Lee Boyd was well aware of the expectations when he accepted the job as New Hope High School baseball coach at the age of 26.
“You are supposed to win state championships here,” Boyd said. “You are a little nervous about taking this type of position at the age I was. However, I played in the program. I grew up around the program. I knew the expectations. I knew what we had to do.”
In Boyd’s fourth year, the Trojans did what many in this community feel like they are supposed to do every year when New Hope defeated Pascagoula to win the Mississippi High School Activities Association’s Class 5A state championship.
For New Hope, it was the school’s fifth baseball state title, and first since 2003. For his squad’s success, Boyd has been chosen as The Dispatch’s Prep Baseball Coach of the Year.
“It is special (to win a state championship),” Boyd said. “To know this group is now part of the special tradition of New Hope baseball is outstanding. I know how hard they have worked. I know how important this was to each of them. It is a special group. They have worked hard and done everything possible to get to this point and deserve the success.”
Stacy Hester coached the Trojans for 18 seasons and won three state championships. Boyd played for Hester from 1998 to 2001, and was a member of the 1998 state championship team. Boyd’s younger brother, Russ, played on the 2003 state championship team, which won a state-record 43 games with no defeats.
Boyd was asked to take over for Hester after he wasn’t retained following the 2009 season. While knowing the expectation was to win games, the approach appeared obvious. The first step was to keep New Hope fielding competitive teams.
“I really don’t know how detailed the plan was (when taking over),” said Boyd, who has won more games in each of his first four seasons. “I wanted the kids to work hard and wanted them to take pride in what they were doing. The expectations were from the outside and were high. I knew we had good kids in the program. I knew we had hard workers in the program.
“You also have to have talent to win, but you have to have the good kids and the good work ethic to have a great team.”
In his first two seasons, Boyd won 47 of the 64 games he coached. Despite playing with a tremendous amount of youth, the Trojans were preparing to make a run at elite status. In 2012, New Hope dropped a heart-breaking series to Hernando in the North State championship round.
“Everybody was down after that loss,” New Hope junior shortstop Will Golsan said. “Coach Boyd told us to keep believing and keep working. He has always been in our corner. Even when we think we can’t do something, he believes in us.”
New Hope won the series opener against Hernando before dropping one-run decisions in the final two games of the series.
“In the second game, we had bases loaded, one out in the seventh inning with Taylor (Stafford) up,” Boyd said. “That is the situation we want. A line drive is hit and the first baseman makes a great play for a double play. We lose that game and don’t recover (in the series).
“You want to talk motivation. It was all right there after that. You are inches away from playing for the state championship and then you are not. The whole season happened the way it did because of how close we came the year before.”
A determined team came back and worked even harder this season. Still, the odds appear stacked against the Trojans. Oxford beat New Hope 8-1 in Columbus to help secure the Class 5A, Region 2 championship.
“I was really worried because the whole season (was about winning a state championship),” Boyd said. “We were losing to teams we were better than or should have at least been more competitive with. When you look at a 27-9 final record, you think that is a great year. It sure did seem like all of our losses came there at the end.
“To the kids’ credit, they turned it around and played really well at the right time.”
Boyd deflected praise about the championship run to his team. He also credited a decision he made two seasons ago.
“I was working as hard as I possibly could, I felt like I was doing everything,” Boyd said. “Finally, after my second season, I turned it all over to God. I told Him you put me here for a reason. I told Him to use me to push these kids. I really turned a lot of things over to Him. I could feel the change. I think I coached better. I think the players played better. Sometimes, you get caught up in the moment. I had to re-assess some things.
“My job became better than I thought it was possible it could be.”
What Boyd never questioned was the type of character he had in his program.
“Not only have we been together for four years, the kids work hard, take pride in the program, and know what to do,” Boyd said. “I can draw up a practice schedule and they can execute it without me even being there. The upperclassmen are in charge. They know how we do things. Even the players who aren’t vocal leaders lead by example.
“If somebody is late or if they are not doing something the way we want it done, it is a player who gets that corrected.”
That type of character helped the community embrace a special group of players.
“We played on a Sunday night for the North State championship and there was not a place to sit out here,” Boyd said. “We had the biggest backing of any team in Pearl. We played in the middle of the afternoon on a Wednesday and people took time off from work to come. Some of these people had no real connection to the program. They were from the community and wanted to see these kids play.”
The season was even more special for Boyd and his wife, Allison, who welcomed their second child, son Brady, during the playoffs. Their daughter, Audrey, was born three years ago, also during baseball season.
“I have been blessed in so many ways,” Boyd said. “However, my timing is a little off. We need to be doing this during the offseason. My players have been real supportive and helped out in so many ways. New Hope baseball is all about family. The players know they can call or text me any time about anything. The community is all in this together.”
That’s the kind of coach-player relationship Boyd wanted when he became a teacher and a coach. After playing baseball at New Hope, he spent two years at East Mississippi Community College and at the University of West Alabama. There was never a doubt coaching would be next. That part of the career has included a one-year stint as coach at Immanuel Christian School, one year as an assistant coach at Columbus High, and two years as an assistant coach at Neshoba Central High.
“Coach Boyd is the best,” said New Hope senior outfielder Trae Collins, who is playing football the University of Southern Mississippi. “He knows how to put it all together. He understands and he relates. Playing baseball at New Hope was an already incredible experience, even before we won the championship.”
Boyd felt the same way as a player. Parents Andy and Sherry had the double thrill of watching their oldest son coach a state championship team and their third son, Landon, playing a key role in the title as a pitcher and third baseman.
“Winning a state championship is special,” Boyd said. “To have your little brother on the field when it happened made it even more amazing. I remember dropping him off at kindergarten. It does not seem that long ago.”
It also doesn’t seem like 10 years since the Trojans last hoisted a state championship trophy. Boyd and the Trojans helped end that wait in May to put New Hope back on top.
Scott was sports editor for The Dispatch.
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