Caston Thompson, Brookhaven Academy

Some people look the part, and some people play the part, and some people do both.

Brookhaven Academy senior Caston Thompson checks all those boxes as a baseball player. Big, strong and a competitor to his core — Thompson has the type of skills that can carry a team on his broad shoulders.

A left-handed pitcher, Thompson dealt with an upper body injury that limited his time on the mound in 2022. What wasn’t limited was his production at the plate as he led Brookhaven Academy in many offensive categories on their way to the MAIS 5A semifinals and a 26-11 overall record.

For his production and power with the bat, Thompson has been named The Daily Leader All-Area Most Valuable Player.

As a junior, Thompson finished with a 6-2 record on the mound while striking out 71 batters in just over 54 innings of work as he was picked for the All-Area team, All-District and the MAIS All-State Team.

Primarily playing first base this season as a senior, he hit for a .528 average at the plate and drove in 45 runs for coach Caleb Upton.

The 6-foot-3, 245-pound Thompson hit a team-high 13 home runs in powering the Cougar offense. He also smacked 14 doubles on the season.

Thompson stands tall at the plate but doesn’t just get up and swing for the fences with strong hacks. He’s got a keen eye and a patient approach as one can see from the 34 walks drawn by him this year.

In 156 plate appearances in 2022, Thompson struck out just eight times.

He’s also a big target for opposing pitchers to hit, whether they mean to or not, as he was plopped by a pitch a team leading 14 times this season.

Thompson did grit through to get on the mound when his team needed him the most this season after he started feeling discomfort. He threw 22.1 innings and made eight starts while finishing with a 2-1 record on the mound.

He struck out 35 batters, walked 10 and gave up just nine earned runs to finish with a 2.82 ERA this season.

Thompson recently topped of his high school career with a two-run homer in the MAIS 4A-5A-6A All-Star game at Mississippi College which earned him MVP honors for his team.

He was offered and verbally committed to Pearl River Community College at the beginning of his junior year in September of 2020 and made that pledge official by signing a scholarship with the Poplarville based school in November of 2021.

Pearl River recently won the NJCAA DII World Series after being the no. 1 ranked team all season. The Wildcats have a roster that’s loaded with talent as they routinely send players to the best program in the SEC and beyond.

When you’re building a team of the best players in the state, Thompson has already shown that he belongs in that conversation.