Seconds after New Hope closed out Oxford 8-5 in a Mississippi High School Activities Association (MHSAA) prep baseball contest Tuesday night, a wild celebration erupted.
The New Hope student section sent some barbs in the direction of the Oxford players. The Oxford players did not take kindly to the harassment.
New Hope players then celebrated wildly with their fans and tempers flared between the coaches as they met at home plate.
“It’s only one win, really it’s only one win,” said a New Hope manager as he looked on at the scene. “However, it is Oxford.”
That pretty much summed up everything at Trojan Field.
For the past eight seasons, New Hope and Oxford competed as region rivals. Next season, realignment will send Oxford to Class 6A, while New Hope will go to Class 4A. It’s a safe bet to say the two teams will miss one another.
A true rivalry is one that transcends all sports. This rivalry checked off all the boxes.
Oxford has held the upper hand in football and girls basketball. New Hope has acquitted itself quite well in boys basketball and baseball. Oxford-New Hope soccer matches and softball games were never lacking either.
What Oxford-New Hope always delivered was great theater. The underdog would play with great passion. The favorite would play with great swagger. Regardless of the sport or the venue, you knew game time meant rolling up your sleeves and playing you best for either 48 minutes, 32 minutes or seven innings.
Granted, Oxford has Lafayette County and New Hope has Columbus. However, make no mistake this was “the” rivalry for both.
“There is nothing like beating Oxford,” New Hope senior basketball player Terryonte Thomas said. “You know have to play really great to do it. It gives you the type of confidence you can do anything.”
The New Hope baseball team needed that kind of confidence lift. It has been quite some time since New Hope beat Pascagoula to win the 2013 state title and then beat West Jones to win the 2014 title. The quest for a three-peat was cut short by Oxford in a heart-breaking North State championship series defeat in 2015.
Oxford won the final game of that series, won all three meetings in 2016 and the first two meetings in 2017. A six-game win streak feels like an eternity in this rivalry.
“It has been eight great years of playing them,” New Hope baseball coach Lee Boyd said. “Every game is fun. It’s just so intense. You know you are fixing to play a great team and they feel the same way about playing us. What made it special was the intensity. There is a respect for our program from them and we have one for their program as well. That doesn’t mean that it’s not personal between the teams. I just think you see two teams wanting to win badly.”
For New Hope, the rivalry was not necessarily kind during the season but there sure were some sweet finishes.
In girls’ basketball, Oxford won both regular-season meetings but New Hope got the one that matters — a 51-48 win in the semifinal round of the Class 5A, Region 2 tournament at New Hope. That victory snapped a six-game losing streak in the series and sent New Hope back to the playoffs.
Later that week, Thomas and Oxford’s Jarkel Joiner staged one of the best individual battles of the season.
Joiner – the state’s leading scorer and a Cal State Bakersfield signee – was held to 24 points and Thomas had 22 points as New Hope beat Oxford 58-52 in the tournament championship game at New Hope. Also here, Oxford had won both regular-season meetings. Joiner scored 45 points on his first trip to the New Hope Gym this season in a 71-67 victory. The teams split the year before so the New Hope losing streak was a modest two games in this series.
Oxford won both regular-season meetings by four points apiece. It is amazing that teams can play ultra competitive games with capacity crowds hanging on every dribble each time out.
“Every game is a battle,” New Hope boys’ basketball coach Drew McBrayer said. “Joiner was a load every time we played them. He changed the complexion of the rivalry by himself.”
Oxford also took a 31-13 football win last fall.
However, Tuesday night, everything else was in the rear view mirror. After falling short in the last two baseball postseasons, New Hope is hoping to shake off a regular season of hovering around the .500 mark. The Trojans want to play the big games for the big prize again.
“It doesn’t get more fun in sports than this,” New Hope senior and winning pitcher Carson Forrester said. “However, we still have a lot of work to do to get where we want to get. It’s just one win. A fun win. A great win. A memorable win. But one win. Hopefully, we can play them again (in the playoffs), that will mean we are doing something right.”
Scott Walters is a sports reporter for the Commercial Dispatch. He may be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @dispatchscott.
Scott was sports editor for The Dispatch.
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