OMAHA, Neb. — Mark Carson wants his players to be prepared.

The Northwest Mississippi Community College head baseball coach, who just wrapped up his 16th year in charge of the program, preaches it all the time.

“You never know when your opportunity is going to come around,” he tells his players often.

Now, three former Rangers have seen that chance come on college baseball’s biggest stage, playing for Mississippi State at the College World Series. Two of them, Brayland Skinner and Tanner Leggett, even teamed up to help send the Bulldogs to the national championship series.

From Senatobia to Starkville, here’s how Mississippi State’s “JUCO bandits” — as head coach Chris Lemonis termed them — came to play big roles for the Bulldogs in Omaha.

“I couldn’t be more proud,” Carson said. “It has been so much fun to watch and keep up with all three of them.”

‘Your best Plan B’

When high school recruits visit Northwest, Carson plunks them on his couch and asks the same question. In a perfect world, he says, where would you want to be?

For most area players, the answers are the same: Mississippi State. Ole Miss. LSU.

“I can promise you you don’t hear, ‘Northwest Mississippi Community College,’” Carson said.

It’s why he’s happy to refer to the junior college route as “your best Plan B,” realizing Division I schools are often the primary focus for talented young players.

But Carson said JUCO offers several things bigger schools don’t. For players not ready to start right away, reps will be limited to intrasquad scrimmages and practice, leaving less time to see game action.

That can hurt players in need of development out of high school. Leggett and Skinner both needed to adjust to facing better arms on a daily basis, “fine-tuning” their skill sets and simply getting bigger and stronger. Pitcher Parker Stinnett, the other Bulldog once on Carson’s squad, needed live innings to add velocity to his fastball and improve his slider.

And in the Mississippi Association of Community Colleges Conference, the trio of Rangers got what they needed.

“It’s the best junior college baseball league in the country,” Carson said.

‘A tough son of a gun’

But even the premier JUCO circuit still offers an unglamorous lifestyle.

Twice a week from late January to late April, MACCC teams play doubleheaders consisting of nine-inning and seven-inning contests. Add in two hours of pregame warmups and what can be a three-hour or four-hour trip each way, and the lengthy days can be brutal.

“The treatment they get is not the royal treatment,” Carson said. “It’s not the cameras in your face all the time. Most of the time, it’s a cold sack lunch and a long bus ride — on top of your classes.”

He said players who choose to take the community college route consequently develop toughness through that experience. Those who can weather the storm, then, are often those who are able to handle the pressure and grind that come with playing for a big program.

“If you go through the JUCO circuit and play baseball, you’re a tough son of a gun,” Carson said.

Skinner, Leggett and Stinnett are among those who have emerged unscathed from the trying conditions. Hayden Leatherwood and Ben Van Cleve of Ole Miss also went to Northwest, as did four current Memphis Tigers and one player apiece at Division II schools Mississippi College and Delta State.

Carson said seeing their success at the next level naturally helps bring the next generation of recruits to Senatobia.

“Those guys seeing that, ‘Hey, I can go the JUCO route and I can get out of here and go play at a quality program and develop’ is the biggest recruiting tool we have,” Carson said.

And not only have those players gone on to better things, but in the case of the three Bulldogs making their marks in Omaha, they’ve accomplished things they never would have thought possible.

“They’ll tell their children about this,” Carson said. “They’ll take this to their grave. It’ll be some of the most special memories of their life.”

Theo DeRosa reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @Theo_DeRosa.