(Editors Note: This is the third of a four part series on former “Southern Six” prep baseball products that made a name for themselves at the College World Series)

By CURTIS ROCKWELL/Sports Director

With former Pascagoula High product Sean Smith set to play a vital role for West Virginia in the 2026 College World Series that starts on Friday, we took some time to go back and take a look at some past performances by some other players from the Mississippi Gulf Coast in the annual affair.

Up next is a former East Central High standout, Trey Porter.

In the 2013 CWS, Porter lined a two-run go-ahead single in the top of the eighth inning as Mississippi State rallied for a 5-4 victory over Indiana in a winner’s bracket game at TD Ameritrade Park.

The dramatic and decisive blow put the Bulldogs just one more win away from qualifying for the best-of-3 National Championship Series, which they got with a 4-1 decision over Oregon State several days later.

The 2-0 start, thanks in large part to Porter’s climactic blow, was the first for MSU in Omaha in 28 years at that point.

“When I touched first base, I realized the magnitude of it,” Porter told reporters afterwards. “It’s just kind of a thing with this team. We just all come together to get it done when we need to. I just happened to step in the box when the game was on the line, and anybody else could have stepped up on this team. That’s how we are, we never give up and we fight ’til the end.”

Unfortunately, MSU would go on to fall to UCLA in the CWS finals the following week.

Porter, who spend most of his time as the MSU designated hitter that season, was one of four Bulldogs named to the CWS All-Tournament Team that year.He ended up his career as a two-time SEC Academic Honor Roll recipient. He ·saw time in 107 games, drawing 83 starts Porter went 3 for 4 with two doubles on March 16 against LSU earlier that year.

After a stellar career at ECHS, Porter was named a second-team Division II Juco All-American after he hit .434 for the Bulldogs in 2011 with nine home runs and 28 RBIs. His batting average and homer total were both ranked among the NJCAA’s top 30. He amassed 49 hits in 113 at-bats this season.

The former East Central High School standout was also a 2011 Region 23 All First-Team honoree and a member of the 2011 All MACJC First-Team. In 2010 as a freshman, Porter also smacked nine home runs for the Bulldogs and drove in 36 runs.