Holmes CC recruit Logan Williams is another name to mention on the offensive end as he is .452 this spring with a dozen RBI’s. The Aggies face off with Hamilton and Adamsville in Week 5.
DATE | TEAM | SCORE |
3/5 | Kossuth vs. Belmont | 7-2 |
3/8 | Kossuth vs. Belmont | 7-0 |
3/9 | Kossuth vs. Ripley | 9-1 |
+ 2A No. 1 East Union Urchins
The Urchins continue to hold the No. 1 spot in Class 2A and currently sit at No. 20 in the Mississippi Power 25 Rankings after Week 4. Coming into this week at (6-2), East Union has a busy week ahead as they play a pair of games with Ingomar, one with East Webster, Hernando and Saltillo. East Union continues to do things well on both sides of the ball as they are putting up big numbers on the offensive side of things as they have scored a total of 78 runs in just 8 games so far this spring season. On the mound, they are led by Mississippi State recruit & ‘25 RHP Landon Harmon who was also a Future Gamer back in the summer of 2022 and uncommitted ‘25 C Drew Hollimon who was Future Gamer this past summer as well.
DATE | TEAM | SCORE |
3/4 | East Union vs. Hatley | 11-1 |
3/7 | East Union vs. Hatley | 18-6 |
+ 1A No. 2 Biggersville Lions
In class 1A, Biggersville is playing as well as anyone right now. Jumping out to a (5-1) record overall and holding the No. 2 spot in our 1A Class Rankings, the Lions have been strong on the offensive end of things as they have tallied 70 total runs in just six games with wins over Myrtle, Walnut, Thrasher and their most recent win coming from Power 25, No. 16 Itawamba AHS, with their sole loss coming from New Albany in a one run contest. At the plate, Biggersville has been led by Itawamba CC recruit Tre Gunn who is hitting a .750 clip this spring with 13 RBI’s to go along with it. They have also relied on the production from Logan Ellsworth, NEMCC recruit Luke Overstreet and Drew Rowsey who are all hitting over .600 for the Lions as well. Look for the Lions to continue to swing the bats well and allow their offense to be a key factor for them going into Week 5.
DATE | TEAM | SCORE |
3/4 | Biggersville vs. Thrasher | 20-0 |
3/7 | Biggersville vs. Thrasher | 13-3 |
3/9 | Biggersville vs. Itawamba AHS | 6-2 |
MORE POWER 25 SCORES
TEAM | SCORE |
No. 1 Lewisburg vs. Grenada | 7-3 |
No. 2 Jackson Prep vs. Adams County Chrisitan | 16-0 |
No. 2 Jackson Prep vs. Riverfield Academy | 12-0 |
No. 3 Germantown vs. Madison Central | 1-0 |
No. 8 West Lauderdale vs. Leake Central | 16-0 & 12-0 |
No. 11 Tupelo vs. Clinton | 5-3 & 11-4 |
No. 12 East Central vs. Harrison Central | 17-6 |
No. 13 Oxford vs. Northwest Rankin | 2-0 |
No. 13 Oxford vs. South Panola | 6-5 |
No. 16 Itawamba vs. Tishomingo County | 5-0 |
No. 17 Purvis vs. Columbia | 13-5 |
No. 18 Biloxi vs. Long Beach | 4-1 |
No. 18 Biloxi vs. D'Iberville | 6-3 |
No. 19 South Jones vs. Natchez | 12-0 & 12-0 |
No. 20 East Union vs. Ingomar | 11-1 & 15-3 |
No. 21 Madison Central vs. No. 3 Germantown | 3-1 |
No. 24 Brandon Bulldogs vs. Ridgeland | 8-2 |
No. 25 Neshoba Central vs. Choctaw Central | 12-0 |
MORE MHSAA SCORES
TEAM | SCORE |
Picayune vs. Poplarville | 10-3 & 15-0 |
South Panola vs. Desoto Central | 14-7 |
Ridgeland vs. Petal | 4-0 |
Vancleave vs. Pascagoula | 2-1 |
Pascagoula vs. Vancleave | 8-7 |
Corinth vs. Lafayette | 1-0 |
Florence vs. North Pike | 5-0 & 4-1 |
Caledonia vs. Louisville | 5-2 & 11-0 |
Mooreville vs. Nettleton | 17-4 |
Pontotoc vs. Mooreville | 7-4 |
Pearl River Central vs. Ridgeland | 4-1 |
New Hope vs. East Webster | 5-4 |
East Webster vs. Starkville | 12-3 |
Southeast Lauderdale vs. Scott Central | 11-1 |
Brookhaven vs. Mize | 10-1 |
Mize vs. Stringer | 7-6 |
Sebastopol vs. J.Z. George | 18-0 & 16-0 |
Resurrection Catholic vs. Tupelo Christian | 10-2 |
Vardaman vs. West Union | 1-0 |
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