A freshman emerges as the next Ocean Springs softball star. ‘Her hands are so fast.’
Ocean Springs softball isn’t going away anytime soon.
The Greyhounds have been one of South Mississippi’s strongest programs under head coach Lindsay O’Brien and this year’s talented roster suggests the status quo will remain.
This season, it’s a freshman who is standing out in the dugout.
Gracie McDonald has taken the reigns of the offense and infused it with a new energy. Her team-leading 33 hits have helped power the Greyhounds to 18 wins and O’Brien’s first-ever postseason wins over Harrison Central.
The team graduated key pieces of the outfield in Haley Fox and Aubrey Tapp in 2021, leaving an opportunity for McDonald to seize. When she did just that, her team welcomed the rising star with open arms.
“As soon as I got pulled up, even from 8th grade, you could immediately tell the positive and uplifting energy from, not only the seniors, but the juniors and sophomores,” McDonald told the Sun Herald. “They’re just so easy to talk to, so friendly. Even though I’ve always been more of a nervous person, especially in new environments like that, they were so comforting and welcoming that I felt like I had already been on the team.”
The Greyhounds are owners of a 13-1 record against South Mississippi competition this year. Their only loss was against D’Iberville, a team Ocean Springs previously blanked 5-0.
McDonald is at the center of the team’s dominant run against the Coast with her team-best .429 batting average.
“Her hands are so fast and she reads the ball so well and she works so hard,” O’Brien said. “She fit right in from day one. It’s not always easy for a freshman to come in and start on varsity. But she’s fit right in, she’s a great team player.”
Seniors like Kennedy Jones behind the plate and Bella Crawley in the circle have been leaders on the team and have welcomed McDonald into the team as if she was always there.
That level of leadership has rubbed off on the freshman outfielder and she’s learning quickly how to do the same when the seniors move on.
“As a freshman right now, she is going to be a leader,” O’Brien said. “If you notice in the bleachers, there’s a ton of middle school players there and they all look up to her. Gracie has a great group of seniors she’s learning from so she’s going to be a leader.”
The future of the program is in good hands with McDonald and sophomores Farrah James and Maddie Porter leading the charge among the younger portion of the roster.
McDonald knows many of the rising players from middle school, too, and believes they will be another boon to Greyhound softball.
“I am so excited, not only for our freshmen and sophomores, but even the middle schoolers that are going to be moving up as freshmen,” McDonald said. “I am so excited to be able to play with them and so excited to see where we’re going to go because we have a lot of talent.”
For now, Ocean Springs has an immediate task at hand. One round short of the South State championship series, the Greyhounds have to get past Petal. The Panthers are 20-2 and fresh off a two-game sweep of Hancock.
Ocean Springs has seen Petal twice already this season and lost in both contests.
Nonetheless, McDonald remains confident.
“I have no doubt in my mind that we can be state champions, no doubt,” McDonald said.
