By CURTIS ROCKWELL/Sports Director

VANCLEAVE — As many observers in the “Southern Six” prep baseball circles have watched as Vancleave has moved into the Class 5A state championship round this season, one question arose.

“What happened to Hunter Harper’s hair…”

Harper, a versatile junior standout, locked up a spot as a starter as a sophomore last season when he burst upon the scene with a flowing mane of curly red hair that was quite noticeable coming out of his blue cap emblazoned with the white “V”. 

Then again, as he returned for his junior campaign, Harper carried that same coiffure as he hopped up on the pitching mound or manned first base for the Bulldogs.

But at some point after an early season two game battle with Pascagoula, much like Sampson Harper had lost his locks.

But turns out, unlike the biblical legend there wasn’t any loss of strength or midnight shenanigans in Harper’s case.

“Yeah he trimmed everything up and has a bleached fohawk,” sixth year Bulldog head coach Justin Edwards chuckled, on Thursday after practice. “It was kind of a team-wide thing. Along with mine, I think pretty much the whole team and coaching staff will have it by the end of the week.”

The change in appearance didn’t stop Harper from becoming Vancleave’s number one starter on a team that at one point won 16 straight games and wrestled the Region 4-5A title away from two-time and back-to-back defending state champion and arch-rival East Central.

The Bulldogs stand an impressive 27-7 overall and have on 20-out-of-21 games as they prepare to face Lafayette in the Class 5A state championship best-of-three series next week at Trustmark Park in Pearl.

Game one is set for 7 p.m., Wednesday night between the Bulldogs and Commodores in the home of the Class AA Mississippi Braves.

Harper is expected to play a key role if Vancleave is to win its second state title in school history and second in seven seasons after taking home the Class 4A crown in 2018.

“He’s very quiet and keeps to himself, just marches by the best of his own drum.” Edwards added about the southpaw. “He’s meant a lot to our program. He’s an awesome kid and comes from a great family.”

Game two will take place Friday night at the same time and the third and final game if necessary would be contested on Saturday.