By CURTIS ROCKWELL/Sports Director

OCEAN SPRINGS — Ocean Springs pulled into sole possession of first place in the Region 4-7A race Tuesday night.

The Greyhounds clipped visiting St. Martin 6-4 in the first game of a three game series to begin week two of league play. The win pushes OSHS, the defending top seed in the region, to a perfect 4-0 in the loop while the Yellow Jackets fall to 1-3 in league play.

“We were able to do enough offensively early,” OSHS second-year head coach Ryne Long said. “I thought we left too many runners on base but they kept us off balance with different arms and we weren’t able string hits together. Every win you can get in this division is a big one and we’re looking forward to the challenge of the rest of the series.”

Ocean Springs trailed briefly at 1-0 in the top of the first after Will Roebuck’s RBI-single in St. Martin’s first at bat, but the Greyhounds responded immediately with three runs in their half of the frame to take a lead they would never relinquish.

Adam Clower’s two-run single was the key delivery for OSHS in its first at bat, and Justin San Miguel also drove in a run on a ground out.

The home team steadily increased its advantage over the next two innings to 5-1 as Jack Jordan smashed a solo home run in the second stanza and Clower led off the third frame with a double and later scored on an error.

After OSHS wrapped up its portion of the scoring in the fifth, St. Martin struck back a bit with three runs in the top of the sixth thanks to a pair of OSHS errors and a passed ball.

Clower, JayVon Williams and Jordan each had two hits apiece to lead OSHS offensively.

Jordan also took the win on the hill, throwing a complete game striking out six and allowing just one earned run despite allowing 11 hits.

“It was a tough win. They are a scrappy, well coached team that doesn’t make many mistakes. ” Long added. “They had a good offensive plan and executed it well, they forced us to make plays and took advantage of our miscues to cut our lead to 2 late in the game. Jack was able to bear down and make some big pitches in the sixth and seventh to get us out of some jams.”

Caleb Lawrence collected a game-high three singles to pace St. Martin at the plate, while Roebuck and Cameron Romero each had two hits apiece also as the Yellow Jackets out-hit OSHS 11-7 in taking the loss.

Jonathan Baughman, one of five St. Martin pitchers, took the loss.

The Greyhounds move to 13-3 overall with the win, and will host SMHS again at 7 Thursday night in game two.

The Yellow Jackets fall to 9-6 overall and will host OSHS in the series finale Friday night.