There will be a clash of 6A squads in the “Southern Six” in western Jackson County Tuesday night.
And three of those squads in the two separate match-ups have struggled a bit early in the young season, but one certainly has found its way so far.
Unbeaten Biloxi travels to St. Martin and Gulfport heads to Ocean Springs on Tuesday night. Both games are set for a 7 p.m., start.
The Indians are off to a quick 8-0 start under first-year head coach Hawtin Buchanan. The Indians’ opponent Tuesday night, the home-standing Yellow Jackets, stand at 2-5 so far this year.
St. Martin comes into the contest on a three-game losing streak, with the latest loss a 6-0 defeat by West Harrison on Saturday. The day before, the Yellow Jackets fell to Petal 10-4 Friday night. St. Martin started last week off with a 4-3 loss to Stone.
In the loss to Stone, the Tomcats got two hits from Braxton Jones while Anderson Hickman drove in a pair of runs in the winning effort. Gavin Nitcavic had a run-scoring triple for SMHS, while Tristen Junkert also had an RBI. Hunter Parker picked up the win for Stone, while Lake Fincher took the loss.
In the loss to West Harrison over the weekend, Hurricane hurler Justin Seal hurled a complete game, two-hit shutout in the 6-0 win. Donald Davis drove in a pair of runs for WHHS in the win, while Landen Wallace registered an RBI-double. Elijah Carriere, Dezi Curley and freshman Jordan Stapleton each collected two hits apiece for the Hurricanes.
Before the current three-game losing skid started, St. Martin beat Hattiesburg 13-3. The senior Junkert recorded three double and drove in four runs in that victory, while Nitcavic and Fincher also drove in a pair of runs apiece each with two hits apiece. Freshman Cameron Romero also had two hits for SMHS.
In the other crossover game Tuesday night between Region 8-6A and Region 7-5A, the Admirals sail into Ocean Springs with a 5-4 overall record after winning two out of three games in a Perfect Game Tournament in Hoover, Ala., over the weekend. That pair of wins to end play helped Gulfport snap a four-game losing streak.
The Admirals began their Alabama Getaway with a single game at Huntsville Hgh and suffered a 10-0 loss. Gulfport then headed to Hoover and fell to Barrow High from Winder, Ga., 3-2. But the Admirals bounced back to beat Pike County (Ky.) 6-2 and blank Dublin (Ga.) 15-0.
Ocean, Springs, meanwhile, comes into the new week with a 4-5 mark, and the Greyhounds will be at home for the first time in over two weeks.
In a 10-5 win over Madison central recently, junior Maddox Moreland registered four hits, including a home run and a double, and collected a career-high six RBIs in the game. Simon Krupa also added four hits to the winning cause and he drove in a run as well, while Jack Jordan had three hits and an RBI as well. McCarty English had a pair of hits including a double, and Chris Fox added a pair of hits also.
The sophomore Jordan picked up the win in relief of Garrett Frye, as the Greyhounds rallied from a 5-4 deficit to pull out the win with a four-run outburst in the sixth and then tacked on two runs in the seventh.
