By Robert Wilson
Jackson Academy junior shortstop and Southern Miss commitment Justin Word hadn’t had a hit against Hartfield all season until…
He hit the game-winning hit in the bottom of the seventh inning to give JA a 6-5 victory in Game 2 to even the best of three series at one game each in the semifinals of the MAIS Class 6A playoffs Wednesday night before an estimated 500 at JA’s Raider Park in Northeast Jackson.
On a 2-1 pitch, Word hit a shot up the middle past a drawn in Hartfield infield to score senior second baseman Josh Dockens.
No. 5 seed JA improved to 21-14, tying for the most wins in a season since 2018, and puts the Raiders one win from reaching the state championship series for the first time since 2018. JA hasn’t won a state title since 2011.
No. 1 seed Hartfield dropped to 26-6 and lost to JA for the first time in 11 meetings and since 2022. The Hawks swept this year’s three-game regular season series and Monday’s 6-2 win in Game 1 at Hartfield in Flowood. Hartfield is trying to reach the state championship series for the first time since moving up to 6A four years ago.
Game 3 is scheduled for Thursday at 6 p.m. at Hartfield.
Hartfield was three outs away from sweeping the series Wednesday when it scored three runs in the top of the seventh inning. With two outs, senior first baseman and Meridian Community College signee Graham Jackson – son of former Mississippi State All-American pitcher Jeremy Jackson and grandson of Mississippi’s winningest high school baseball coach Jerry Boatner – hit an RBI single to close the JA gap to 4-3. Then junior right fielder and Jacksonville, Ala., State commitment Henry Abt hit a bloop single in short left center field and Jackson scored on a throwing error to tie the game at 4-4. After an intentional walk to senior left fielder Sam Oakley, junior designated hitter Grayson Vance hit a sharp grounder and reached on a throwing error and Abt scored for a 5-4 Hartfield lead.
But JA – which scored 10 runs in the top of the seventh to eliminate seven-time defending state champion Jackson Prep last week – wasn’t done.
No. 9 hitter – junior first baseman Crew Hassell led off the inning with a single to center field. Then leadoff hitter and senior second baseman Josh Dockins was hit by pitch, putting runners on first and second bringing up dangerous hitter, sophomore outfielder Duece Jenkins to the plate. Jenkins pulled a surprise and bunted, and almost beat the throw to first base and sent runners to second and third with one out. Junior pinch runner John Walt Holloway scored on a wild pitch to tie the game at 5-5, then Word – who had not gotten a hit in 17 plate appearances in his sixth game against Hartfield this season – did his heroics.
“The kids had so much belief and fight in each other,” said first-year JA coach Corey Dickerson, who played outfield in the major leagues for 11 seasons. “They know how hard they’ve worked since August and don’t want to budge. Deuce and Word both bought in and just played the game our way. I looked Word in the eyes and told him how much I believe in him. He got the job done tonight. I’m proud of every kid on this team for their effort every day.”
“My mindset going into the at bat is that I was not going to get out,” said Word, who came into the game with a .364 batting average this season. “Coach Corey looked me in my eyes and said, ‘I believe in you,’ and the rest of the coaches encourage me and said that they knew I was going to get the job gone.”
Both starting pitchers – JA’s Foster Meacham and Hartfield’s Taylor Latham – pitched well for the first five innings. Meacham allowed only one hit and three runs in six innings. Latham allowed only four hits and one earned run in the first five innings before JA scored three runs in the sixth.
“Taylor Latham was great for us on the mound,” Hartfield coach Justin Smith said. “We needed to be better offensively through the middle innings and didn’t do that. Credit to JA for being scrappy at the end to win the game.”
