(#25) At Magnolia Academy we always seemed to lose to our neighborhood, arch-rival Mississippi Baptist at least once each season. Either we played differently when we played them or they played differently when they played us. Or both. But it could have just been facing crafty pitchers like Bo Kirby and others, who were masters of screwing with the heads of their … Continue reading “Take It All Off!”
Month: October 2021
Moose Tales: The Run Over the Catcher Drill
(#24) I got moved to catcher during the fall of my junior year at Forest Hill in 1971. Coach Perry said it was because I was such a good glove at second base and he really needed me behind the plate to handle all of the wild pitchers we had, but I really think it … Continue reading Moose Tales: The Run Over the Catcher Drill
My Favorite Magnolia Academy Baseball Memories, Volume 1
(#23) In no particular order..... We won 26 championships in six seasons...unprecedented. Nobody ever won that many tournament and playoff championships in that span of time. We were the first private school team to win 30+ games in a season and the second Mississippi High School to do it. Clinton High School went 32-2 in … Continue reading My Favorite Magnolia Academy Baseball Memories, Volume 1
Chisolm
(#22) It was spring of 1979 and the Magnolia Academy Raiders were leading arch-rival Brandon Academy Rebels 2-0 in the bottom of the seventh inning on the road in Brandon. Magnolia ace right-hander Ricky Chisolm was on the mound. He was on cruise control, dominating the Rebels, pitching a 2-hit shutout, with no walks and … Continue reading Chisolm
Double No-No’s
(#20) (Most recent fine-tuning, October, 2024) In a 1994 doubleheader at Wesson (MS), Copiah-Lincoln‘s hard throwing right-hander Chris Weekly pitched a complete game no-hitter against the Eagles in game 1. In game 2, Hinds‘ hard throwing right-hander David Townsend returned the favor and pitched a complete game no-hitter of his own against the Wolfpack. That’s something you don’t see every day. … Continue reading Double No-No’s
Rags and the Map
(#21) (Most recent fine-tuning, October, 2024) We were playing Delgado Community College (NOLA) in the championship game of the 1989 Region 23 Tournament in Meridian. We were undefeated, so the Dolphins would have to beat us twice to advance to the Eastern District Tournament the following week. The winner of that four team, double elimination tournament would advance to the JUCO World Series in Grand … Continue reading Rags and the Map
Season of a Lifetime
(#19) During the 1989 season at Hinds, a converted side-winding closer named Mark Anders from Ouachita Christian High School in Monroe, Louisiana, pitched in 35 of our 54 games, won eleven games (11 wins and 2 losses), saved a HCC record nine games (a record broken by my son Josh twenty years later), had an earned run average of 1.75, … Continue reading Season of a Lifetime
The Great Do-Over
(#18) (Most recent fine-tuning, October, 2024) Hinds was hosting South Division rival Pearl River in the first game of a double header during the 1994 season. In the bottom of the second with the bases loaded, our leadoff hitter Andre Thompson hit a line drive down the right field line which landed about a foot foul; clearly foul, to everybody in the … Continue reading The Great Do-Over
Who’s on First?
(#17) When my son Jake was a kid, he came up with a funny spin on the famous Abbott and Costello routine, Who's on First? His cousin, Tyler Weir (pronounced "Where") was a senior catcher for Jackson Academy during the 2007 season. One of the Raider's top pitchers was a hard throwing right-hander named Brent … Continue reading Who’s on First?
Bo and Sam
(#16) We were in the Superdome in New Orleans years ago, watching an exhibition game between the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox. My friends, George McQuitter and Richard Kelly, were having a friendly argument about whether or not Bo Jackson could hit the video screen on the wall in the third deck … Continue reading Bo and Sam
Rick Clarke's Diary of a Mad Baseball Coach 