By CURTIS ROCKWELL/Sports Director

BILOXI — The 10th annual “Battle at the Beach” prep baseball event got started Thursday afternoon here at The Biloxi Sports Complex.

And, for the fourth year in a row, Pass Christian was the first “Southern Six” squad up to bat in the prestigious affair.

The Pirates dropped a 7-0 decision to McGill-Toolen High out of Mobile, Ala. Pass Christian fell to 3-7 with the loss, and the Yellow Jackets from lower Alabama moved to 7-2 with the win.

A pair of McGill pitchers teamed up on a 3-hit shutout with seven strikeouts to register the outcome. Tripp Crawford worked just over five frames to earn the win.

Joseph Huff had three hits, including two doubles, and drove in a trio of runs to lead the Yellow Jackets at the plate.

David Callecod had a pair of hits for the Pirates.

Kayleb Munsch started on the hill for PCHS and took the loss after working into the fifth stanza.

Starting Friday, the nine day event moves to the big leagues, if you will, as Keesler Federal Park hosts two games and there is also a nother day of play at BHS.

Eventually, starting on Monday, the BATB will expand out to nine different venues on some days, making it one of the largest such events in the Gulf South region.

““We have grown from 32 teams in year one to nine years later we are staying steady at 70-plus teams each year.” said Biloxi High Athletics Director Eddie Lofton, the primary original organizer of the event. “We’ve got 151 games. “It’s just good baseball. We get people from all over Mississippi, but also surrounding states, and it just makes for a great week of baseball.”

Lofton was the Indians head coach back when the event first started.

“It’s the love of the game,” he added. “These kids, they’re all so passionate about playing, and high school baseball is such a fun thing. They come down here, and they get a chance, you know, some of these kids don’t get to travel, so it’s a big deal.”

Action Friday at the home of the Biloxi Shuckers begins with Hancock meeting Etowah, Ala., at 5 p.m. followed by the annual “Tomahawk Cup” match-up between neighboring rivals Biloxi and D’Iberville.

“Once again, we are happy to announce that we have teamed up with Keesler Federal and the Shuckers for another year of the Battle At The Beach Tournament,” Lofton concluded. “It is such a great venue for local teams and visiting teams to be able to play at. I truly believe that the relationship we have developed has been a big factor in the success of this tournament.”  

The full schedule for tournament games at Kessler Federal Park is below:  

• MARCH 6: Hancock vs. Etowah – 5:00 p.m. 
• MARCH 6: Biloxi vs. D’Iberville – 7:30 p.m.
• MARCH 12: George County vs. Hernando – 5:00 p.m.
• MARCH 12: St. Martin vs. Petal – 7:30 p.m.
• MARCH 13: West Harrison vs. Picayune – 5:00 p.m.
• MARCH 13: Harrison Central vs. Fort Payne – 7:30 p.m.