Maddox Moreland hit a three-run home run in the first inning to lead Ocean Springs to a 4-1 win over region rival Biloxi on Tuesday night at the newly named Steve Tomaszewski Field and Greyhound Park in Ocean Springs.
In the new Region 4-7A, all teams will play each other three times in a week. These two squads will play in Biloxi on Friday night and back at “The Tom” on Saturday.
With one out in the bottom of the first, Greyhounds shortstop Simon Kruppa and catcher Chris Fox both earned bases on balls. Then Moreland stepped up and tattooed a fastball over the fence in left center to put the Greyhounds up 3-0.
“It was good to see Maddox get him a big one and get the monkey off his back to spot us a three-run lead early,” said Ocean Springs coach Ryne Long.
After that, the pitching of Ocean Springs’ Jack Jordan and Biloxi’s Logan Fontenelle took over and both teams struggled offensively on the brisk, chilly night in West Jackson County.
“Man, Jack made some big pitches to get himself out of a couple of jams,” said Long. “But he stayed ahead all night and mixed up his pitches well—fastball, breaker, and changeup. When he hits his locations and is in the zone, he’s a tough pitcher to face.”
Biloxi threatened in the top of the second, but the Indians ran themselves out of the inning when Chase DeLaughter got thrown out at third running from second with one out.
He reached on an error and moved to second on Wyatt Pyron’s sacrifice bunt back to the pitcher. DeLaughter was thrown out when Connor Lofton hit a hard groundball to short.
The Indians finally broke through in the third when Fontenelle smacked a double to left. He stole third and scored when the ball got away.
In the bottom of the inning, Fontenelle gave up a leadoff walk to Jordan, who went to second on a sacrifice bunt by Kruppa. But Fontenelle buckled down and got the next two Greyhounds to keep his team within two.
“Logan did a great job and it goes back to what he has done since he’s started throwing for us as a sophomore,” said Biloxi second-year coach Hawtin Buchanan. “He takes the mound and competes no matter if he has his best stuff or not. He’s our engine.
“That hit in the first is one of those where they got a couple of guys on base and the kid took advantage of a fastball early in the count and did what he was supposed to do in getting a barrel to it. But Logan hit reset after that and kept us in the game.”
In the bottom of the sixth, Moreland hit a foul popup and Biloxi catcher Robbi Hokamp dove to his left. It bounced off his glove and Fontenelle made an acrobatic diving catch on the rebound for the first out.
Grant Russell reached on a walk and courtesy runner Dewayne James stole second. Cannon Hensarling slapped a single to right past a diving DeLaughter at second to knock in the speedy James and put Ocean Springs up 4-1.
“That was a huge run in the sixth and it couldn’t have happened to a better kid,” Long said. “Dewayne works so hard in practice and has run more bases than anyone this season. Our biggest thing is to put pressure on teams on the bases and get big two-out hits with runners in scoring position.
“Now we must go to their place, and it will be tough. Hawtin does a phenomenal job with his team, and they play hard. Any time you can slip one by them it’s a good win.”
Buchanan agreed with the intensity.
“Their pitcher was really good. He threw all three pitches for strikes on pretty much any count and he worked fast,” he said. “Tonight was their guy vs. our guy. It was a low-scoring pitchers’ duel, which is what you want in a division game on a Tuesday night.
“We had some chances and hit hard balls right at people, but it just didn’t break our way.”
