Month: December 2021

Recruiting Made Easy

(#75) I got a call back in the late summer of 1993. It was from a young man from California and he said he was interested in playing baseball at Hinds. His name was Eric Bock. He was moving to Mississippi to the Florence area where his wife's father was the president of Wesley Biblical … Continue reading Recruiting Made Easy →

Hudson’s Homer Saves Magnolia

(#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. … Continue reading Hudson’s Homer Saves Magnolia →

Renfrow, Clarke Head All-City – 1979

(#73) The Clarion-Ledger - Jackson Daily News, Sunday, June 3, 1979 by Bernard Fernandez In the closest balloting since a Chicago newspaper miscalled the Truman-Dewey election, Wingfield pitcher Steve Renfrow and Magnolia Academy coach Rick Clarke have taken the top spots on The Clarion-Ledger & Jackson Daily News All-City baseball team. A panel of local … Continue reading Renfrow, Clarke Head All-City – 1979 →

Moose Tales: Scared Moose Always Dangerous

(#72) Excerpts from the Jackson Daily News, by Larry Kiedrowski, April, 1972. Forest Hill baseball coach Bill "Moose" Perry has connived his Rebels right into the driver's seat in the District 6-AA championship race. Using a bit of psychology and a goodly amount of baseball savvy, the Rebels coach has his team on top of … Continue reading Moose Tales: Scared Moose Always Dangerous →

The Most Famous Home Run in Hinds History (Video)

(#71) The most famous home run in Hinds baseball history (and there have been a few) is Terry Gray's three-run bomb over the 410 sign in the first game of the JUCO World Series in Grand Junction, Colorado; May, 1989. (Thanks to Jeff Long for the 28 year old VHS tapes and to Jake Clarke … Continue reading The Most Famous Home Run in Hinds History (Video) →

The Scout Behind the Scenes

(#70) Here's a little known behind the scenes story on the life-changing events for the great Chad Bradford. Bradford graduated from Byram High School in the spring of 1993. After he failed to receive any offers from any of the Division I or Division II schools, he signed with Hinds. He won six games in … Continue reading The Scout Behind the Scenes →

More Moose Tales

(#69) When I was in the 10th grade at Forest Hill I played second base and was pretty good with the glove. A senior, Buddy Oxley was the starter and he was pretty good, too and I learned a lot from him. He gave me the nickname "Hoover" because he said I was like a … Continue reading More Moose Tales →

The Tale of Two Home Runs

(#68) During my first season at Magnolia Academy in 1977, I put on a suicide squeeze play. Everybody used to do it a lot back in those days. Not so much now. Especially the suicide squeeze. Too much pressure. 😁 Richard Kelly was the bunter and Ricky Chisolm was the baserunner at third. Chisolm broke … Continue reading The Tale of Two Home Runs →

1989 – The Turning Point

(#67) Every great season has a definite "turning point," when something happens to change the direction and fortunes of a team. Very few teams go from start to finish without having to make some adjustments, especially baseball teams with such a long season and so many games. During the historical and record-setting 1989 season, I … Continue reading 1989 – The Turning Point →