Ocean Springs has claimed another region crown in historic season
Ocean Springs baseball is on a tear.
The Greyhounds are 23-2 and a perfect 15-0 in region play after walking off D’Iberville Wednesday, 5-4, and trouncing the Warriors Friday, 12-4, to take the series before finishing the sweep on Saturday.
Third-year head coach Ryne Long’s club has won 11 in a row and its 15 straight district wins are the most to begin a season in school history.
“We’ve pitched it really well and played very good defense,” Long said of what’s powered his team. “We’ve swung the bats in spots and came up with big hits, big two-out hits. We’ve found a way to grind some at-bats, get pitch counts up and run the bases well. The name of our game is really when we pitch it and play good defense and try to manufacture runs. That’s really our bread and butter.”
Ocean Springs is after a repeat of the 1992 and 2008 seasons when the Greyhounds won state championships. Success has come in brief stints since bringing home the last banner.
But the arrival of Long has shifted the air around Steve Tomaszewski Field. From the family that also produced East Central’s title-winning coach Bo Long, Long has quickly brought fresh life back into the program.
The Greyhounds won their first-ever region titles the last two seasons and have closed in on a third consecutive championship with hopes of going further than last year’s second-round exit against Brandon.
“Definitely a state championship, that’s where we want to be,” infielder Justin San Miguel said of his team’s goals. “We see ourselves there. The preparation came from August all the way to this point now. Everything we’ve done in the weight room, all the work we’ve put in the field, I feel like we’re on the way up there.”
San Miguel is one of several that make up a stout senior class that Long credits for the team’s growth. He leads the team in hits while two-way standout Tristan Fox leads in OPS from the batter’s box and has a 1.31 ERA from the mound.
Fox is one of seven Greyhounds with at least 10 innings pitched and an ERA below 2.50.
The combination of pitching depth and veteran leadership are key reasons for Ocean Springs’ 7-0 record in one-run games.
“Our biggest thing is being mentally tough and just finding a way to win,” Long said. “You’re never out of the fight and you battle from the first pitch to the last.”
Ocean Springs will soon be back in the playoffs where Brandon has ended the Hounds’ season in each of the last three seasons. But if you ask the vets, there’s just one team they’re concerned about this year.
“We’re brothers, we’re family in there,” Fox said. “We play for each other, we don’t play for anybody else. We don’t care about anyone else that is outside of here.”
This story was originally published April 12, 2026 at 5:00 AM.
