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2009 Inductee |
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1992 Baseball Team |
No one can deny the importance of the
1992 Clay County Central baseball team, nor its impact on
Rector athletics, as the young men and coaches who were a
part of the squad earned the only senior high state
championship in school history, capturing the Class A title
with a 12-6 win over Hackett in El Dorado. It's not unfair
to call the 1992 Cougars a team of destiny. Over their last
eight games of the season, all of which were wins, the squad
averaged 11.5 runs per game against some of the stiffest
competition in the state. During the district tournament,
CCC defeated Manila 10-0 in the first round, topped Bay 14-4
in the semifinals, then got past Buffalo Island Central 10-9
in the district finals.
The thrilling district win was
eclipsed by the Cougars' 9-3 win over Marked Tree in the
second round of the regional tournament, following
first-round byes for both teams. At the time, Marked Tree
was the top-ranked team in Class A. CCC rolled in the final,
drumming McCrory to the tune of 24-5 for the regional
crown. The Cougars started the state tournament with a
thrilling 4-3 win over the Smackover Buckaroos in Smackover.
The game was crucial because CCC not only was playing on the
opponents' home field, but also because Smackover had been
the number one team in the state for most of the season.
The Cougars' second game of the
state tourney was an entirely different animal. Clay County
Central had five errors in the first inning, allowing
Bergman to claim a 3-0 lead. The Cougars were able to battle
back thanks to strong hitting, a key for the team, earning a
9-5 win. The Cougars ran away with the championship game,
outpacing Hackett 12-6. In addition to being the only
varsity program to win a state title in school history, the
1992 Cougars also set records for the baseball program.
Their 18 homeruns and team batting average of .363
are the highest totals in school history.
The team was made up of Scotty
Burdin, David Scales, Keat Cohn, Jimmy Greenway, Jason
Manchester, Todd Ford, Matt Moore, Kevin Manchester, Jeremy
McDaniel, Jeremy Huggins, Stacey Benson, Jonathan Kemp, Neal
Wimberley, Alberto Garcia, Aaron Arrant, Eric Bolster, Chris
Haywood, Jason Waddell and Benton York. Richard Huggins was
the head coach. Kelly Scobey was the assistant coach. Debbie
Baker kept the scorebook. Greenway, Scales, Burdin and Cohn
were named to the All-State Team with Greenway receiving the
MVP award. Greenway also was named to the All-Region Team.
Jason Manchester, Cohn, Scales and Greenway were
All-District Team selections with Scales and Greenway
receiving Co-MVP honors. CCC finished the season with an
overall record of 21-7.
