PriorityOne Bank Metro Jackson Player of the Week 5-31-24

By Robert Wilson

Boyd McCullough doesn’t have any college baseball offers and his fastball is in the low 80s, pretty average for high school pitchers.

But the St. Andrew’s senior right-hander accomplished a rare feat, throwing two consecutive complete game shutouts in the semifinals and finals in the MHSAA state playoffs.

McCullough allowed seven hits and no runs to lead St. Andrew’s to a 5-0 victory over two-time defending Class 2A state champion East Union in Game 2 of state championship series and end East Union’s 27-game playoff winning streak last week at Trustmark Park in Pearl.

For his outstanding performance, McCullough has been named the PriorityOne Bank/Mississippi Scoreboard Metro Jackson Baseball Player of the Week.

McCollough’s pitching performance evened the state championship series at one game each and St. Andrew’s won the deciding Game 3 for its first state title since 2018 and sixth in school history.

McCullough, mixing his fastball with a variety of sliders, changeups, and curveballs, kept the East Union batters off balance. He allowed the seven hits without a walk and didn’t strikeout a batter. McCullough allowed a single in the first, a single in the third, two singles in the fourth, a single in the sixth and a single and a double in the seventh. East Union’s Landon Harmon – the Class 2A Player of the Year who came into the series with a .416 batting average – came up to bat with runners on second and third with two outs in the seventh inning, but grounded out to St. Andrew’s sophomore shortstop Justin Word, who threw to junior first baseman Stone Myrick for the last out of the game.

The last time East Union had not scored against the 2A team was when Taylorsville won 8-0 in the final game of the 2021 state championship series.

McCullough also pitched a complete game shutout in a 6-0 win over Clarkdale in Game 3 in the 2A state semifinal series.

He finished the season with a 7-0 record, a 2.91 earned run average with 40 strikeouts and 13 walks in 53 innings to help St. Andrew’s to a 32-7 record, one win short of the school record for wins, this season.

“Boyd was a picture of composure with intensity on the mound,” St. Andrew’s coach Mark Fanning said. “He made his first start after spring break. We had been using him as a reliever due to him throwing so many strikes and not bothered by any situation but needed another starter and he really stepped up. Boyd finished 7-0 on the season with three complete games in the playoffs and the last wo were shutouts. He went most games without walking a batter. Boyd was successful on the mound because he constantly had hitters behind in the count, hid the ball well, and worked at a tempo that made hitters uncomfortable.”

McCullough is the son of Brent and Susan McCullough. Brent played basketball and football at St. Andrew’s (Class of 1990), and Susan was a cheerleader at Southern Garrett High in Oakland, Maryland. Brent and Susan went to Wofford College in Spartanburg, S.C. Boyd has a brother and sister. Brother John Murry ran cross country at Germantown High and sister Kathryn played basketball her freshman and sophomore years at Germantown. John Murry will be a senior at Vanderbilt and Kathryn graduated from Ole Miss in 2022. Brent’s father, John McCullough, played basketball at Louisville High. Susan’s father, Jerry Ryscavage, played basketball, baseball and football at the University of Connecticut. Susan’s grandfather, Jefferson McCleskey, played minor league baseball in Southern Georgia and had a short stint with the Boston Braves in 1913.

This is the last Mississippi Scoreboard Metro Jackson Baseball Player of the Week this season. We will start back in August with the Metro Jackson Football Player of the Week. We select a player from Hinds, Madison, or Rankin counties each week. Coaches can nominate a player by text or call to Robert Wilson at 601.506.2276.