Welcome to the MHSAA 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: WEEKS 1 & 2

 

POWER 25 

+ No. 1 LEWISBURG PATRIOTS

The Patriots continue to hold our No. 1 spot and are off to a strong start this spring and have been lead to a (5-0) start by their loaded pitching staff. Through the first five games of the season, the Lewisburg pitching staff has allowed just four runs total. Vanderbilt recruit and '25 LHP Talon Haley leads the staff with 8 IP, 15 K's and a 1.75 ERA. Other key contributors on the mound have been former Future Gamer '24 RHP Matthew Osteen (Louisiana-Lafayette recruit), former Future Gamer & '24 RHP Cayden Baker (Baylor recruit) and recent Super 60 particpant and Ole Miss recruit Stone McCaughey. 

Lewisburg is coming off signature wins against strong competition with their most recent wins being this past Saturday against a Top-5 ranked Thompson Warriors (AL), and 7A No. 4 Germantown Mavericks. The Patriots will face off against the Athens Golden Eagles (AL), who is currently 6A No. 10 in Alabama on Thursday.

DATE	TEAM	SCORE
2/15	Center Hill vs. Lewisburg	7-0
2/15	Center Hill vs. Lewisburg	11-1
2/20	Kirk Academy vs. Lewisburg	5-1
2/23	Lewisburg @ Germantown	3-1
2/24	Thompson (AL) vs. Lewisburg	4-1

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+ No. 4 HERNANDO TIGERS

Hernando is another top 7A squad that has opened up undefeated (5-0) to start the 2024 spring season with signature wins over Petal (14-7) and Northwest Rankin (10-6) this past weekend. Offensive production seems to be no issue for the Tigers as they have scored double digit runs in three of their first five contests. Hallas Lawson (Northwest Mississippi CC recruit), Luke Romine (Ole Miss recruit) and Cade Koczka were main suppliers for the offense and all had multi-hit performances and totaled 5 RBI's in their win against 7A No. 5 Northwest Rankin on Saturday.

The Tigers face off against Russell County (AL) on Thursday as they look to keep the winning streak alive.

DATE	TEAM	SCORE
2/17	Hernando @ Corinth	1-0
2/20	Hernando @ Center Hill	13-0
2/23	Hillcrest (AL) vs. Hernando	6-3
2/24	Hernando @ Petal	14-7
2/24	Hernando @ Northwest Rankin	10-6

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+ No. 8 West Jones Mustangs

In Class 6A, this Mustangs are playing as good as anyone to start the season. Over the first two weeks of the season, the Mustangs are out to a (5-0) start with signature wins over Northeast Jones (3-1) and a pair of wins against Madison-Ridgeland Academy (6-3) and (3-1). Offensively through five games, West Jones has been led by senior Dakota Smith who is hitting for a .389 average, with seven knocks in 20 plate appearances. Former Future Gamer and Pearl River CC recruit Camden Clark is hitting .353 with three doubles, two home runs and three RBI's.

Jaxon Rayborn, Camden Clark and Carter Leggett have tallied 29/35 innings so far this season for the Mustangs on the mound and have put up 49 punchouts in that frame. West Jones has a pair of matchups with South Jones on Tuesday and Friday this week as they look to remain unbeaten.

DATE	TEAM	SCORE
2/12	Stringer vs. West Jones	9-2
2/15	Northeast Jones vs. West Jones	3-1
2/20	West Jones vs. MRA	6-3
2/22	MRA vs. West Jones	3-1
2/24	West Jones @ Stringer	12-4

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+ No. 23 Tupelo Golden Wave

After starting the season as a bubble team for our Power 25 rankings, Tupelo has solidified themselves as a serious threat this spring as they have jumped out to a (4-1) start. Starting off the season (4-0) with their most recent defeat coming from No. 22 Hartfield Academy by a score of 16-6. A plethora of talent across the board, Tupelo is led by Southern Miss recruit South McCoy is who hitting a .421 clip with a home run and three RBI to start his junior season and has also been a go to on the mound as he has logged 7 IP and holding a opponents to a .130 BA. Davis Miller and Dayne Wray (Louisiana Monroe recruit) have also been producers for the Golden Wave at the plate as well in the early going. Miller and Wray both are hitting over .350 in the early parts of the spring and have collected seven RBI's between the two. 

Coming off a big win against No. 3 Jackson Prep, Tupelo has some marquee matchups coming their way with Mooreville, back-to-back games with Clinton, Saltillo, Petal, Germantown, Lewisburg and Amory.

DATE	TEAM	SCORE
2/13	Corinth vs. Tupelo	7-2
2/17	Saltillo vs. Tupelo	8-5
2/20	South Panola vs. Tupelo	5-4
2/23	Tupelo @ Jackson Prep	5-4
2/24	Tupelo @ Hartfield Academy	6-16

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MORE POWER 25 SCORES

TEAM	SCORE
No. 3 Jackson Prep vs. Brookhaven Academy	12-0
No. 3 Jackson Prep vs. Tri-County Academy	8-2
No. 3 Jackson Prep vs. Pisgah	14-10
No. 5 Germantown vs. No. 15 South Jones	9-0
No. 5 Germantown vs. No. 10 Brandon	6-3
No. 7 Northwest Rankin vs. Madison Central	3-1
No. 7 Northwest Rankin vs. Thompson (AL)	10-4
No. 10 Brandon vs. McGill-Toolen (AL)	4-0
No. 10 Brandon vs. UMS-Wright (AL)	13-1
No. 11 West Lauderdale vs. No. 20 Clinton	11-3
No. 13 Sumrall vs. Hillcrest (AL)	4-3
No. 14 Saltillo vs. Amory	5-4
No. 16 Oxford vs. Grenada	8-2
No. 17 Biloxi vs. No. 5 Germantown	11-9
No. 18 Ridgeland vs. North Pike	14-4
No. 19 East Union vs. Pontotoc	15-11
No. 20 Clinton vs. Warren Central	8-6
No. 21 Itawamba vs. Starkville Academy	12-5
No. 24 Desoto Central vs. No. 14 Saltillo	4-3
No. 25 Oak Grove vs. No. 9 Purvis	14-4

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Upcoming Events

SHOWCASE	DATE	LOCATION
North MS/West TN Rising Stars ID	3/30	The Gatorade Fieldhouse (Elevate) - Hernando, MS
South MS Rising Stars ID	4/6	Southern Performance Institute - Madison, MS

 

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