By CURTIS ROCKWELL/Sports Director

A pair of Jackson County prep baseball teams will host the first game of South State semifinal round play Friday night.

And both of those squads will rely on two of the top starting pitchers in South Mississippi in game one of their respective series to get off to a successful start in the match-up.

Jack Jordan of Ocean Springs and Hunter Harper of Vancleave are each expected to climb on the mound tonight in game one of a best-of-three series just as they have done all year. The Greyhounds host Brandon in the Class 7A South State semifinals while the Bulldogs host South Jones in the Class 5A South State semifinals.

In Vancleave, Harper was a key factor in the march to the Class 5A state championship for the Bulldogs as a junior but has seemingly found another gear on the mound this season as he stepped into the role of the number one starter for first-year head coach Zac Haarala. Harper is a solid 7-1 this season in 11 appearances and has been a workhorse on the Hill for Haarala as he has logged 49 innings in 11 appearances including 10 starts with 46 strikeouts for the southpaw and a sparkling 1.69 earned run average with three complete games.

“He’s been dynamite (this season) and he’s been that way his whole high school career,” Haarala, a VHS alum who was an assistant coach last season when his Bulldogs took the title. “He’s going to go out and fill the zone up, throw three pitches for strikes, and get guys out. Every time he’s on the mound we know he’s gonna give us a start that gives us a chance to win the game.”

Harper is also a a force to be reckoned with with the bat as well, as he leads VHS in RBIs with 37 runs batted in while hitting .385 with five doubles, two triples and three home runs making him the essence of an effective dual role standout whether he is pitching or playing first base.

Meanwhile, right about the same time as Harper takes the mound Friday at home for the Bulldogs about 14 miles away in Ocean Springs Jordan will be doing the same for the Greyhounds.

Jordan is in his second season as the top starting pitcher for second-year OSHS head coach Ryne Long. Jordan has continued his impressive worksheet as a junior last year into his senior season and has the Greyhounds back into the Class 7A South State semifinals for the second straight season.

Jordan also has elevated his game on the hill as he is a sparkling 9-1 overall in 11 appearances with a minuscule 1.11 earned run average. He has 55 strikeouts in just over 62 frames of work with just nine walks and he has allowed just one home run all season. He also has hurled an impressive eight complete games and has won seven straight starts.

“As a coach, it’s extremely comforting knowing that every time you send him out to the mound you’ll have a great chance to win,” Long said. “He’s a complete player, and an outstanding leader. And he has a very high baseball IQ which is a key for him as well.”

Jordan also is a huge factor offensively when he’s pitching and in his role as an infielder as he carries a .376 batting average with 25 RBIs, seven doubles and three home runs.

Also, Jordan is carrying on an almost three decade family tradition of success on the pitcher’s mound in Jackson County. He is following in the footsteps of his father, John Jordan, who was a standout on some powerful Pascagoula High teams under legendary head coach Johnny Olsen in the mid-1990s.

The elder Jordan was one of the more effective pitchers in the state for a two year span as a junior and senior and combined with classmate Blair Varnes to give the Panthers one of the best one-two pitching punches in the Gulf South region in 1996 when Pascagoula captured the Class AA state championship.