2023-24 was one heck of a finale for Topher Jones’ high school career.
After leading the Hernando football team at quarterback, the Mississippi State baseball signee would help his team to a special season on the diamond. The Tigers made a run all the way to the state championship series before falling to Brandon.
“This last baseball season was awesome,” Jones said. “We had a new coach come in and it was his first year as a head coach. Every coach was under 30 so our seniors had a bigger role than usual as far as leadership. We’ve been close all four years and were finally able to make a run to the state championship. We came up short, but it was a great year.”
Thanks in large part to the foundation laid by Jones and his teammates, the Tigers have the arrow pointed up in Desoto County. Hernando is becoming a hot destination for high school baseball players and have put together back-to-back seasons of 23 or more wins with two-straight district titles.
Desoto Central has long been the program to beat in the area, but Jones believes things are changing.
“One of the things we’ve had to battle up to this year was that we were mediocre compared to everybody else in Desoto County,” Jones said. “We wanted to beat Desoto Central and Lewisburg and go from there and we did that. Our program is night and day from where it was when I first started and it’s just getting started. I have a lot of faith in our coach (Taylor Karr) and the staff.”
Up next is a career in Starkville for Jones.
The talented infielder committed to the Diamond Dawgs all the way back in 2022 and has never wavered in that commitment. The opportunity to wear the M over S is something that he always wanted and he’s going to get that shot this year.
“It was really a dream come true. I’ve been a lifelong State fan and I knew where I wanted to play,” Jones said. “It’s exactly what I want to do with the next three or four years of my life and I just want to affect the team in a positive way whether it be as a starter or coming off the bench.”
Dating back to his freshman season at Hernando, Jones was a career .331 hitter with 116 hits in 117 career games. He had 92 RBI, 29 doubles, 14 home runs and two triples.
At State, Jones is likely to get his first look at third base for Chris Lemonis’ team. He believes he has what it takes to help the team relatively early.
“Offensively, I’m a guy that can put the bat on the ball and I don’t strike out a ton,” Jones said. “Defensively, I’m going to block everything up and not let anything get by me which I think is what the coaches are looking for on the hot corner.”
Jones is coming to State with a talented freshman class. Most of the group wasn’t able to spend a lot of time getting to know each other until the official visit and it’s been a close group since.
The Hernando native is a couple of weeks away from joining forces with players from all around the country and he’s excited about the opportunity.
“We’re a really close knit group that really hit it off on our visit,” Jones said of the signees. “This freshman class has a chance to get us back to the national championship. If we can put the paper to the field, we can do some special things.
“They’re really looking forward to us coming. Every time I’ve talked to the coaches they’ve been really supportive and easy to talk to so I’m excited to play for them.”
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