Mickey Allen finally can exhale.
Thanks to some timely assistance from the Columbus-Lowndes Recreation Authority (CLRA), Allen and Heritage Academy were able to pull off the 12-team, two-day Mississippi Association of Independent Schools North Class AAA tournament. The event started Saturday with 18 games at the Redbird A, B, and C fields at Propst Park and wrapped up Monday at Heritage Academy. Leake Academy beat Bayou Academy 10-0 to win the championship. Those two schools and North Delta Academy and Kirk Academy were the last four teams standing, so they will advance to the Overall Class AAA State tournament, which will be this weekend at Shiloh Park in Brandon.
Unseasonably warm weather Saturday added to the challenge of playing host to such a big event, but Allen, who is in his first year as Heritage Academy’s fast-pitch head coach, credited the hard work and the generosity of the CLRA staff and the contributions of the parents of his players for making the event a success.
“It went well overall,” Allen said Monday. Allen and Heritage Academy assistant football coach Ryan Deer also helped take care of the field Monday. “It was exciting and good to be a part of.”
Allen said there were more than 500 people at Propst Park on Saturday. He said the attendance reflected the degree of support MAIS softball gets from its fans. Allen credited CLRA Executive Director Greg Lewis and Athletic Coordinator Billy Craig for working with the school to coordinate the event. He thanked Tony Stewart and Efram Coleman, who are part of CLRA’s maintenance crew, for their work in taking care of the fields and re-doing them after each game.
“They went above and beyond,” Allen said “The maintenance crew did an outstanding job.
“CLRA did an outstanding job. Mr. Billy Craig did a great job organizing the umpires. The staff at Columbus-Lowndes did a great job. … I heard tons of people talk about how much they enjoyed the tournament, how organized it was, and how prepared everyone was.”
Allen also thanked Heather Bumgarner and Penny Rhett for their work in the concession stand. He admitted he probably was going to forget parents and others who assisted in filling ice machines, setting everything up, and maintaining two hospitality rooms.
“It really was something to be a part of,” Allen said. “I am very grateful it went as well as it did because I am not going to lie, I was worried sick leading up to it. I wanted it to run well for Heritage Academy and for the Columbus-Lowndes Recreation Authority, and it did. We got nothing but compliments from everybody.”
The only down side to the tournament was Heritage Academy lost to Bayou Academy 15-0 and to Kirk Academy 11-6 to cap a three-win season. With only two seniors who lasted to the end of the season, Allen feels his players learned valuable lessons about how far they need to go to reach the level of the top teams in Class AAA. He saw plenty of signs of maturity throughout the regular season, which saw the team beat Winston Academy and Hebron Christian at the end of the schedule. He said it will be important for as many players as possible to stay involved with softball and to keep playing in the spring.
“I am not disappointed at all,” Allen said. “I think the girls got better and grew mentally. By the end of the year, they knew where to go with the ball before it was hit and started playing at a higher level.”
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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