The ride ended short of a championship, but Stacy Hester sure enjoyed it.
Hester, the former New Hope High School baseball coach, guided the Golden Triangle Jets to the title game of the Cotton States Baseball League, only to see his team lose to the North Delta Dealers 15-3 on Sunday.
The loss capped a turnaround from a slow start that saw the Jets 1-4 in the middle of June and 5-8 early in July.
But the Jets, who featured former New Hope High standout Gabe Franks and former Starkville High standout Cody Berryhill, rebounded and played their best ball at the end of the season, Hester said.
The Jets finished the regular season in third place in the five-team league. They defeated the Tallahatchie Rascals 5-1 on Saturday in the league championship series before losing in the title game.
“We did fine. It was a good experience and I enjoyed it a lot. There were a lot of good kids,” Hester said. “The most fun was getting back on the field and just enjoying the game. That”s what it is all about.”
Hester said one of the problems with the third-year, summer collegiate wood bat league in New Albany is it offers little time for coaches to train with the players. The busy schedule limits players from getting the repetitions and the chance to work on finer points, but Hester said he still was proud to see his players mature as the season progressed.
The Jets reached the title game despite hitting a league low .191 and scoring the second fewest runs (65).
In the final three games of the regular season, the Jets won a game 2-0 in which they were no-hit. They lost a game in which they had three hits and they had only two hits in a 3-1 victory against Tupelo. Franks had one of the hits and an RBI.
In the no-hitter, Arkansas State”s Bradley Wallace allowed just two hits and struck out 15. Hester praised the performance of Wallace, one of the few players on his roster with Division I playing experience. He said 10 of the original 18 players on his roster didn”t show up and the Jets were forced to go with players who didn”t have as much experience as their opponents.
“We did it with pitching and defense. That is what I have always done,” Hester said. “We got kids in the right positions (as the year went on) and we got better. That is what I have always stressed. I don”t care what level of play you”re at, if you have pitching and defense you”re going to be successful.”
Hester said it was great to be back on the field and to do what he loves to do. He said he hopes to get back into coaching at the high school level. His success at securing a job as a high school coach would determine if he would return to the Jets next season, he said.
“I really enjoyed being around some good coaches,” Hester said. “It is all about getting the kids. If I do this again next year I am going to make sure to try to recruit some kids. … I thought the level of play was good and it was a step up for a lot of guys who had competed a year or two at junior college.”
New Hope won 551 games in Hester”s 18 years as coach. It won state titles in 1996, ”98, and 2003, six North Half state titles, advanced to nine Final Fours since 1995, and was nationally ranked seven times.
In 1996, the Trojans set a national record and a state of Mississippi record for wins went they went 43-0. In 1996-97, New Hope won 51 consecutive games, including 68 straight against teams from the state of Mississippi.
In May 2009, Lowndes County School District Superintendent Mike Halford recommended Hester not be retained as New Hope High baseball coach. The school board then voted 5-0 to accept Halford”s recommendation.
In October 2010, Hester and former New Hope High Principal Lynn Wright filed suit in federal court against the Lowndes County School District. They are asking for actual damages, court costs, and their jobs back. Depositions in the case are being taken.
The district released Wright and Hester for the improper purchase of a $15,000 lawnmower in 2007 to cut the grass at New Hope High athletic facilities.
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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