Column: State colleges enjoy success on diamond

By Staff
May 18, 2003
Scanning the Southern sports scene on a Sunday while wondering whatever happened to Bert Jones …
Just in case you've been locked in your bedroom closet for the last dozen years, I have a news flash for you – there is some pretty good baseball played in Mississippi.
Not only is that true on the youth league and high school level, but it is the norm for the state's colleges and universities as well.
Not so sure? Well, let me knock some of those ignorance infested cobwebs out of your head.
Mississippi State, Ole Miss and Southern Mississippi are all but shoe-ins to receive bids to the NCAA Division I Regionals in a couple of weeks, while Delta State hosted an NCAA Division II Regional this weekend.
If that isn't enough, Mississippi College in Clinton is playing host to the NCAA Division III Central Regional at Frierson Field. And to top that off, would you like to guess who is one of the five other teams to join the Chocs in the double-elimination tournament.
That's right, their neighbor in Jackson, Millsaps College.
If that isn't convincing enough, then let me remind you that just a couple weeks ago that William Carey in Hattiesburg won the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference Tournament and then played host to an NAIA Regional.
That, at least in Mississippi, is obviously the case.
And while it is true that not all of this state college's and universities have their rosters stocked purely with in-state products, there are enough of them to make a difference.
And lets not forget that it has long been the practice of our neighboring states, and sometimes states that are not so near, to come into Mississippi and raid us of our best players.
There is talent in this state. All you have to do is open your eyes.
Checking out
the SEC race
With its 11-3 win over the University of Arkansas on Friday, LSU won it's 13th SEC baseball championship.
That is really no surprise. What did surprise me was that it was the Tigers first league diamond title since 1997. That just goes to show how balanced the SEC really is.
The SEC West has been the dominant division so far this year and going into Saturday's game it was still very possible that all six of the West's teams would make next week's eight-team SEC Baseball Tournament in the Birmingham suburb of Hoover.
LSU, Ole Miss, Mississippi State and Auburn are assured of spots from the West, while South Carolina is in from the East.
Arkansas and Alabama are on the bubble, but the Crimson Tide should get in and it is likely that Arkansas will.
Going into Saturday's action the Razorbacks and Tide were both 13-15, while Tennessee of the Eastern Division was 13-15, Florida was 12-15-1 and Vanderbilt was 12-16.
UT and Vandy are playing each other, while Florida is playing a very weak Kentucky team. Arkansas is tangling with LSU, and Alabama is in Starkville taking on State.
However it turns out, there should be eight strong teams gathering at the Hoover Met when the tournament begins this week.
Well, isn't that
just plain amazing
Those who follow NASCAR Winston Cup racing are familiar with the plight of Steve Park.
The up-and-coming driver, and the first hire by Dale Earnhardt Sr. for DEI Motorsports, was seriously injured in a freak accident last year and just hasn't seemed to regain his skills.
His vision was blurred for awhile and his speech slurred. There was even some not-so-quiet mumbling going on in and around the Winston Cup garage that he may be a danger out on the track.
So, it really wasn't a surprise when DEI cut him loose a couple week's ago, replacing him in the No. 1 car with Jeff Green.
But low and behold, Richard Childress Racing, who had just cut Green loose, hired Park to replace Green in the No. 30 car.
Did you get all that?
Well, probably not. But, in a nutshell here it is – Green and Park traded rides.
And just as those kind of even player trades sometimes work out in Major League Baseball when guys are just in need of a change of scenery, it may pan out for both teams on the track.
It has already paid off for RCR because Park won the pole for the Winston Open on Friday.
Park seems to be a nice guys and is certainly likable. You just have to hope the new scenery and team members can help speed him along toward recovery.
And as for Jeff Green, well you certainly better keep and eye on him at Daytona in July and Talladega in the fall, because it is probably that he will be running up front in those restrictor plate races along side teammates Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Michael Waltrip.