By Robert Wilson
MRA is trying to win its first state baseball championship since 2016, but first the Patriots had to get past the team that had denied them so many state championships over the years.
Mission accomplished.
MRA defeated Jackson Prep two games to one this past week in the best of three series in MAIS Class 4A, Division I semifinals.
Prep won Game 1 8-0 at MRA Tuesday, but MRA bounced back to win Game 2 10-2 at Prep Thursday and Game 3 8-4 at MRA Friday to take the series.
MRA – ranked No. 5 in Class 4A and No. 16 in Mississippi by MaxPreps – improved to 29-10. The Patriots now play Magnolia Heights – ranked No. 1 in Mississippi and No. 17 in the country – this week in a best of three series for the 4A, Division I state championship. While MRA hasn’t won a state title in 10 seasons, Magnolia Heights has won a state championship for the past seven seasons.
Game 1 is scheduled for Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. at Magnolia Heights, Game 2 Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. at MRA, and Game 3, if necessary, Saturday at 2:30 p.m. at Magnolia Heights.
Prep – ranked No. 7 in Class 4A and No. 32 in Mississippi – finished 23-17 and didn’t reach the state championship series for the second straight season. National Player of the Year Konnor Griffin – the No. 9 overall pick in the 2024 Major League Draft who is now starting for the Pittsburgh Pirates – led Prep to its seventh consecutive state championship in 2024. Prep won a school record 39 games and finished ranked No. 4 in the country.
With MRA’s series win over Prep this week, it has won three consecutive series over Prep in the past two seasons. Prep had not lost a conference series since 2019, a string of 34 consecutive winning series when MRA won last season. It was also the first time since 2012 – 13 years – since Prep had lost two home games in a series. Also, when MRA defeated Prep 3-0 last season, it ended a 231-consecutive game, nine-year streak without being shut out by an MAIS team and had won 32 consecutive regular season games. It was MRA’s first series win over Prep since 2018, and ended a streak of 11 consecutive series defeats.
But since Griffin left for pro baseball, MRA has won three straight series and six of nine games over Prep.
Prep surprised MRA in Game 1 Tuesday when junior Sam Miller and senior Eli Adams combined for a three-hit shutout, senior centerfielder and Florida signee Kevin Roberts and junior left fielder Josh Parker hit home runs and junior shortstop Luke Essary and junior third baseman Blake Bitner had two hits each.
But MRA bounced back with wins in Game 2 and Game 3 to take the series.
Senior centerfielder and Itawamba Community College signee Gunnar Swanson, junior right fielder and Pearl River CC commitment Kade Buchanan and left fielder Jack Poole had two hits each and MRA took advantage of nine Prep walks, and senior right-hander and East Central CC signee Aiden Peets threw a complete game for the Game 2 victory.
Senior shortstop and Jones County Junior College signee Alex Lambert hit his school record 12th home run, Swanson and junior second baseman and Jones County JC commitment Holt Adams had two hits each and senior right-hander Samuel Stockett limited MRA to three hits and one earned run in four innings to get the pitching victory in Game 3. Lambert broke the school record of 10, previously held by Cole Page and Jake Owen, set in 2010.
“I knew it would be different than our regular season series,” said MRA coach Chad Lipscomb, who was promoted two years ago after 16 years of being an assistant at MRA to replace Allen Pavatte, who is now head of school at Manchester Academy. “We came out a little tight in Game 1 and began to press at the plate. I knew Sam Miller and Prep would bounce back from the last time he pitched against us, but I still felt our guys would settle in. However, that did not happen and they really dominated us that night. Going into Game 2, I just told the guys ‘we knew going into the series we only had to win two games and fortunately for us there are two left. Sometimes, you are put in a do or die situation but tonight there is no option than do. We are not going to let our season end tonight and they really responded. Senior Aiden Peets probably pitched his best game of the year when we needed him to. Our second time through the lineup we put some good bats together and got aggressive on the base paths, jumping out to a lead and adding to it late. His performance gave us a big advantage going into Game 3 I believe with pitching. In Game 3, we against had a big third inning scoring four runs, thanks to senior Alex Lambert record 12th home run of the year. Then we did something we hadn’t done a lotto lately. We answered each time they scored and add to the lead in the next three innings to stretch it out again. Senior Samuel Stockett gave us four strong innings before handing it off to Dylan Varnell and Holt Adams. Those two guys have been phenomenal this year on closing out games for us.”
MRA played its first 23 games on the road due to construction on its baseball complex, before making the decision to play some games at home despite it not being completed. MRA will have a new two story building from behind the first base dugout around to the third base dugout and used for a press box, academics, bathrooms, concession stand, weight room and lockers rooms for baseball and softball. And hew bleachers will be installed between the backstop and the building.
“We have a veteran team with all eight senior playing important roles, but my only concern was the fact that we might not playa single home game due to the construction around our field,” Lipscomb said. “We literally played our first 23 games on the road. Our guys really handled it better than I could have ever imagined and I think that shows a lot about their toughness. As the construction process kept progressing, we made the decision to try and finish our season with our home games on our home field. This definitely lifted their spirits, and gave us a jolt of energy that we needed. We could tell as coaches that our guys were starting to wear down physically and mentally just getting on a bus 2-3 times a week and I think that was the best decision we made looking back.
“Seniors Will Bizot, Alex Lambert, and Gunnar Swanson have really led us offensively with all having their best season this year. As a team, we have broken several individual season and career records. On the mound, Rhett Taylor has been dominate along with Peets and Stockett. We lost junior Kade Buchanan on the mound for the season at spring break, but some other juniors like Walt Bryson and Jacob Grogan have stepped up as well.”
Bizot – who is the only athlete at MRA to play football, basketball and baseball – leads the team with a .436 batting average. He also has 36 runs scored, 27 RBIs, 7 doubles, 2 triples and 6 home runs. Lambert is hitting .394 and leads the team with 49 runs scored, 42 RBIs, and 12 home runs. He has 12 doubles, second to Buchanan, who is hitting .381. Taylor is hitting .408 and Swanson .402. Swanson now holds the career high record, previously held by Kaleb Lipscomb, the coach’s son, of 113. He has 125 career hits.
Taylor has a 10-1 pitching record and a 2.08 earned run average, Peets is 6-2 with a 1.94 ERA and Stockett is 5-0 with a 1.98 ERA. Taylor has 79 strikeouts in 53 2/3 innings. Adams is 1-1 with three saves and a 2.24 ERA and Varnell is 2-2 with two saves and a 2.24 ERA. Adams has 45 strikeouts in 25 innings. Taylor has set the school record for most wins in a season, previously held by Josh Thomas and Brennan Jones with nine.
And now MRA faces one of the top teams in the country in Magnolia Heights, featuring five Division I signees and commitments and a talented and deep pitching staff. Coach Chris McMinn has won 11 state titles in his 21 seasons at Magnolia Heights.
“This week will definitely be a challenge taking on Magnolia Heights with all their DI talent and multiple championships over the past decade,” Lipscomb said. “However, I truly believe our guys are excited to be in this position. We are battled tested and been through lots of adversity, but having the chance to win a state championship is all we can ask for. Some might think this is a David and Goliath matchup and probably so, but I know our guys will be up for the fight. Playing for the championship this week is something that I truly felt that this team could achieve this year if they stayed the course.”
While MRA gets a chance at winning a state title, Prep for the second straight year sits in an unfamiliar position, not competing for a state championship. Brent Heavener led Prep to seven straight titles (the first time in Mississippi history a team has won seven straight state baseball titles) – not counting the covid season of 2020 – and finished his 10th season at Prep. He won his 300th game this season.
“We had an opportunity to get some outs in the third inning and didn’t help him (Prep sophomore starting pitcher Kane Sandridge),” Heavener said in an interview with Russ Robinson on the Jackson Prep Sports Network. “Alex got the big hit when they needed it. You tip your cap to them. We knew this game wasn’t going to be a 1-0 game. I felt like we were going to have to score some runs. We had some chances early, we just couldn’t get the big hit. That happens in baseball. The good thing is we will learn from it and keep going. We’ve got some great guys coming back. I say this every year and I told the seniors I love them. What never goes unnoticed is how hard these guys work. Day in and day out. They come in, work hard, they want to play well, they want to compete for a championship. Probably in February or March, nobody gave us a chance. Here we are in Game 3 of the semifinals with a chance to play for the championship. I’m really proud of them. They have come a long way. They battled. I appreciate what the guys did and how hard they worked. They got rolling and played good baseball. They just played a little bit than we did tonight and came out on top. They are a good team, very senior led team. We’ve got some guys we are going to miss, the senior who played hard. We have a lot of young guys coming back. We had a lot of guys that played that are coming back next year. That all of a sudden changes everything. Some of these guys will go off and play this summer and get even better in the fall.”
Prep started only two seniors – Roberts and right fielder Peter Primos – and had five juniors and three sophomores in the starting lineup in Game 3.
Junior first baseman Hunter Davidson led Prep with a .362 average. He had 22 runs scored, 27 RBIs, 10 doubles, 2 triples and 3 home runs this season. Roberts – who is projected to be a fourth-round selection in the Major League Baseball draft this summer – hit .356 with 46 runs scored, 32 RBIs, 10 doubles, 3 triples and 10 home runs.
