By CURTIS ROCKWELL/Sports Director

Prep baseball fans on the Mississippi Gulf Coast got a chance to see one of the most decorated high school baseball players ever to come from the state of Mississippi up close and personal quite a few times over the past few years.
Jackson Prep All-American standout Konnor Griffin was recently named Baseball America’s 2024 High School National Player Of The Year. Griffin led the Patriots to their seventh consecutive Mississippi Association of Independent Schools Class 6A state championship this past season, hitting an inexplicable .559 with nine home runs, 66 hits and 39 RBIs and he set school records with 85 stolen bases and 47 walks.
Griffin and Jackson Prep played eight games over the past two years on the Mississippi Gulf Coast as part of the prestigious “Battle at the Beach” hosted by Biloxi High and played at various sites from Ocean Springs to Gulfport.
The 6-foot-4, 215-pound Griffin maintained his status as the top prep prospect for the upcoming 2024 Major League Baseball Amateur Draft. In addition to being named Baseball America Prep Player of the Year, he also was chosen as the Gatorade Mississippi Baseball Player of the Year for the 2024 season.

“Konnor Griffin is everything you would expect out of the top high school player in the nation,” Ryne Long, head coach at Ocean Springs, said in a news release. “As far as skill goes, there’s no question that he stands above the rest. The most impressive thing to me was how he carried himself as a leader and competitor.
“He was constantly communicating with his teammates and giving words of encouragement. With the kind of pressure and spotlight that’s on him at all times, he always carried himself like a professional and with class.”
Long’s Greyhounds slipped by Griffin and his Patriots 3-0 in BATB action this past season. It marked the only loss in four games for the Patriots in the 2024 BATB and they went 2-2 in 2023 with a loss to George County in St. Martin also.
Griffin served as Jackson Prep’s starting shortstop and he also served as the ace of the pitching staff. He went 10-0 with a 0.72 ERA, striking out 107 and walking 26 in 67.2 innings.
The Patriots had as many as 15 to 20 pro and collegiate scouts attending most games. When Jackson Prep played Sumrall on a Wednesday afternoon at Biloxi High School to wrap up its portion of play in the Battle at the Beach this past season, as many as 25 different scouts were in attendance.

This year’s draft will determine if Griffin, who is committed to LSU, will will head to Baton Rouge or be an early first-round pick. MLB.com has Griffin listed as the number 10 overall draft prospect heading into next month’s draft, which will occur on July 14-16.
Griffin joins recent Gatorade Mississippi Boys Basketball Players of the Year Cooper Pratt (2023, Magnolia Heights School), Dakota Jordan (2022, Jackson Academy), Braden Montgomery (2021, Madison Central High School) and Blaze Jordan (2020, DeSoto Central High School).
Griffin becomes the first baseball player to be chosen from Jackson Prep.