A breakout pitching star is helping Biloxi baseball have its best season since 2019
Not many coaches begin their careers as flawlessly as Biloxi baseball coach Hawtin Buchanan has.
Buchanan, a Biloxi grad and former assistant, earned his first head coaching win in the Indians’ season-opener on Feb. 14. His first loss didn’t come for a full month, spanning a 12-game win streak and kick-starting Biloxi’s best season since 2019.
At the center of the Indians’ turnaround is a junior enjoying a breakout season. Logan Fontenelle, a two-way talent, is leading his team in hits from the plate and strikeouts from the mound.
Fontenelle’s emergence and a strong senior class have the Indians in the thick of a tight district race in one of the more challenging regions across the state.
“We’re an older team, we’ve got nine seniors total,” Buchanan told the Sun Herald. “A lot of those guys have played for two-to-three years. They took their lumps as sophomores. Last year as juniors, they kind of experienced some success, but it was a little more up-and-down. It’s just a testament to them. They’ve been able to fall on those couple of years of experience.”
Biloxi is 18-5 and 5-2 in district play with just three games remaining. The Indians have their most wins since getting 29 of them in 2019 and are shooting for their first district title since that season.
The hot start to the season became the catalyst for Biloxi’s return to prominence. The stretch of 28 days without a loss included character-testing battles that proved the strength of the Indians’ experienced roster.
“It was extremely cool,” Buchanan said of the win streak. “We have a ton of talented baseball players, there’s no question... The biggest thing, if you look at the scores, early on it was a bunch of close games. They really found a way to scrap their way through games. They were the team that wouldn’t blink.
“That’s been the tale of this team all year. No matter what happens, no matter how hard they got punched in the mouth, they just weathered and stood their ground.”
The Indians were 3-0 in one-run games during that span and won six more by two runs. The impact from the upperclassmen was felt early.
Senior Bryson Pisarich, a South Alabama commit on the diamond and all-region offensive lineman on the gridiron, is batting .312 and is third on the team in hits.
Pisarich homered and scored twice in a close win over 5A power East Central and drove in three runs in a 15-12 barn-burning win over Gulfport.
Another senior, Ian Henry, consistently keeps the line moving. The East Mississippi commit has a .974 OPS, three different three-hit games and has reached first base in 20 of 21 games played.
“We just have a real good coaching staff,” Fontenelle said. “All of us, every day at practice have just been grinding hard. Every day we’re getting after it. We’ve got a better mindset.”
Fontenelle’s breakout season
Fontenelle is one piece of a talented team, but one that has been the key driver as both the team’s ace and top-of-the-order threat.
His batting average has jumped from .235 as a sophomore to .431 today. Fontenelle has career-highs in essentially every hitting statistic and sports a team-leading 1.164 OPS.
Pitching, which is Fontenelle’s preference, is where his game becomes especially dangerous. A significant velocity boost on his fastball over the offseason paired with his uncanny knack for locating his secondary pitches has resulted in a head-turning campaign from the mound.
“One thing you can say about Logan, he’s always going to go out there and compete,” Buchanan said. “He’s one of the most competitive kids I’ve ever been around. He really showed an advanced feel as a sophomore for being able to throw.”
Buchanan was the pitching coach a season ago and therefore has had an up-close view of Fontenelle’s development since junior high.
His fastball, which has improved from low-80’s to a milestone-grazing 89 miles per hour this year, has elevated his attack.
Fontenelle’s strength formerly lied in a backwards approach on the mound, attacking the plate with secondary pitches before finishing with a fastball, but he’s now able to vary his pitch sequence to even greater success with his quicker fastball.
“He’s getting a lot more swings and misses, a lot more punch-outs,” Buchanan said. “I’ve got nothing but good things to say about that kid. He’s worked his tail off to get to this point.”
Fontenelle already has an offer from Jones College and has seen college-level interest increase throughout the season. He believes his fastball has the potential to reach 95 on the radar and Fontenelle still has another offseason and senior season to take another step.
“Really just getting after it every day, working hard,” Fontenelle said. “It’s a mindset thing. Last year I was a sophomore playing and it was a big, big change. Now I’m a little bit comfortable and just getting after it every day.”
But before Fontenelle or any of his teammates can think about next year, they still have goals to check off the 2023 to-do list.
The Indians have two district games left, both against Harrison Central. The Red Rebels took the first game of the series on Tuesday despite a two-hitter tossed by Fontenelle. Biloxi needs a win and a Gulfport loss to Hancock to claim the region crown.
Those two games will be played on Friday and Saturday at Harrison Central.
This story was originally published April 13, 2023 at 8:00 AM.
