After playing for Curt Fowler last summer, Brent Hallmark wanted to play for him again this summer.
Hallmark will get his wish as he will play for the Tippah County Tribe in the Cotton States Baseball League.
The only difference is Hallmark won”t play for the same team he played for last summer in the wood bat league for college players.
Fowler has taken over as the coach of the Tribe after being an assistant for the Golden Triangle Jets last summer.
As a result of the change, Hallmark decided he wanted to follow Fowler to the Tribe.
“I really like coach Fowler,” Hallmark said. “I really wanted to be on his team, so I asked to be put on that team.”
Hallmark, who was 1-1 with three saves and 1.33 ERA as a sophomore right-handed pitcher at Delta State this season, is one of five players on the Tribe”s roster who played for the Jets last season. He”ll be reunited with first baseman Nate Bell, outfielder Hunter Bolden, shortstop/pitcher Dalton Kulas, and catcher Evan Weibel.
Hallmark, a 2007 graduate of New Hope High School, is one of four players from the Golden Triangle on rosters in the CSBL. New Hope graduate Ty Shirley (outfielder) and Starkville High School graduate Will Sanders (first baseman) will play for the Jets, and West Lowndes graduate Demarcus Rieves (first baseman/third baseman) will play for the Tupelo Thunder.
Each team in the CSBL will get only one day of practice this week in preparation for the start of the season in June. The Thunder practiced Monday, while the Jets practice at 5 p.m. today.
The Cotton States Baseball League is made up of five 18-player teams, and all games will be played at Legion Field at the New Albany Sportsplex. The Jets will open against the Thunder at 6:30 p.m. June 3, while the Tribe will open against the Tallahatchie Dealers at 6:30 p.m. June 4.
Hallmark looks forward to being reunited with Fowler the players he played with on the Jets last season, especially Weibel, his catcher last summer.
“He knows what he”s doing,” Hallmark said of Fowler. “He”s a baseball guy, period. I really enjoy being with him. He really has respect for his players. That”s fun to be around.”
Sanders started out at East Mississippi Community College in Scooba, but will play at Mississippi Delta Community College next season.
Shirley played his sophomore season this year at Northeast Mississippi C.C. in Booneville.
Golden Triangle Jets coach Gregg Tucker will get his first chance today to see what he has to work with when the team practices for the first time.
“I haven”t met any of them,” said Tucker, who is the head baseball coach at Baldwyn High. “All I”ve done is contacted them and let them know practice times.
“My plans are to let everybody get a chance to play. These guys want to play. It”s for them. It”s a players” league. I”m going to go out there and throw everybody into the mix and let them play and hope they have fun.”
In addition to Shirley and Sanders, the Jets will feature University of Memphis outfielder Daniel Milhouse, Arkansas State first baseman Brandon Milhouse, Tennessee Tech second baseman/catcher Evan Frazier, Lambuth first baseman/catcher TJ Cox, and Lambuth right-handed pitcher Brian Shipman.
Because of the experience, Tucker isn”t concerned about a lack of practice time before the start of the season.
“These guys have been playing a lot of baseball,” Tucker said. “It”s just an opportunity for them to continue to play. I don”t think anyone on my roster is coming straight out of high school.”
Rieves got a feel for his team Monday when the Thunder practiced for the first time.
“It went fine,” Rieves said. “We went over a few plays and took a little BP and outfield.”
Rieves also isn”t concerned about a lack of practice prior to the start of the season.
“It”s like coach said, it might be four or five games before we know where everybody needs to be,” Rieves said. “It”s going to take time to get our timing down. It”s all right. The other teams have the same thing. Nobody is going to have the advantage. Everybody is going to be the same.”
Rieves wanted to play for the Jets but was placed with the Thunder.
“I applied for the Jets,” Rieves said. “I”m not the only guy that got flopped around. A couple of guys got switched around for position reasonings, I guess.”
Rieves, a 2007 graduate of West Lowndes, batted .353 with a home run and 25 RBIs and made first team All-State as a sophomore at Coahoma C.C. in Clarksdale this season. He will play at Southern University next season.
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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