Sports

Saturday afternoon, Delta State athletics honored one of the baseball program’s icons with the ultimate honor, the retirement of Bill Marchant’s No.22 jersey.

Marchant joins Dave “Boo” Ferriss (No.33) and Bryan Rodgers (No.23) as the only coaches and player that will never have their jersey number worn by any Statesmen.

“This is a most deserved honor for coach Marchant,” Statesmen coach Mike Kinnison said. “Bill (Marchant) was one of the most successful coaches in the country during his time here at DSU. When he retired in 1996, he devoted his time to teaching and directing our Athletic Alumni efforts. I am proud I was a member of his staff and it brings me great pleasure to be able to honor him this weekend in such a permanent way.”

By Taylor Mitchell
The Leader

The past two years, Indianola Gentry has been a problem for the Wildcats of Cleveland High.

But not on Saturday as Cleveland defeated the Rams 11-1 at Sank Powe Field.

“We finally played them pretty well,” Cleveland coach Steve Wies said. “It’s been two or three years since we played a decent game against Gentry, so it was nice to come out and play the way we’re supposed to against them.”

The Wildcats were able to invoke the 10-run mercy rule against Gentry in the sixth inning when senior Julain Beamon hit a long shot towards center field, that would be caught, but Mason Zeigler would tag up from third base to score the 11th and final run.

Andrew Whalen picked up the win for Cleveland, pitching all six innings, allowing one run on five hits with six strikeouts and one walk.

By Taylor Mitchell
Sports Editor
The Leader

Last year, we saw two state trophies brought back to Cleveland in the spring.

Cleveland High won the 4A State title in softball and Bayou Academy won a second-straight title in the MPSA.

It was exciting.

So what could these two teams do for an encore?

Do it again?

Nah, we’ve seen that already. The softball team at Bayou couldn’t lose if they wanted to, so repeats are the norm here.

How about neither win state titles?

Isn’t that kind of the opposite of what we want? Yes, I think so.

So, what could the Lady Wildcats and Colts do for an encore?

Go undefeated in the district (or region, or conference, or whatever you want to call it, you know what I mean).

By Taylor Mitchell
The Leader

On the day the baseball program honored Bill Marchant by retiring his jersey, Delta State put on a show with a 17-0 victory against Harding University.

The Statesmen opened the game with five runs in the first inning, highlighted by a Josh Gordon single that drove in two runs.

Gordon would finish the day with three hits in four at-bats with three RBI.

Kellen Bozeman and Anthony Palasini would also have big days at the plate for Delta State.

Palasini would go 2-for-3 with three RBI, while Bozeman went 2-for-4 at the plate with three RBI and three runs scored.

Matthew Little made the Statesmen faithful happy with a two-run homer over the left field wall to give Delta State a 7-0 lead in the third inning.

In front of a packed grandstand, the Statesmen didn’t let up the scoring with 10 runs in the final three innings, including five in the fifth.

By Taylor Mitchell
The Leader

The goal for any senior is to win his or her final home game.

For the Lady Wildcats of Cleveland High, consider it mission accomplished after defeating Hernando 4-0 Friday night.

“Yeah it was exciting,” Kendall said after pitching a shutout in her final home game. “We showed everybody that we really want it and we want to go to state again.”

The six seniors for Cleveland, who’ve won two state championships, won their final home game of their careers to improve the team’s district record to 6-0, the only team to be undefeated in district play.

“It was a special night,” Cleveland coach David Price said. “The seniors we have deserved that ceremony before the game. They’ve earned that.

“I think the game went pretty well; we were pretty well inspired.”

By Taylor Mitchell
The Leader

After a pair of victories this past week, the playoffs are right around the corner for Bayou Academy in this shortened season.

“It has been flying by,” Colts coach Rodney Martin said. “Once you come back from spring break you don’t have any time to catch your breath. We’re sitting here looking at the playoffs.”

The Colts’ season is flying by, but that can be attributed to the week that was taken off the schedule and the way district games were to be played.

“It has been hard to schedule out of conference games,” Martin said. “We wanted to play another out of conference game this week, but with the rain we’re going to have to play district games instead.”

Lady Statesmen head to Texas for title quest

By Taylor Mitchell
The Leader

DSU point guard Bug Cooper of Indianola works toward the basket in Monday's NCAA Regional championship game. Photo by Taylor Mitchell, Sunday Leader

Four months ago, Delta State was sitting at 1-4 after losing all three games in the Disney Div. II Tip-Off Classic and only losing one-game in the previous season.

Faced with one of the worst starts in her tenure as coach of Delta State, Sandra Rushing told her players they would still win the GSC and regional championship.

“Coach Rushing hasn’t lied to us this year,” Senior Kirsten McBride said. “Even we started out 0-3, she said we were going to win the GSC, a regional title and she hasn’t lied to us yet.

“So we’re about to win this national title.”

Lady Statesmen did win a fourth-straight GSC championship and back-to-back regional titles, like Rushing said.

Now, they are making Delta State’s 13th trip to the Elite Eight.

“We’re just really excited about the opportunity to go back to the Elite Eight,” Rushing said. “We realize that it’s not going to be easy. But nothing has been easy for these players the past two or three weeks.”

By Taylor Mitchell
The Leader

Brandon Cummins slides head first back to the bag to avoid being picked off. Photo by Taylor Mitchell, Sunday Leader

The two-time defending state champions of Bayou Academy finally broke in the home field for the first time this year.

But that didn’t change the outcome of the games as the Colts won all three-conference games this week, improving their record to 8-0 and inching closer to the Academy North A Conference pennant.

“I’ve always said whoever is leading the pack at spring break, everybody else will be nervous,” Colts coach Rodney Martin said. “Everybody else is playing catch up at spring break. We’re in good shape”

Bayou (8-2 overall) defeated Humphreys Academy 11-1 Tuesday afternoon and Sharkey-Issaquena 12-0 and 14-4 Thursday.

By Taylor Mitchell
The Leader

Strap on the shoulder pads. Buckle the helmet. Tie up those laces and get ready.

Spring football will officially be upon us Monday when the defending GSC champions of Delta State hit the practice fields.

“Oh yeah, I’m ready,” Statesmen coach Ron Roberts said. “We get to get a little work in now and have a little fun with it.”

For Roberts and Delta State to capture a third-consecutive GSC title, there are some issues that need to be addressed.

By Taylor Mitchell
The Leader

Friday afternoon, Delta State held a press conference for the Lady Statesmen and their upcoming Elite Eight match up with West Texas A&M.

Not the most exciting thing in the world.

But one thing truly caught my attention. It wasn’t even something that came off one of my questions.

In fact, what was asked isn’t important.

But part of the answer is.

“We’re about to win this national title.” Senior Kirsten McBride said.

Wait, what?

National title?

McBride isn’t saying they’ll beat West Texas A&M, but is guaranteeing a National Championship.

That involves winning three games against the best teams in the country.

Now to be honest, I wasn’t 100 percent paying attention (maybe 80 percent) due to the fact that I was writing down my next question when she was building up to the statement.

But when she said that, she had my full and undivided attention.