By Robert Wilson
Jackson Prep alumnus and 2024 National Gatorade High School Baseball Player of the Year Konnor Griffin made his official professional debut Friday night with the Bradenton Marauders of the Pittsburgh Pirates organization and Griffin took the same approach like he has during most of his baseball career.
Be aggressive.
And like most of his at-bats at the high school level, Griffin’s aggressiveness resulted in a hit.
Griffin, batting in the leadoff position and playing shortstop, hit the first pitch for a single. He followed up that hit with another single in his second at bat and finished 2 hits, scored 2 runs, and stole 3 bases in his pro debut and helped Bradenton to a 6-2 victory over the Daytona Tortugas Friday night at Daytona.
Sounds familiar to Prep fans, who saw him do this dozens of times while playing for the Patriots.
Griffin – who was the No. 9 overall pick in the Major League Baseball Draft last summer – got the opportunity to play eight games with the big league club in spring training before being assigned to the Class A team in Bradenton.
“It was awesome, getting to be around the big leaguers at big league camp was wonderful,” Griffin said in an interview with Marauders broadcaster Max Tanzer. “I feel like I learned a lot and it really prepared me for the season. I know going into these pro guys I feel more prepared than ever. All the knowledge I’ve been blessed with over the spring training has been wonderful and it started at camp. Getting to start the year with those guys was pretty cool.”
Griffin got a chance to learn from the big league guys and he soaked it all in.
“Everybody loves Andrew McCutchen, so I loved getting to chat with him,” Griffin said on the radio interview. “We were talking, and he said his first big league camp was 2006 and that was when I was born, that was pretty cool. Isiah Kiner-Falefa helped me with my shortstop game. He was great. Henry Davis helped me a lot of like routines before the game and how to take care of yourself. Nick Yorke, Billy Cook, Matt Gorski, I had some many good guys. They took me under their wing. We had a really good time.”
It didn’t take long for Griffin to make an impact with the Marauders.
I like to be aggressive,” Griffin said on the radio interview. “Getting into two strike counts can get tough on a hitter. I tried to be aggressive early, and he gave me a good fastball and I caught it out front. That’s always a goal. Started the scoring early and helped us win the game. The guy had a heater and loved to throw changeups to rightys. I saw every single pitch three or four times. He finally hung a changeup when I had a 3 and 2 count and I saw it. That’s our approach on those type of guys. It got in my zone, I caught it out front again, and I ripped it to left.”
Griffin is pumped that his pro career is finally here.
“I’m excited for a great year and ready to go win some ballgames,” Griffin said on the radio interview. “I didn’t know what to expect. Daytona brought a great crowd. Taking the field was awesome. I have a great group of guys with me. We have a wonderful team with great coaches. I’m excited to get out here finally and make my pro debut. My grandfather (Harold Griffin) was there, aunt and uncle (Tiffany Griffin Shealy and Todd Shealy) and some of their family as well made into town. My mom, dad, and brothers (Kim and Kevin Griffin, and brothers Kannon and Kaden) were listening back home. I’m sure they will make it up to a game at some point.”
While Griffin played center field in spring training, he is playing shortstop so far with the Marauders.
I’ve always been an outfielder,” Griffin said on the interview. “Shortstop really came in at the high school level. They stuck me out there in the ninth grade and I’ve done it ever since. I’ve switched back and forth, but I’m really focused on shortstop right now, trying to get better every day. I feel like I have a long way to go. Every day when we get out there, I’m trying to figure something else out.”
The pressure that comes with being rated the best high school player in the country and one of the top prospects in the major league draft didn’t bother Griffin.
I really enjoyed it,” Griffin said in the interview. “It meant I was doing something right. I wanted to make a positive impact on everybody around me, whether that is through social media, or people coming to watch him play. You’ve always got eyes on you at this level. It’s pretty cool. I remember being that little kid, wanting to be a great baseball player. Now that I’m making my pro debut, it’s pretty cool to see it all pan out. I’m excited to keep going and keep working hard and keep the main thing the main thing and try to win games.”
Griffin’s parents have always been supportive.
My parents are awesome,” Griffin said in the interview. “I know they would like to be here right now, but my dad is busy with his season (Kevin is the head softball coach at Belhaven). He’s listening to every game. We talk every night, talk to my mom every night. We keep a close relationship. They are the ones who put all the effort in to help me play travel ball growing up, help me get to this position so I’ve got to thank them a lot for everything. It’s great to have wonderful parents. I’m super proud and I can’t wait for them to get here and watch me play.”
“It’s a lot of fun watching Konnor live out his dream,” said Prep coach Brent Heavener, who has coached Griffin since he started going to Prep in the eighth grade. “There’s no real surprise on our end that he has done as well as he has already. Looking forward to this season and watching him continue to get better. I think he’s proven so far this spring he belongs. We are really proud of him. I cannot say enough about what Konnor has meant to this program and me. He’s going to go down as one of the best players that has worn a Prep uniform and he’s done it the right way since Day One.”
“I’m just so happy for Konnor and his family,” Prep athletic director Will Crosby said. “It’s hard to put into words how much that young man has meant to Jackson Prep. A generational talent who is full of humility and is constantly thinking of others. Anyone can watch him play and understand how gifted he is physically. What truly makes him special is his leadership skills and the ability to make those around him feel special. Jackson Prep is a better school because of Konnor’s years here.”
“Konnor is a great baseball player, no doubt about that,” Prep senior and Arizona State signee Tre Bryant said. “He is a pure five tool player and can do it all. What impresses me the most about him though is not his skill, it’s his ability to stay humble throughout the ups and downs as well as bringing his teammates up with him. His work ethic is something else, even whenever I played with him when we were just 13 years old, I knew that he was different. The way Konnor carries himself on and off the field is just different and you can tell as a teammate. It makes you want to work harder and push yourself when you have a person like him in your dugout.”
Griffin led Prep to a seventh straight MAIS Class 6A state championship, a school record 39 victories (only four losses) and a No. 3 national ranking as a senior in 2024.
Griffin had one of the best seasons in Mississippi high school history, hitting .559 (third highest in Mississippi, according to MaxPreps) with a school record 76 runs (most in the country, second most in Mississippi history), a school record 83 stolen bases (third most in the country and fifth most in Mississippi history), 39 runs batted in, 13 doubles, 4 triples and 9 home runs this season. His batting average ranked third in school history behind Gene Wood (.606 in 2014) and Luke Maddox (.579 in 2009).
An accurate eye at the plate, Griffin had only 10 strikeouts in 117 plate appearances and walked 47 times and had an .690 on base percentage (third highest in Mississippi). He was caught stealing only one time, when he tried to steal home against Presbyterian Christian School during the regular season. Blessed with the ability to hit with power to all fields, Griffin had a .966 slugging percentage (second highest in Mississippi).
Griffin, whose fastball was clocked as high as 97 miles per hour, also had a 10-0 record (tied for third in Mississippi in wins) and a 0.72 earned run average (sixth lowest in Mississippi) and 107 strikeouts (sixth best in Mississippi) and only 26 walks in 67 2/3 innings.
A slick-fielding shortstop with great range and lightning quick instincts, Griffin made only five errors and had a .956 fielding percentage and turned 12 double plays. By comparison, only 10 major league shortstops have a better fielding percentage as of this week.
Griffin’s No. 9 selection in the MLB Draft last summer was the third highest high school player picked in Mississippi history. Ted Nicholson from Oak Park High in Laurel was the No. 3 pick in 1969 and Kirk Presley of Tupelo High was the No. 8 pick in 1993.
Griffin was a member of the 18-U USA National Team two summers ago and competed in the WBSC (World Baseball Softball Confederation) U-18 Baseball World Cup in Taipei City, Taiwan.
He participated in the 2023 High School All-American Game and was one of eight players to participate in the MLB-USA Baseball High School Home Run Derby as part of the Major League Baseball All-Star week in Seattle and played in the Perfect Game’s Dick’s Sporting Goods All-American Classic in Phoenix.
Griffin wore the No. 22 Prep jersey last season, awarded to him to wear in memory of Walker Wilbanks, a baseball and football player at Prep who passed away in 2014. A Prep baseball player is awarded the honor of wearing Wilbanks’ number 22 jersey each year.
