By CURTIS ROCKWELL/Sports Director

OCEAN SPRINGS — Ocean Springs senior standout Justin San Miguel has been selected as the “Basebal Player of the Year” by South Miss 6 Sports this season.

The honor is chosen by the South Miss 6 Sports staff and a panel of area coaches, and is sponsored by David Baria, Attorney/Mediator, of the Baria Law Firm.

San Miguel was the choice of our committee after leading the Greyhounds to a solid 25-5 record and a third straight Region 4-7A title. The middle infielder will continue his playing career at Troy University in the Sun Belt Conference, after he signed with the Trojans earlier this year.

He was one of the most effective offensive weapons in the “Southern Six” this season, anchoring an OSHS attack that average six runs per game throughout the campaign.

Considered one of the top 10 college recruits in the state coming into the season, and the top prospect in the “Southern Six”, he ended his final season with a .393 batting average, which led the team. He also posted 35 hits, 22 runs batted in and 14 doubles this year, and also paced OSHS in all three of those categories. He added one triple and two home runs.

He was also a catalyst on the basepaths for the Greyhounds, swiping 12 bags.

“Justin has made a huge impact on our team and program,” OSHS head coach Ryne Long said. “From day one, he’s been a relentless worker, a great teammate, and the ultimate competitor. He showed up ready to get better every day and understood that as a leader, he had an obligation to make the guys around him better and he sure did that. He’s been as clutch at the plate as any player we’ve had, while being pitched around by everybody we played. He had a two-run double to give us the lead in the sixth in his first game as a greyhound, and that really set the tone for what was to come in his career.”

San Miguel, who transferred over from Resurrection just before his junior season, helped guide the Greyhounds to 49 total wins over the past two seasons including a program record 30 region wins during that span.

“He’s a guy you’d never know if he was zero-for-three or three-for-three on the day,” Long continued. “His attitude never changed, he just kept finding ways to give us a chance to win.”

The 6-foot, 180-pound San Miguel also displayed his effectiveness at shortstop throughout the season as well, starting all 30 games in the field and playing every inning of all 30 games defensively.

“I think one of the things that sets him apart is the fact that he is such a well -rounded player,” Long added. He’s worked hard to turn himself into a top-end defender and then you throw in the stolen bases, the hustle doubles, clutch hits, the numbers speak for themselves. But the most important part about Justin is, and I think our guys will tell you the same thing, is while he put up the numbers and made the plays, his best attributes are as a person and a teammate.”

Bradyn Havard of George County, Blake Gill of Pearl River Central, Ayden Demoran of D’Iberville and Tate Murphy of St. Stanislaus all rounded out the Top 5 in the voting for POY.

One of the deciding factors in the final vote was that San Miguel was the only one of the five finalists that has signed a scholarship with a DI program. Demoran, just a junior, has committed to Southern Miss.

“Even in this day and time of college athletics,” one panel member said. “That has to stand for something.”

“It’s become almost as hard to sign with a DI program these days because of everything going on as it is to get drafted coming out of high school,” another coach said. “It still means something.”

The Baria Law Firm sponsors the “Game Ball of the Week” here for South Miss 6 Sports as well as the season-ending softball, baseball, basketball and football “Players of the Year”.

The Baria Law Firm, the Gulf Coast branch of Cosmich, Simmons and Brown, provides a beacon of trust and reliability in a complex legal landscape. Our firm’s unwavering dedication to you is at the core of everything we do. Choose David Baria of Baria Law as your legal ally, and let us handle the details while you focus on what matters most. Reach out to David at 228-395-8303 or dbaria@barialaw.com and at https://barialaw.com.