Notes, quotes and a thought or two…
I’m officially to the point of I am no longer a young sports writer.
If I needed any proof of that, I got it this past week when the Mississippi High School Activities Association announced that they were no longer going to play slow-pitch softball.
I say that I’m an old sports writer because I was there for the first time the MHSAA offered a state championship in the sport, which was won by Newton County back in the 1992. That was the game where the Newton County and West Lauderdale rivalry was truly born, in my opinion. The Lady Cougars won the first of many state championships that day.
And I was there last week when Lake captured the Class I state championship, it’s first in school history.
So, I can officially say I’m old enough to have covered a sport for its entire championship life in Mississippi.
While I’m sure there are some coaches who will be upset that they don’t get to practice with their softball teams all year long, it was the right decision by the MHSAA.
Now, I’m curious to see if Newton, Lake, Union and Newton County will now pick up volleyball. Schools like Nanih Waiya and Noxapater have already picked it up and I’m sure more will come. I don’t know whether or not I will like volleyball or not but all I can say is that it has to be better than slow-pitch softball for a few reasons. One and mainly, it’s played indoors so there are no heat or rain issues. Secondly, it’s a scholarship sport. I suspect it will be a while before any of our area girls get scholarships in the sport but just wait. Several of the state’s junior colleges are now offering the sports and I bet it’s not long before East Central starts a program.
Bottom line is slow-pitch served its purpose to give young ladies another sport to play. Now they can move on to volleyball.
Speaking of Lake
While I’m on the subject of softball, I would like to tip my hat to the Lake Lady Hornets, who won their first-ever state championship in softball last week.
I suspected this summer that Lake was going to be pretty good but had no idea how good they were going to be in coach Jake Loper’s first year.
After a disastrous season with Keith Essary, Lake rebounded nicely with Loper. I knew Lake had made the right decision when I visited there this summer to talk with the football coaches for my preseason stories. Lake was in the weight room working out that day and they were getting after it. I saw young ladies doing some of the best squats I had seen that summer and working very hard. I knew then that they had the right guy for the job.
While fast-pitch is a different game and relies primarily on pitching, look for Lake to be an early favorite there as well. The Lady Hornets are just a year removed from playing for the 2A title and return all of their pitching from last year. I suspect that the Lady Hornets will be hard to handle this season in fast-pitch if they take the same work ethic into this off-season as they did this summer.
Another tip of the hat
Although it has been a struggle at times, the Newton County football team has qualified for the playoffs in football.
While that may not be a big deal for some folks, it’s huge for second-year coach Bobby Bass. Winning programs aren’t built overnight but the Cougars are 5-5 on the season and have won two straight division games to qualify for the playoffs.
In his second year, Bass has installed a toughness in his players that was much needed. That was evident by the fact that Bass opted to play his game in the rain on Friday night while others deferred to play on Thursday night. Now I don’t blame the folks who did play on Thursday night because they surely made extra money at the gate and saved their fields all in one swoop.
But for Bass, it wasn’t about gate receipts or dry fields. It was about seeing if his team was mentally tough enough to fight through the elements and grind out a win and that’s exactly what they did.
The Cougars, who are still playing a ton of young guys, have taken an important step this season by making the playoffs, putting them right on track with where they need to be in this rebuilding process.
While those two steps are tough, the next two of winning playoff games and competing for championships are even tougher. But the Cougars are on the right path and should be applauded for their efforts this season.
Robbie Robertson is sports editor for The Newton County Appeal.
