Ken “Buddy” Dill will get a chance to cap his senior year in style.
The multi-talented Oak Hill Academy senior will join teammate Powell Tabor and Oak Hill Academy baseball coach Mitch Bohon in the Mississippi Association of Independent Schools (MAIS) Senior All-Star game on May 26 at Smith-Wills Stadium in Jackson.
“It was a little more special because I have been playing this one the longest and I felt like I have had a good track record from the four years I have played,” Dill said. “I have been playing baseball since I was 4 years old. This is the sport I have played and loved for almost all of my life, so this one had a little more meaning.”
Starkville Academy’s Brooks Roberts will be an assistant coach to Central Hinds’ Doug Shanks for the Class AAA Blue team. He will coach Carter Roach, Landen Rogers, Dillon Carrell, and Codie Futral in the game, which will start at 3:30 p.m. Saturday, May 26.
Central Academy’s Preston Dawkins will play in the Class A All-Star game.
Dill hit .480 with 45 hits, 16 doubles, two triples, four home runs, 40 RBIs, and 25 stolen bases.
“You couldn’t ask for a better one,” Bohon said. “He was a tone-setter. Offensively, he carried the team the entire year. He did everything and more you would ask him to do.
“He was an unselfish guy. He was a guy who is hitting right at .500, but if you wanted him to lay a bunt down he would lay it down and not even question you. He is the kid any coach could ask for.”
Dill also was played in the MAIS Senior All-Star games in football and in boys basketball. He will continue his baseball career at East Mississippi Community College in the fall.
“It was a fun season,” Dill said. “It had its ups and downs. It started off a little bit slow, but we never gave up and came back and fought back to win the conference and give ourselves a chance to win to make a run in the playoffs. Even up until the last moment when all of the chaos was going on, we never gave up. We still fought and gave ourselves a chance. That is all I could have asked.”
Like the other two games, Dill said he appreciates being selected because playing in the game is like a reward for all of the work he put in the last four years.
Tabor primarily played center field for Oak Hill Academy (18-16), which lost to Canton Academy in Game 3 of the second-round MAIS Class AA playoff series.
“Powell is the ultimate team player,” Bohon said. “He is unselfish. He does what you ask him to do no matter what the situation is, no matter what the count is. Defensively, he can play anywhere on the field, and he is exceptional at it. He is by far the best defender I have coached since I have been here.
“He is a yes-sir, no-sir type of kid. He is completely humble. I was beyond excited for him when he got in because he deserved as much as anybody on this team.
Tabor, who also played football and boys basketball at the school, credits his father, Jeremy, for helping him become a versatile player. He said his dad coached him in rec leagues in West Point until he was about 12 years old. In fact, he said he still has a glove he used when he was little. Tabor said he uses the glove when he warms up but he doesn’t use it in games. It is one of three he has to make sure he is ready to play any position.
“It is great to be able to play against the best players in the state,” Tabor said. “It is my senior year, so you want to go out on a high note.”
Tabor also played left field, second base, third base, right field, and pitcher. He hit .315 with 31 hits, six doubles, one home run, 34 RBIs, and 24 stolen bases. He committed one error playing a variety of positions.
Dawkins played pitcher, first base, and second base. He had a .531 batting average, a .595 on-base percentage, and a .813 slugging percentage. He also had a 3.02 earned run average.
Rogers, the Class AAA District 2 MVP), went 6-2 with a 2.38 earned run average. In 44 innings he allowed 37 hits and struck out 40. He also had a .304 batting average with four doubles.
Roach had a .373 average with one home run, six doubles, 16 RBIs, and 19 runs scored.
Carrell hit .404 with two home runs, eight doubles, and 21 RBIs. He struck out only twice in 57 at-bats.
Futral also hit .407 and had one home run, three doubles, 13 RBIs, and scored 11 runs.
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @cdispatch.com
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 37 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.