By CURTIS ROCKWELL/Sports Director

PEARL — The only other time in program history that the George County High School baseball team won a state championship, current Rebel head coach Brand Davis was a baby faced standout senior catcher on that title-winning team.

And on early Friday evening, Davis was able to celebrate the second-ever state crown for George County along with his son Ben, who is the starting second baseman for the Rebels.

George County slipped past Warren Central 3-2 here at Trustmark Park to complete a two-game sweep of the Vikings in the Class 6A state championship series. It marked the first state title for the Rebels in 27 years, since 1997.

“It’s a great feeling to finally win it again” the elder Davis said, amidst a jubilant on-field celebration by his squad. “And it’s kinda surreal, that Ben is on this team after I played on the last state championship team here at George County. It really hasn’t sunk it just yet.”

The latest win ended the Rebels’ season at 30-5 overall, the best record in the history of the program. It also marked the 400th win as a head coach in 20 years for Brandon Davis, as he warps up his 13th season at the helm of his alma mater.

And the younger Davis was one of the top performers for the Rebels all season long, although he struggled a bit offensively in the title series which included another 3-2 win by George County in game one on Wednesday.

The junior second baseman came up with two of the biggest hits of the regular season down the stretch for the Rebels on back-to-back nights, as he smacked a solo home run on both Thursday and Friday at key moments in wins over Hancock in a crucial Region 4-6A series.

The timely round-trippers were each a big boost as George County came from behind to capture each contest and secure its first region title in eight years en route to that elusive second state crown.

“I’m very proud of him and what he has accomplished so far. He handles the player-daddy thing as well as a 17-year-old kid can in his situation,” the elder Davis, who is also an ordained minister and has pastored the Vernal Full Gospel Church for the past 13 years, said. “He is also a preacher’s kid so he gets a double whammy on those fronts. He is not perfect but he works hard, he makes mistakes and it’s hard to be his daddy and coach too but we have a great team, community and coaching staff and that helps the situation greatly.”

The younger Davis worked his way into the starting line-up for the Rebels last season as a sophomore and quickly established himself as a steady force on what has been one of the most tradition-rich programs in South Mississippi as he led GCHS in hitting with a .398 batting average and on-base percentage.

This season, the younger Davis continued his steady work hitting .362 at the plate with a team-high 22 RBIs to end the regular season. 

He and his Rebel teammates worked together to finally bring a state title back to Lucedale after George County had fallen in the state title round three times in the past eight seasons before all that changed over the past four days.

“If you got guys that are really buying into what we are wanting and trying to do with bunting and playing defense, something good is going to happen,” coach Brandon Davis. “There was something about this group that they were going to get it done. These guys stepped up to the occasion.”

The Rebels will say goodbye to five seniors, but the younger Davis, along with his classmates Canyon Reeves, Blaine Green, Tripp Lightsey and Peyton McAdory all return after making significant contributions in starting roles this season as well as sophomores Cayler Havard, Carson Pierce and Brayden Havard.

Reeves was named the Most Valuable Player of the championship series.

In addition to Ben Davis, one other current Rebels player had a father who played for the 1997 state champions as well. Sophomore Peyton Havard can now share that experience with his father Darrell Havard, who was a sophomore also 27 years ago.