who’s no. 11?

Schools from California, Florida and Texas naturally dominate Collegiate Baseball Magazine’s Preseason Top 30 High School poll, but Mississippi did manage to get a little love. Hattiesburg High, led by the highly touted Joe Gray, checked in at No. 11. Joe Hartfield’s Tigers went 26-11 last year and lost in the MHSAA South State playoffs to Pearl River Central. Gray, an Ole Miss signee who’ll probably go high in the MLB draft, batted .477 with seven homers and 19 steals. An ample supporting cast includes Dexter Jordan, who hit .398 with four homers and went 6-3 with a 3.08 ERA on the mound, and Kam Wells (4-0, 1.16). … Gray, Houston High catcher Luke Hancock and Brandon High pitcher/shortstop J.T. Ginn made CB’s All-America team. P.S. Keep an eye on Blue Mountain College, which got the Magnolia State season started by taking two of three at LSU-Shreveport last week. The Toppers won the opener of a Thursday (moved from Friday) doubleheader 8-2 behind the strong pitching of Jonas White and home runs from Hayden Tapper and Austin Looker. In Friday’s rubber game, Caleb Leach drove in five runs in a 13-10 BMC win. LSU-S won 39 games and made the NAIA postseason in 2017.