By Robert Wilson

Brady Griffin wasn’t expected to get much playing time on Hartfield Academy’s baseball team this season. But due to injuries, Griffin was put into some games.

And last week, Griffin was Hartfield’s MVP. The freshman pitcher-outfielder hit .444 with a home run and three runs batted in and had two pitching victories to led No. 4 seed Hartfield to a MAIS Class 6A first-round, best-of-three series win over No. 5 seed Parklane Academy.

For his outstanding week, Griffin has been named the Priority One Bank/Mississippi Scoreboard Metro Jackson Baseball Player of the Week.

Griffin hit a two-run home run in the fifth inning and pitched the final two innings of no-hit relief for the pitching win in Hartfield’s 8-7 victory over Parklane in the third and deciding game of the 6A first-round series. He also was the winning pitcher in Hartfield’s 10-8 win over Parklane in the first game.

“I’m excited about the future of Brady,” said first-year Justin Smith, who was promoted from assistant coach when Chuck Box became the director of player personnel at Texas A&M. “From the beginning of the year, I told our staff that at some point I am going to have to play Brady in varsity games. He consistently puts in work outside of practice. Brady is simply just a gamer. Early in conference play, we had some injuries and the opportunity presented itself for Brady to play and he never came out after. He has proven even as a freshman to be one of our best hitters and pitchers. I am thrilled to have Brady in our baseball program.”

Griffin leads the team with a .400 batting average (20 for 50 at bats) and has 6 runs, 11 runs batted in, 2 doubles and 1 home run in 21 games. He has a 4-1 record with a 3.12 earned run average with 23 strikeouts and only six walks in 26 1/3 innings.

Hartfield has a 22-14 record entering this week’s semifinal best-of-three series against four-time defending MAIS state champion Jackson Prep.

Coaches can nominate their players for the weekly award by contacting Robert Wilson with text or call (601.506.2276) or email ([email protected]).