By CURTIS ROCKWELL/Sports Director

GULFPORT — Under the direction of new head coach Justin Edwards, Gulfport enjoyed quite a bit of success in the annual “Battle at the Beach”.

Now, the Admirals hope that they can carry that solid work into Region 4-7A play which begins Monday night.

Gulfport won four straight games at home at Herbert Wilson Field last week to wrap up its portion of play in the BATB, finishing up with a 1-0 Gulfport win over Briarcrest Christian Thursday night.

The Admirals sit at 8-4 overall as they prepare to host the Warriors in league action a day earlier than the rest of the region.

On Thursday night, GHS junior starting pitcher Taveion Collier finished off what he had started. Collier was dominant as he struck out eight and scattered just four singles in keeping the Saints scoreless in the process. Thomas Stennis came on to record the last two outs and get the save.

The only offense of the game came when Admiral Cooper Crosby recorded and RBI-single in the second stanza.

Prior to that, Gulfport beat Clinton 10-6 on Tuesday and Grenada 4-3 on Monday.

Against the Arrows, the Admirals brought out the big bats and used the long ball in picking up the win as Davis Ormes cracked a three-run home run, while both Crosby and Damion Burch added solo shots in the winning effort.

Tolar Raybourn collected two hits, including a double, and drove in a game-high three RBIS and James Van Slyke had a double as well.

Carter Carriere, one of four GHS pitchers, picked up the win.

In the win over Grenada, the Admirals nipped the Chargers in walk-off fashion as Ormes singled home Van Slyke with the winning run who opened the stanza with a lead off walk.

“I thought it was a very gritty effort against a tough opponent,” Edwards, who guided Vancleave to the Class 5A state title last season, said. “We found ourselves down early and we did a heck of a job staying focused on the job at hand.”

Raybourn was the “Big Man on Campus” for the Admirals Monday night, as he led GHS at the plate with a two run homer as well as an RBI-double that turned that early 2-0 deficit into a 3-2 lead in the bottom of the fifth frame.

But first up, on Saturday, Gulfport followed the solid mound work from Collier to a close 3-1 win over Pascagoula Saturday afternoon.

Collier hurled just over six innings in picking up the win, as he scattered six hits, struck out six and walked four. Stennis came on in the seventh to record the last two outs and earn a save.

Raybourn had half of the six total hits for the Admirals in the winning attack, including a pair of doubles, and he drove in two runs in support of his mound mate Collier.

“He was extremely competitive, we needed a big outing out of him and he provided it,” first-year GHS head coach Justin Edwards said of Collier.

Meanwhile, D’Iberville enters region play coming off of their own win in BATB action after the Warriors slipped past Northeast Jones 4-2 to wrap up play at home on Friday.

Both Carter Naron and Jaylan Johnson had two hits and drove in a run apiece for DHS, while one of Naron’s hits was a triple and one of Johnson’s was a double. Caleb West also drove in a run in the win.

Naron worked just over four frames on the mound to pick up the win as well.

That win snapped a three game losing streak for DHS, after head coach Brett Martin’s crew had dropped its first three games in the BATB to Biloxi (5-4), Mooreville (7-0) and Oak Forrest Adademy (8-2).

D’Iberille comes into Monday’s game in Gulfport at 5-8 overall.