PEARL — So somebody asked me after Ripley’s 5-0 Tuesday afternoon victory over Sumrall in the Class 4A championship series victory: “Have you ever seen a better pitching performance in a high school baseball game?
Answer: If so, I do not remember it. Ripley’s Ty Long, Mississippi’s Class 4A Player of the Year, blanked the proud Sumrall Bobcats with a seven-inning, complete-game three-hitter. Of the 21 recorded outs, 18 were strikeouts, tying Long’s career high. He did not walk a batter. All three Sumrall hits were singles, one a swinging bunt. Of Long’s 98 pitches, 66 were strikes. He was in utter control.
This was nothing new where Long is concerned. The 6-foot, 175-pound Southern Miss commit was a perfect 11-0 during the regular season, allowing only three earned runs in 67 innings. He averaged more than two strikeouts an inning, fanning 140 in those 67 innings.
Long seems wise beyond his years as a pitcher. Asked the key to his performance, he responded with words any pitching coach at any level would appreciate.
“The key for me was getting ahead and staying ahead in the count,” Long said. “When that happens, I can throw any pitch I want.”
Yes, and he has so many pitchers in his arsenal, said his coach Joel Gafford. “Ty throws a two-seam fastball, a four-seam fast ball, a cutter, a slider, a curveball and a changeup. He commands them all.”
Long is a pitcher, not just a thrower. He mixes speeds and locations. So many of his fastballs, which appeared to be in the high 80s (mph), were over the black edges of home plate, often at the knees.
But you should know Long is far more than a pitcher. When he’s not on the mound, he usually plays shortstop and plays it well. He bats leadoff and hit .506 with five home runs on the season. He led off Tuesday’s game with a sharp single that whizzed past Sumrall pitcher Drew Davis, son of Sumrall coach Andy Davis, and a youngster you will be hearing about for years to come.
Davis, a 15-year-old ninth grader who doesn’t yet drive, was sensational before tiring noticeably in the seventh inning. He threw six complete innings, allowing only one run. He tops out at about 90 mph and has three more years of high school baseball to play and get bigger and stronger.
What made Long’s performance all the more impressive was the team he was pitching against. Down in the Pine Belt there’s a saying: “There are only three sure things in life: death, taxes and Sumrall baseball.” Sumrall was 32-4 coming into the state championship series. The Bobcats have won six state championships, all since 2008. The Bobcats know how to play and they know State Tournament pressure about as well as any program in the state. Many Sumrall fans wore bright, blue T-shirts claiming Trustmark Park as their home away from home.
That’s not the case where Ripley is concerned. The Ripley Tigers have never won a state championship and haven’t played for one since 1992, long before there was any such thing as Trustmark Park.
But then, Ripley has never had a player quite like Ty Long, who was Ripley’s football quarterback before a shoulder injury his junior season prompted him to give up the sport. Baseball, he decided, was his future.
The big questions: What position will he play in college? Will he pitch? Will he play shortstop? Will he try to do both. There has been some talk that his natural position might even be centerfielder.
Asked where he wants to play, Long didn’t hesitate. “I want to play every day, definitely,” he said. “I like to pitch, but I love to hit and play defense.”
“Ty can play wherever you put him, he’s just a ballplayer,” Gafford, his coach, said. “What you saw out there today, that’s Ty every day. He works at it. He’s a good student, a good teammate. All those little kids you see waiting for him up there in the stands love him and he spends time with them. I’ll tell you this, Southern Miss is getting way more than their money’s worth.”
But first thing’s first: Long desperately wants to take that first-ever baseball state championship back to Ripley and Tippah County. That would require one more victory in the best-of-three series. Game two is Thursday at 4 p.m. If needed, a Game 3 would be played Friday or Saturday, depending on the results of games in other classes.
And here’s the deal: By MHSAA rules, if they play Friday, Long can’t pitch. If they play Saturday, he can throw 125 pitches, which is usually far more than enough for him.
Care to guess when Ripley wants to play?
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