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Ocean Springs comes out the victor

Nick Boggs' bat torches Bulldogs

By LARRY HOLDER
lholder@sunherald.com

HATTIESBURG --

Ocean Springs forced Brandon to bring in its third pitcher with no outs in the top of the third inning. Needless to say, the Greyhounds bats were well at work on Monday night.

And the most damage came from Ocean Springs nine-hole hitter first baseman Nick Boggs.

Boggs' torched Bulldogs pitching for six RBIs as Ocean Springs toppled Brandon 14-7 at William Carey's Milton Wheeler Field to capture the best-of-three series 2-1 to advance to the Class 5A South State finals.

Terry stands in Ocean Springs' way for a spot in the 5A state championship as the two teams collide starting Thursday at Ocean Springs in a three-game set. Friday's game will be at Terry.

The left-handed hitting Boggs began his barrage in the top of the third inning when he ripped a three-run home run to push the Greyhounds advantage to 9-1. Boggs struck again the next inning when struck on opposite-field, three-run triple to push Ocean Springs ahead 12-1.

"Coach has been telling me to hit earlier in the count," Boggs said. "I have and it's worked out well for me and the team. We've always had the potential to have the very big innings like we had. All we need is that one spark to get that going. I guess I was the spark (Monday)."

Ocean Springs coach Jesse Kanode said this hasn't been the first time Boggs came through in the clutch.

"We've come to expect that from him," Kanode said. "He's a good hitter with good hands."

Zach Desoto also touched up the Brandon hurlers as he went five-for-five with two RBIs.

The Greyhounds appeared to be on the verge of 10-run ruling the Bulldogs, but Brandon punched back in the bottom of the fourth inning. A combination of Greyhound errors and timely Brandon hitting helped the Bulldogs chalk up a five-spot to slim Ocean Springs' lead to 12-6.

It was the only inning Ocean Springs right-hander Michael Baxter found trouble. Baxter (7-0) worked his way through the Brandon rally with a complete game to earn the win.

"Baxter has been what's really gotten us here... . He could just as easily be our No. 1 pitcher," Kanode said. "He's that good and he works hard."

Brandon starter Kyle Tabor only lasted 11/3 innings and picked up the loss.

"We've worked really hard to kind of turn the program around," Kanode said. "Everyone has bought into what we are preaching and what we teach everyday. I couldn't be more proud of them. We weathered that Brandon storm (Monday). That's a good ball club over there. They were a worthy opponent."

Ocean Springs (24-7) added some insurance in the top of the seventh inning after going scoreless in the fifth and sixth. The Greyhounds had Travis Creel and Daniel Wineski cross home on a wild pitch to extend the advantage to 14-7.