From the notebook……..*For MAIS baseball fans championship week is here and four state titles in three classes are on the line as the 2009-2010 athletic season winds to a close. For those who think MAIS baseball takes a back seat to football and basketball the traffic on Southern Sports & Travel would suggest otherwise. The past month has been one of the highest in 16 months with the volume of visitors ballooning week after week.
*The AA State title series will get started on Tuesday as top ranked Brookhaven travels to Jackson to battle second ranked Hillcrest. Brookhaven has advanced with 2-1 series wins over River Oaks, Central Private and Centreville while Hillcrest took a 2-1 series win over Marshall and picked up 2-0 series wins over Manchester and Simpson. Hillcrest has won six straight playoff games since a game one 9-7 loss to Marshall and over the past three games outscored their opponents 35-5.
*I’m still digging through the AA record books to uncover when a school has won a state championship in all three major sports in the same season. Brookhaven is on the brink of accomplishing that lofty feat having won both football and basketball this season. Brookhaven has established themselves as the premier athletic school in class AA and with only baseball remaining they’re just one point from winning their second consecutive MAIS All-Sports Award.
*While Centreville had their hopes of a state championship appearance dashed last week Tiger fans have a lot to look forward to and opposing teams may need to take note. Centreville finished with a 22-11 record and a top five ranking in AA baseball and Coach Jason Horne’s squad is loaded with youth which will put them as favorites to win a state crown in 2011.
*Silliman won its’ 8th straight girls state track title last week under the direction of Coach Sharon Kline. This remarkable achievement deserves tons of recognition and one aspect of the girls track program at Silliman that I learned of recently is the respect and admiration team members have for Coach Kline. It will be interesting to see what school will eventually break the streak and with another strong group of Lady Wildcats progressing it could be a while.
*Marshall head baseball coach Johnny Ray has resigned. This year’s squad finished 27-7 and won the District 1AA title but lost to Hillcrest in three games in round one of the playoffs. Bart Jenkins will be the new head coach in Holly Springs.
*The Hillcrest baseball program has more than just quality athletes and strong fan support. The Cougars have their rally goat which has been a huge part of their post-season. The “Rally Goat” was present in the dugout this past Thursday when Hillcrest eliminated Simpson in Mendenhall for the North AA State Championship. While the stuffed version can been seen in the Cougar dugout on road trips I’m told a live version will be on hand at Hillcrest on Tuesday. When Hillcrest was winning three straight state titles in 2006, 2007 and 2008 each season involved a rally symbol but that tradition was absent last season when a fourth consecutive state title wasn’t fulfilled, hence the “Rally Goat” of 2010.
*I’m putting together a sponsor rate for schools interested in sponsoring Southern Sports & Travel. Space on http://southernsportsandtravel.com/ will be allotted to those schools who wish to purchase sponsor ads which will offset expenses associated with covering athletic events. The SouthernSportsandTravel.com site will also solicit business advertising this summer prior to the 2010 football season. Not only will SouthernSportsandTravel.com enable advertising but the site will provide video and audio reports and interviews beginning with the 2010 football season.
*The Southern Sports & Travel Facebook page is going strong. This tool allows for quick photo uploads for viewing after games and also allows for fan photo uploads. Here's the link:
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/pages/Southern-Sports-Travel/117067531648513?ref=ts
