By Robert Wilson
Oak Grove senior and Mississippi State signee Maddox Miller is one of the best pitchers in Mississippi and is a candidate for the Mississippi Gatorade Player of the Year.
He is practically unhittable and had allowed only 11 hits and had 63 strikeouts in 32 innings before last Tuesday’s game against Brandon.
That’s what makes what Brandon sophomore shortstop Tre McQueen did last week more remarkable.
The 5-foot-10, 175-pound McQueen went 4 for 4, had 3 stolen bases, scored 1 run, and had 1 run batted in as defending MHSAA Class 7A state champion Brandon gave Miller his first loss of the season after seven wins and defeated Oak Grove 7-2 in a 7A, Region 3 game to end a nine-game winning streak by Oak Grove.
For his outstanding performance, McQueen has been named the BSN Sports/Mississippi Scoreboard Metro Jackson Baseball of the Week.
McQueen had three hits against Maddox, who had not allowed any player all season to have more than one hit against him. McQueen had singles in the second, third, and fifth innings and a double in the seventh inning.
“Tre is a player that is going to give you 110 percent every day,” Brandon coach Daniel Best said. “He has a high baseball IQ and is always communicating with the team on what’s going on and where people need to be. There is never a moment where he thinks he won’t succeed; he has that dog mentality. Tre has that same energy off the field as well and keeps everyone laughing. He’s a hard player not to love.”
“Tre was locked in, and it was really hard to get anything by him,” said Oak Grove coach Chris McCardle, whose team is ranked No. 5 in Mississippi by MaxPreps. “I think we had two strikes on him every at bat except the last one. And Tre battled and made solid contact. He did a really good job of battling at the plate.”
McQueen is hitting .295 with 18 runs, 12 RBIs, 4 doubles, 1 home run and 5 stolen bases this season for 15-11 Brandon going into week.
East Central Community College, Meridian CC and Southwest Mississippi CC have offered.
McQueen also plays safety on Brandon’s football team. He had 78 tackles, 3 interceptions, 6 pass breakups and 1 fumble recovery and helped the Bulldogs to a MHSAA Class 7A state runner-up finish. McQueen has Division I football offers from Arkansas State and Tennessee-Martin.
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, Tre, Jay, a senior football and baseball player at Brandon, and Jadevion, a sixth grader who plays baseball. Jay is a Southern Miss baseball signee and plays outfield and pitches for Brandon and was a member of the Performance Therapy/Mississippi Scoreboard Preseason Elite 11 Baseball Team. He caught 55 passes for 917 yards and 7 TDs in football last fall.
Brandon plays at Northwest Rankin Thursday in a region game.
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
