By Robert Wilson
FLOWOOD – Jackson Prep will not win its eighth consecutive MAIS Class 6A state baseball championship or its record 24th state title this season.
A Jackson Academy seventh-inning rally took care of that.
JA scored 10 runs in the top of the seventh – highlighted by two home runs and five runs batted in by senior pitcher-outfielder Foster Meacham – for a 15-7, come-from-behind victory over Prep in the third and deciding game in the first round of the 6A state playoffs before an estimated 600 at Prep’s Patriot Field.
No. 5 seed JA improved to 20-14 and defeated Prep for the first time in the playoffs since 2011 when the Raiders last won a state championship. It is only JA’s second 20-win season since 2018. JA meets No. 1 seed Hartfield Academy next week in the best of three series in the semifinals. Hartfield swept JA in three games (6-2, 5-1 and 5-1) during the regular season this year. It is the first time JA has won a playoff series since beating Presbyterian Christian School in the first round in 2022.
No. 4 seed Prep – which started out the season nationally ranked (as high as No. 20 by Perfect Game) – finished 20-15, one of the worst records in school history. The Patriots returned five starters, but two of their top players – senior pitcher-third baseman and Arizona State signee Tre Bryant and junior pitcher-shortstop and Florida commitment Kevin Roberts – were slowed by surgery (Bryant from football) and injury (Roberts from basketball) and also were hurt by the graduation of National Player of the Year and Major League first round draft pick Konnor Griffin.
Despite that adversity, Prep was three outs from advancing to the semifinals.
Senior outfielder and Meridian Community College signee Cole Gideon hit a grand slam home run in the bottom of the sixth inning to give Prep a 7-5 lead.
But JA – which was playing without first-year head coach Corey Dickerson (suspended for one game after being ejected for an MAIS rule when two players are ejected in the game) – didn’t quit.
JA scored its 10 runs off of four Prep pitchers.
Junior shortstop and Southern Miss commitment Justin Word led off the inning getting hit by pitch. Meacham followed with a two-run home run to tie the game at 7-7. Senior catcher Tripp Mosal singled, junior first baseman Matthew Werne was hit by pitch, freshman third baseman-pitcher Jed Rodden hit a RBI double for a 8-7 lead, junior first baseman Crew Hassell hit into a fielder’s choice to score sophomore pinch runner Coleman Edmonson, leadoff hitter and senior second baseman Josh Dockins hit a bases clearing triple and scored on an error to push the lead to 12-7, sophomore right fielder Deuce Jenkins walked, Word was hit by pitch and Meacham hit his second home run, a three RBI shot, for a 15-7 cushion.
Rodden, who was the winning pitcher in relief and improved to 4-2, didn’t allow a hit or a run in the bottom of the seventh to clinch the historic victory.
“There aren’t many words to describe the game last night,” said Dickerson, the Brookhaven Academy and Meridian CC alumnus who played 11 years as a major league outfielder and is in his first head coaching job after retirement. “The faith those kids had was of a culture changing group. I’m very proud to see them believe in themselves when facing so much adversity. Foster hasn’t pitched in weeks and literally willed himself through that game. The team rallied behind him and was determined to get the job done.”
Because of a shoulder injury, Meacham hadn’t pitched since the first game of the Madison-Ridgeland Academy series April 8, but it didn’t show Thursday night. He pitched 5 2/3 innings and allowed only one earned run before giving up Gideon’s home run in the sixth inning.
“I knew if I just got through the first five innings, our bullpen would do the work,” Meacham said. “Jed came in and did his thing. He’s been coming in in tough spots all year and he’s done just what he has had to. The last inning was something I’ll never forget. I knew we have been in positions like that before so we weren’t going to give up. I got down to two strikes in the count and just choked up and stayed simple. The next at bat was the exact same thing. That whole last inning our team just stayed short and we did what coach Corey has been telling us all year.”
Prep coach Brent Heavener will not win a state championship for the first time in his outstanding nine-year head coaching career at Prep.
“Cole comes up with the big hit and we just couldn’t put it away,” said Heavener on Russ Robinson’s post-game interview on Jacksonprep.live. “We couldn’t it and it’s just part of baseball. In that last inning, you’ve just got to find a way to get those outs and we couldn’t do it. You’ve got to tip your hat to the way they battled. They could have quit right there and they didn’t. You’ve got to throw strikes to good teams like that. They swing it really well.”
Heavener is proud of this senior class.
“At the end of the day, my biggest thing and my message out there is I’m so proud of my seniors and what they’ve done for this program,” Heavener said. “It’s not as easy way to go out. They weren’t ready to be done, but it’s just baseball. They have won two state championships, 80 something games. I’m so proud of them. It’s just one of those things. It’s been a long time since I had to give that speech. It’s not ever fun. Just got to go back to work. One thing I can always say about this group of seniors, they always did it the right way. These memories last a lifetime. That’s why we coach. The kids and what they mean to us. It’s no fun to lose but over the next couple of days they will realize it was fun to play baseball at Prep.”
“We had adversity from the beginning with Tre, Kevin and I not being able to pitch, much less them not being able to play the field,” said Gideon, who finished with a .379 batting average this season. “But our team played through it all and I did my best to lead this team while we were down some of our best players. I hate to lose the streak in my year but I’ll never forget the memories I made here and the teammates I had along the way.
“As far as tonight, I wasn’t going to lay down. I came up in a big situation and just trusted my tools. I got my pitch, and I didn’t miss. It was a memory I’ll never forget. I hate we lost it after that but hats off to Foster and the rest of their team. They swung it well all week.”
Bryant was a big part of the state championship teams over the past two years, starting at third base and playing some shortstop and pitching. He hit over .400 for the past two years. He was injured playing football this past fall and had shoulder surgery and has only been a designated hitter for most of the season. He did start third base for the first time Thursday night.
“Unfortunately we’ve dealt with a lot of injuries that were out of our control,” said Bryant, whose father, Matt, was a long time kicker for the Atlanta Falcons and was an assistant coach on Prep’s baseball team for the past three seasons. “We still competed and tried our best to make it work, despite our best efforts we just couldn’t finish it off this year. I’m glad I moved to Jackson Prep (from Orange Beach three years ago) and was able to compete for our eighth straight championship. Even though the season the didn’t go as planned, I wouldn’t wish for a better team. All glory to God.”
