Jackson Prep takes district win over St. Joe

Jackson Prep baseball has been the state’s most dominant program over the last decade, winning seven straight state titles. The Patriots continued their journey for an eight straight title with a 6-1 district win over St. Joseph on Tuesday. 

The Patriots were led by a dominant pitching performance from Meridian Community College signee Matthew McKinley, who struck out seven in 5 ⅔ innings on the mound. The Jackson Prep bullpen also came in during the final innings and made several clutch pitches with runners in scoring position. 

“I thought Matthew (McKinley) did a great job with his start tonight, he gave us a chance and really threw well,” Jackson Prep Head Coach Brent Heavener said. “Our bullpen came in after him and did a really good job as well, they got us some big outs in the later innings.”

Jackson Prep scored six runs on four hits in the win, but took advantage of their opportunities with runners in scoring position consistently throughout the game. A home run by Arizona State signee Tre Bryant in the fourth inning also proved to be huge, bringing momentum to the Jackson Prep offense.

“We were able to get some hits in key spots and were able to add runs consistently throughout the game,” Heavener said. “We put the ball in play with runners on base and scored runs when we needed it, so that’s what you’re proud of.”

Bryant also picked up a single in the win, Gardner Young contributed a single, and Matthew McKinley also had a single in the win.

While the Patriots did lose some notable talent from last season’s state title team, including top-10 MLB draft pick Konnor Griffin, there is still plenty of promise and much to be excited about with this year’s Jackson Prep team. 

Jackson Prep is steadily improving as region play progresses and has championship experience that will help them going forward. 

“The biggest thing is that everybody wants to get better at the plate and have better at-bats and that’s what we will continue to do,” Heavener said. “We are trying to hit that stride, but we talk all the time that we aren’t trying to play our best baseball now, we’re trying to play it in May, so we are just going to keep working at that every day.”

Jackson Prep is now 14-7-1 on the season and 2-2 in district play so far. The Patriots will host St. Joseph again on Thursday and travel to St. Joseph on Friday to round out the series. Jackson Prep’s next district series will be next week against Hartfield Academy on Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday.