(#74)
Excerpts from Daily News Sports Writer, Clay Harden, 1978.
“We will take all the breaks we can get to beat Brandon.”
So said Jackson Magnolia Academy baseball coach Rick Clarke after his Raiders had bumped South Central Class AA defending champion and arch-rival Brandon Academy, 5-3 in the Brandon Invitational round robin baseball tournament.
All kinds of breaks were needed after the Rebels beat the Raiders 6 out of 7 times the year before (1977). That streak would become 12 straight wins and 13 out of 14 for Magnolia over the next three years.
The win, which assures the Raiders at least a part of the championship in the three-game tourney, came in rare form.
With the game tied 2-2 in the fifth inning and winning pitcher Ricky Chisolm on first base, Rod Hudson lifted a long fly to center field.
Brandon center-fielder Rusty Lowery went back in front of the fence, set up, reached up for the ball and everything seemed set for a routine putout.
Ah, but that wicked twist of fate…
The ball bounced crazily from Lowery’s glove over the fence for a two-run home run.
“Well, I had a home run which was held up by the wind earlier,” said Hudson. “I sure never hit a home run quite like that one before.“
Later that season, Hudson would hit a bomb over the lights in left field on the same field in a key conference win.
Rick Clarke's Diary of a Mad Baseball Coach 