New Hope High School's baseball team remains on a mission.
Relax. It sounds easier than you would think. After all, when you're playing in front of a packed stadium and you have hit at the top of the lineup for most of your career and you expect to do well and you are raring to go in your first full season with the varsity, things can easily get jumbled in a hurry.
HERNANDO -- New Hope High School junior shortstop Will Golsan had an idea Thursday night. It turned out to be a brilliant plan.
Taylor Stafford didn't have time to be nervous. A single, a bunt single, and a walk in the top of the first inning Sunday took care of any butterflies the New Hope High School junior might have had to start game two of the Mississippi High School Activities Association Class 5A North State title series against Hernando.
Landon Boyd has earned a reputation for being a big-game pitcher. In his final game at Trojan Field, Boyd proved he can do damage at the plate, too.
Sunday was the ideal way for the Boyd family to cap a week. Now maybe Lee Boyd and his wife, Allison, will be able to get a little more sleep.
Like many coaches, Lee Boyd had a plan. In putting that plan into action, the New Hope High School baseball coach faced the usual decisions about playing upperclassmen and underclassmen, who would start at what position, and how he would manage his pitching staff. But an assortment of injuries, illnesses, and ups and downs this season has forced Boyd to re-assess and to reconfigure that puzzle.
PEARL -- The New Hope High School baseball team has followed a winding road with more than its shares of ups and downs this season.
PEARL -- Taylor Stafford didn't hesitate. Nearly three days after throwing more than 100 pitches in a complete-game victory against Hernando, Stafford was faced with another challenge.
STARKVILLE -- A successful first season turned out to be the final one for Brian Jones as baseball coach at Starkville High School. Jones resigned Monday and has taken the same position at Pearl High. The move caught almost all parties involved by surprise.
WEST POINT -- It sounds so simple.
MACON -- This season was about continuing a tradition for Charles Hughes.
LaTerrica Jefferson completed the turnaround Friday afternoon. Nearly four years ago, Jefferson was a ninth-grader with a load of potential. At the time, basketball was a consideration, but it wasn't something the Columbus High School student believed could help put her on the path to a college scholarship.
HAMILTON -- Jeremy Lindsey believes in a winning state of mind. Maybe it was a season's worth of hounding from his Hamilton High School track and field coaches that helped the senior develop a positive frame of mind.
Evan McElrath has thought about playing golf in college for a long time. McElrath admits the process has been stressful at times with college coaches watching from the sidelines. He also has worked his ways through the ups and downs of every-day life that make it difficult to focus on golf.
HERNANDO -- When a team wins a big postseason road game, it usually has at least a couple of hours to celebrate. That's not the case for the New Hope High School baseball team.
CARROLLTON, Ala. -- Phil Fikes doesn't consider himself a "jock." That moniker is typically used to label individuals who are more accomplished in athletics that in the classroom.
For the second-consecutive season, the screams from a bus leaving Lady Trojan Field will ring in the ears of the New Hope High School players. This time, though, there was a weightier sense of finality for four seniors who saw their prep careers end without another shot at an elusive state championship.
CARROLLTON, Ala. -- The Pickens Academy baseball and softball teams had plenty of ways to turn for contributions this season. Six of the standouts for both teams were recognized recently for their performances with Alabama Independent School Association All-Star awards.
STARKVILLE -- For many, a pair of state championships would signal the end of a promising high school career.
1. MSU beats South Carolina to make case for NCAA Regional in Starkville COLLEGE SPORTS
2. New Hope baseball bounces Ridgeland, reaches North State title round HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS
3. New Hope goes small to beat Hernando in game one HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS
4. Birth of son, victory cap wonderful week for Boyds HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS
5. New attitude helps New Hope's Earhart HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS