(#95) 1989 Hinds Eagles The 2022 JUCO baseball season is underway. And the race is on for the NJCAA Division II World Series in Enid, Oklahoma. Part of the dream of going to Hinds in the fall of 1982 was to build a program that would win championships and do some things that no other … Continue reading The Chase is on for the Mississippi JUCOs
Category: Baseball: General
Records are Made to be Broken
(#90) My final team lost our last 9 games, a record setting feat which included a conference game played the afternoon after the prom, pitching a no-hitter against an opponent and still losing 1-0, extra inning and other close losses, a couple of blowouts and embarrassments, having my insubordinate assistant coach promoted to my athletic … Continue reading Records are Made to be Broken
Teamwork
(#87) My dad gave me this great illustration of teamwork. Given to me by my dad, Robert (Bob) Clarke early in my coaching career.
Baseball is Not Life
(#84) (Fine-tuned in September, 2024) Baseball has been a Clarke family tradition for as long as I can remember. I coached for 32 years and my oldest son Josh was hitting off a batting tee at the age of two. He started playing youth baseball at 9 years old (we skipped tee ball). I helped … Continue reading Baseball is Not Life
Mississippi Olympic Gold
(#80) 2000 - Sydney, Australia (Gold Medal) Nevermind that Cuba's Olympic baseball record against the United States stood at an impeccable 4-0 or that Team USA had its struggles a week earlier in the preliminaries. That didn't seem to matter when the U.S. took the field against the heavily-favored Cubans. Behind Ben Sheets' three-hit, complete … Continue reading Mississippi Olympic Gold
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
Hinds Athletics Launches Inaugural #Giving Tuesday Initiative
(#60) What is #GivingTuesday? Hinds Community College Athletics and the Hinds Community College Foundation are partnering together for the first annual #GivingTuesday initiative on November 30th, 2021! #GivingTuesday is a day created to encourage charitable generosity to counteract the massive consumer rush on Black Friday and Cyber Monday. In 2020, an astonishing $2.47 billion was … Continue reading Hinds Athletics Launches Inaugural #Giving Tuesday Initiative
Ballbusters
(#59) This is a great article explaining what we already know... the "most influential, yet least discussed biological component relating to male sports performance; Yep... balls." They are the symbolism for a combination of confidence, motivation and determination.... toughness. The "boys" "govern athletic achievement far more than the triceps or any other muscle." (quotations taken … Continue reading Ballbusters
The Boo Ferriss Baseball Card Auction
(#58) I invited two legendary Delta State University baseball coaches, Boo Ferriss and Mike Kinnison to be the featured speakers at our "Step Up to the Plate" pre-season banquet when I coached almost a full season at Pearl High School in the spring of 2006. 🙂 It was held at what was then the Farm … Continue reading The Boo Ferriss Baseball Card Auction
Mississippi JUCO’s in the World Series
(#57) (Updated: May 20, 2025) Suplizio Field, Grand Junction, CO USA Stadium, MIllington, TN David Allen Memorial Ballpark, Enid, OK These are the Mississippi Community/Junior College baseball teams who have participated in the various NJCAA World Series since play began in 1958. * 9 Mississippi JUCOs have played in a NJCAA World Series; Meridian (7), … Continue reading Mississippi JUCO’s in the World Series
Rick Clarke's Diary of a Mad Baseball Coach 