The Heritage Academy, Starkville Academy, and Oak Hill Academy baseball teams had a host of performers who helped their teams advance to the postseason.
Those players were recently rewarded for their contributions with spots on the All-Mississippi Association of Independent Schools team or the MAIS Senior All-Star game.
Oak Hill Academy’s Jacob Shempert was the lone player from the area named a first-team All-MAIS performer. The transfer from Houston High School was a utility player on the 13-player first team. Centreville Academy pitcher Cliff Hurst was named the MVP of the team, which featured players from Classes A, AA, and AAA.
Heritage Academy’s James Clark and Parker Dunaway were named second-team All-MAIs with Starkville Academy’s Hunter Bolin.
In the MAIS All-Star game, Garrett Hall represented Heritage Academy, Ryan McKell represented Starkville Academy, and Drew Pearson represented Central Academy.
Shempert led Oak Hill Academy on the mound and at the plate. The right-handed pitcher, who signed a scholarship last week to play baseball at Itawamba Community College, hit .604 with 46 walks (38 intentional), 29 hits, nine doubles, three home runs, 35 runs, 20 RBIs, and 31 stolen bases. He also was 11-3 with a 1.91 ERA, even though catcher likely will be his primary position in college. He helped lead Oak Hill Academy to the second round of the Class AA North State playoffs, where it lost to Marshall Academy. Shempert took both of the losses in that series despite playing with a tear in his abdomen. He said it later was discovered that Shempert also had a tear in his intestinal wall.
Oak Hill Academy coach Marion Bratton credited Shempert for helping to lead a young team. As a result, Shempert was named the conference MVP. Shempert also played third base, shortstop, first base, and the outfield for the Raiders.
Bratton said Shempert has a chance to be selected today on the third and final day of the Major League Baseball First-Year Player draft. Rounds 16 through 40 will be today.
Bratton said Shempert already has had several major league tryouts, including one with the Milwaukee Brewers in Richland.
“He had a really good year,” Bratton said. “It could have been an outstanding year because at one time he was hitting close to .800 back when they weren’t throwing to him at all. He is not a pitcher, but he pitched for us and did real well. He topped out at 92, and when he needed to he could get a little extra.
“I can’t say enough about him. His leadership, he never wavered when things were not going well. He pressed a little bit, and it is hard not to do it, especially as a high school player. He handled (all of the intentional walks) better than any player I have coached.”
Clark, Dunaway, and Hall played integral roles in helping the Patriots advance to the Class AAA, Division II playoffs, where they lost to Starkville Academy.
Clark was an anchor on the mound and at the plate. The right-hander was 4-5 with a 1.66 ERA that was best on the team. Clark allowed 44 hits ion 54 2/3 innings, while striking out 55 (best on the team) and walking 16.
Clark led the team with 33 hits, three triples, and was tied for the team lead with 24 RBIs. His .333 batting average was second on the team, as was his .475 slugging percentage.
Heritage Academy coach Bruce Branch said Clark deserved a better fate in many of his outings on the mound. He said for some reason the Patriots failed to give Clark any run support in his games, but he said Clark never allowed it to affect him.
“Anytime James went out there he pitched a gem for us the majority of the time,” Branch said. “He never showed emotions to teammates or us as coaches. He knew he had one job to go out there and to pitch and throw like he was capable of throwing every night.”
Branch said Clark was a clutch performer who always wanted to be the player who was called on to produce.
“I feel like it is hard to say he was the backbone of our team because I feel like we had several guys who played key factors for our team, but he was the guy,” Branch said. “I have said before, this guy likes big-time situations, and he wants to be the man in the spotlight when the game is on the line.”
Dunaway, a pitcher/outfielder, was another one of those performers. Even though he didn’t return to the lineup until spring break, Dunaway made his impact felt, hitting .362 with 17 hits and 18 runs in 14 games. He also was 1-1 with a 2.25 ERA.
“Parker Dunaway he is a well-respected player amongst our league,” Branch said. “The Dunaway name, you would be surprised what coaches say about him, the competitor he is and the way he approaches the game each and every day. He was that difference-maker in our lineup. He gave us the spark we needed. We didn’t have that spark the first half of the season, and I like to look at stats before the MRA series as opposed to what the stats were the second half of the season. I believe he was the difference-maker that got us over the hump.”
Hall helped provide stability behind the plate and at the top of the batting order. Branch said he wasn’t sure at the start of the season what Hall would bring to the team, but he said Hall assumed the role of vocal leader and rally starter.
“He did a really good job for us and was a really good leader on the team,” Branch said. “He held that leadoff spot down for us and did a good job. As far as catching, he had really good command of our pitching staff and made it easy on us as a coaching staff. We put a lot of trust in him and he did a really good job for us at the catching position.”
Bolin and McKell did the same thing for the Volunteers, who lost to Magnolia Heights in the Class AAA, Division II championship series.
Like Clark for the Patriots, Bolin was a dual-threat for the Volunteers. He led the team in batting average (.427), hits (50), runs (31), slugging percentage (.479) and was one of the leaders in on-base percentage (.469). The left-hander also was 6-3 with one save and a 1.62 ERA. In 60 1/3 innings he allowed 41 hits while walking 19 and striking out 61.
“He is a bulldog on the mound,” Starkville Academy coach Neal Henry said. “He got a lot of groundballs and kept hitting his spots, which resulted in a lot of strikeouts. He is not really a strikeout pitcher.
“He batted leadoff for us, and if he got on base we were going to do pretty good that game. He was a vital part in our offense.”
Henry agreed he felt Bolin took his game to another level this season. He said he has hit better than .400 in each of his three seasons on the varsity team. This year, though, he said Bolin reached his goal of getting 50 hits, which he attributes to the confidence Bolin gained from his first two season.
McKell was equally impressive in another dual role. He was 5-2 with a 3.18 ERA. In 39 2/3 innings he allowed 26 hits and struck out 42. He had an on-base percentage of .435 and had nine RBIs and scored 18 runs.
“Ryan came out this year as a senior after playing on the football team that made it to that state championship game,” Henry said. “I think that confidence carried over to when he was on the mound. We were really trying to find a No. 3 pitcher through the fall and the spring and he really took that job on. We feel like when he started he was better than anybody else’s No. 3 in our conference. He gave us a lot of security there. … Every time I thought he got better and better and better.”
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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