By CURTIS ROCKWELL/Sports Director

BILOXI — After dropping its first game in Battle at the Beach action on Monday night, powerful Jackson Prep bounced back in fine fashion with three wins in two different cities in less than 48 hours before leaving town.
The Patriots, winners of six consecutive MidSouth Association of Independent Schools state baseball championships, knocked off Sumrall behind a solid pitching performance from All-American senior standout Konnor Griffin Wednesday afternoon 7-2 here at The Biloxi High School Sports Complex.

Jackson Prep will head back home at 18-2 overall, and as winners of 10 of its past 11 games. Sumrall, also a perennial prep power in the state of Mississippi, suffered just its second loss of the season and stands 12-2 after the decision. Two seasons ago, the Bobcats went 35-1 and won the Class 4A state championship.
Griffin, the 6-foot-4, 210-pound LSU commit who has been tagged as the top high school player in the United States, was dominant on the hill in his latest outing twirling six one-hit shutout stanzas while striking out 12 and walking three.
Griffin, who also plays shortstop when he’s not pitching and bats lead off for the Patriots, is considered by many knowledgeable observers as the best prep baseball player in the nation this season. He is considered a true “five tool” player as at the plate he hits for average and power as well as possessing speed on the base paths and showing solid glove work and play-making ability in the field.

He has stolen 50 bases in just 20 games so far. Despite having committed to LSU last year, Griffin is projected by Baseball America as the top high school player in the country for the 2024 MLB Draft and he could become the highest high school player to be selected from Mississippi ever in the Major League Baseball Draft in history.
He is the most heralded high school prospect ever to play in the ninth annual Battle at the Beach.
He led Jackson Prep to a 31-4 record last year, including that sixth straight title, and a number 19 national ranking by Perfect Game.
In the latest Patriot win, Peyton Puckett had a game-high three hits and also drove in a game-high three runs, while Griffin had two hits including a double and walked twice. Kevin Roberts also dove in a pair of runs with a pair of hits in the winning effort.

After falling to the Greyhounds 3-0 on Monday night in Ocean Springs, Jackson Prep moved over to St. Martin High and beat Second Baptist of Houston, Texas 8-4 and Montgomery Bell Academy of Nashville, Tenn., 10-5.
In the opener, Griffin had two hits including leading the game off with a solo home run, while Reid Vineyard and Matthew McKinley also posted a pair of hits apiece for Prep.
In the nightcap, Griffin also had a pair of hits and drove in a run. Tre Bryant had two hits and two RBIs, while Puckett also drove in a pair of runs and Cole Gideon had two hits also.
George County head coach Brandon Davis and his Rebels are also competing in the BATB this week. Davis knows something about high school baseball and talent, and he knows Konnor Griffin.

“He is one of the best I’ve ever seen,” Davis said of Griffin. George County faced Griffin and JPHS last year in the BATB. “He is a complete baseball player, and he has it all. Size, speed, and all five tools. He has it all.”
This is coming from a man that’s coached in the state championship five times over the past 15 seasons in three different classifications. And that includes leading Richton to a 31-3 mark in 2010 and the Class 2A state title in 2010.
That team was led by High School All-American Jacoby Jones, who went on to start in the outfield at both LSU on the next level as well as for several seasons for the Detroit Tigers.
A path Griffin seems set for as well.