By Robert Wilson
Brandon’s Jay McQueen caught five touchdown passes against Rankin County rival Pearl as a junior. That’s one short of the Mississippi high school record.
He’s not bad on the baseball diamond either, especially last week for the defending state champion Bulldogs in the MHSAA Class 7A semifinal series.
The senior outfielder-pitcher and South Alabama baseball signee hit .667 (4 of 6 at bats) with 3 doubles, 6 runs scored, 2 runs batted in and 1 stolen base and pitched a one hit complete game with five strikeouts in five innings in two wins over Oak Grove.
For his outstanding performance, McQueen has been named the BSN Sports/Mississippi Scoreboard Metro Jackson Baseball Player of the Week.
McQueen had a double, scored two runs, and stole a base in a 6-3 victory in Game 1 and had 3 hits, 2 doubles, 2 RBIs, scored 4 runs, and threw a 1-hitter with 5 strikeouts in 5 innings in a 13-1 victory in Game 2.
McQueen – a member of the Performance Therapy/Mississippi Scoreboard Preseason Metro Jackson Elite 11 Team – is hitting a team-high .464 with 52 runs, 31 RBIs, 19 doubles, 4 triples, 24 stolen bases in 25 attempts, and has a 2-3 pitching record with a 3.14 earned run average in 42 1/3 innings this season going into this week’s state championship series with Madison Central.
“Jay has been a leader for us this year,” Brandon coach Daniel Best said. “He comes ready to compete every day. Jay always brings energy and is the type of player you want on your team. In his case, it’s a bonus that he’s also really talented. Jay He holds down centerfield defensively for us and has been a big part of our pitching staff this season.”
McQueen hit .351 with 30 runs, 22 runs batted in and stole 18 bases in 19 attempts and helped Brandon to a 25-12 record and the MHSAA Class 7A state championship last season as a junior. He also had a 1-2 record, a 0.76 ERA, 1 save, and 27 strikeouts in 18 1/3 innings.
He was named a first team outfielder on the All-Metro Jackson last season.
A wide receiver, McQueen had 55 catches for 917 yards and seven touchdowns and helped Brandon to a 12-2 record and a MHSAA Class 7A state runner-up this past season.
He hit .394 with a team-high 12 stolen bases and had a .487 on base percentage, second highest on the team, and didn’t make an error all season two years ago as a sophomore. McQueen was one of two sophomores on the PriorityOne Bank/Mississippi Scoreboard Metro Jackson Baseball Team two years ago.
McQueen caught 35 passes for 650 yards and 12 touchdowns as a junior and helped Brandon to a 10-3 record. McQueen played backup quarterback as a sophomore.
McQueen is the son of Ze and Kristi McQueen. Ze is his fourth year as an assistant baseball coach at Brandon. He played football, basketball, and baseball at Carthage High, played baseball at East Central Community College and was drafted by the New York Mets and played five years of minor league baseball. Kristi played basketball at Choctaw Central High. The McQueens have three boys, Jay, Tre, a sophomore football and baseball player at Brandon, and Jadevion, a sixth grader who plays baseball. Tre was Metro Jackson Baseball Player of the Week earlier this season.
Mississippi Scoreboard selects a baseball player from Hinds, Madison, or Rankin counties each week. Coaches can nominate a player by text or call to Robert Wilson at 601.506.2276.
PREVIOUS WINNERS
WEEK ONE: Sawyer Bates, Canton Academy
WEEK TWO: JP Abt, Hartfield Academy
WEEK THREE: Garrett Gardner, MRA
WEEK FOUR: Gavin Parrow, Madison Central
WEEK FIVE: Tre McQueen, Brandon
WEEK SIX: Alex Lambert, MRA
WEEK SEVEN: Stone Crain, Clinton
WEEK EIGHT: Foster Meacham, Jackson Academy
WEEK NINE: Tre Adcox, Brandon
