By Robert Wilson
The 2024 National Player of the Year – Konnor Griffin – will not be starting at shortstop and pitching for the Jackson Prep baseball team for the first time in three years this season. The talented pitcher-shortstop was the No. 9 pick in the Major League Baseball draft this summer and is in Florida practicing with his new team, the Pittsburgh Pirates, and projected as an outfielder.
Despite not having Griffin, Prep is considered the favorite to win its eighth consecutive MAIS Class 6A state championship and is nationally ranked in preseason polls, No. 20 by Perfect Game and No. 23 by MaxPreps.
The Patriots are scheduled to open the season Tuesday at MAIS Class 5A Lamar School in Meridian.
Prep has five returning starters, including junior pitcher-third baseman-shortstop Kevin Roberts, who is rated the No. 8 player in the Class of 2026 by Perfect Game, from its team last season, which won a school record 39 games (with only four losses), won its seventh straight state title and finished ranked No. 19 in the country.
The 6-foot-5 Roberts is a starter on Prep’s basketball team and won’t be playing baseball until basketball ends, and Prep is expected to make a run at the 6A and Overall Tournament championships later this month.
Roberts hit had a .333 batting average with 33 runs scored, 32 runs batted in, 6 doubles, and 3 home runs and had a 5-1 pitching record with a .228 earned run average and 41 strikeouts in 27 2/3 innings last season as a sophomore.
Three members of last year’s PriorityOne Bank/Mississippi Scoreboard Metro Jackson Team – senior pitcher Reid Vineyard, senior first baseman-pitcher Matthew “Ham” McKinley and senior centerfielder-pitcher Gardner Young and– are back to start the season.
Vineyard, a right-hander, was the first team relief pitcher on the All-Metro Jackson team last season. He had a 2-0 record, 1 save and a 1.70 ERA.
McKinley – a Meridian Community College signee and first-team All-Metro Jackson first baseman last season – hit .336 with 24 runs, 27 RBIs, a team-high 15 doubles, 1 triple, and 2 home runs and had a 6-0 pitching record with a 1.70 earned run average, 1 save, 46 strikeouts in 33 innings last season as a junior.
Young, a Pearl River CC signee and a second-team utility player on the All-Metro Jackson team, hit .333 with 8 doubles, 2 triples, 4 home runs, 31 runs scored and 31 RBIs and had a 9-2 record, 2.94 ERA with 61 strikeouts in 47 2/3 innings last season as a junior.
Young is scheduled to start the season opener on the mound.
Senior Cole Gideon returns to start in right field. He hit .304 with 25 runs scored, 24 RBIs, 12 doubles, 1 triple and 1 home run last season as a junior.
Another one of Prep’s best players, senior shortstop-pitcher and Arizona State signee Tre Bryant, will not be in the lineup to open the season due to recovering from shoulder surgery in the fall. Bryant, an outstanding linebacker and an All-Metro first-team selection, suffered the injury during football season.
Bryant hit .383 (second highest on the team behind Griffin), with 37 runs scored, a team-high 55 RBIs, 11 doubles, 1 triple and 3 home runs, and had a 2-0 pitching record and 3 saves with a 1.31 ERA and 24 strikeouts in 16 innings in 13 appearances last season as a junior.
But for the first time in almost half a decade, Griffin will not be dressed out for the Patriots. The two-time PriorityOne Bank/Mississippi Scoreboard Metro Jackson Player of the Year and LSU signee 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 has been 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.
“I’m really excited to get this year started,” said Prep coach Brent Heavener, who is starting his eighth season at Prep. “We’ve got a great group of guys and coaches. No matter who’s here or who’s not the expectation doesn’t change. We want to compete for a state championship. I have five starters and it will be little different until basketball is over but that gives other guys a great opportunity that will help us. We feel like this team is deeper than some teams we’ve had in the past, but we’ve got a lot of work to do. Gardner, Kevin, Matthew, and Reid will anchor our pitching staff. We’ve also got some new faces that we think will contribute and give us a chance to win. We have some young talent that will be able to give us some depth. We’ve got some older guys that didn’t start last year that will really help us. We know being ranked and winning seven in a row has put a big target on our back, but our guys ready for the challenge and we will go to work to try to compete for another state championship.”
Other players expected to contribute are senior infielder Will McMaster, senior infielder Billy Puckett, senior catcher Carson Powell (son of Prep assistant coach and former Major League pitcher Jay Powell), and senior outfielder-pitcher Russell Robbins.
Sophomore newcomers include pitcher-third baseman Sam Miller, pitcher-outfielder Hayden Davidson and infielder Luke Essary.
