West Harrison Baseball Playoff Review

On Monday, the West Harrison baseball team made history by winnings its first ever playoff series since the school was built in 2008. Now it’s on to the third round of the class 5A playoffs.
Waiting on the other side of the bracket is Hattiesburg High, the district winner from region 7. The Tigers are led by junior standout Joe Gray, the fourth ranked prospect in the entire country for the class of 2018 according to Perfect Game. At the plate, Gray is raking at a clip of .488 on the season to go along with six home runs and 32 RBI.
Of course, the Ole Miss commit only occupies one of the nine spots in the batting order, but stopping Hattiesburg starts with stopping him, as well as playing a fearless and energetic brand of West Harrison baseball. West Harrison Infielder Taylor Woodcock said, “I know if my energy is up, then the rest of the team’s energy is going to be up. I just try to keep them up.”
West Harrison Outfielder Brandon Parker said, “Joe Gray, I know he’s a power house. And if you leave it up and in, in the zone he’s going to smash it. In the zone in general he’s going to hit it hard, and so we’re just going to have to locate around him.”
West Harrison First baseman Kasey Donaldson said, “Well I know he has a lot of power. I played with him on the same team this past summer, and he can hit a baseball a long way. So just got to locate around him, maybe.”
West Harrison Head Baseball Coach David Marsland said, “They can relax, play West Harrison baseball. We’re one of eight. Everybody at this stage deserves to be where they are, so there’s no more taking anybody lightly. Everybody is playing to win, going to play their best each and every night. So our guys have to rise up and do the same.”
West Harrison and Hattiesburg have never played one another in baseball prior to tomorrow. That game starts tomorrow at 7 p.m. at West Harrison.
Elsewhere in Class 5A Long Beach is hosting Pearl River Central. That game is slated to start at 7 o’clock.
In the 6A ranks, a really good one between Gulfport and Ocean Springs. The latter being the only team from the state of Mississippi to beat Gulfport in the regular season. Biloxi rounds out the field with a road game at Oak Grove. All series winners will be advancing to South State.