Adam Price has been coaching youth baseball since his son Whit began playing at age 4, but it took eight years for him to have players on his team who are related.
Price is the head coach of Stewart Signs, an 11- to 12-year-old Pike County Youth Sports baseball team that won the American League, and there are a set of brothers and cousins on the roster. Stewart Signs will be playing for the championship at 6 p.m. Tuesday night at Edgewood Park against National League champion Coca-Cola.
Infielder Tayden Bass is going into seventh, grade while his younger brother outfielder Seth Bass is going into sixth grade and both are in the North Pike School District.
Outfielder Beau Williams lives in Osyka, but attends Spring Creek Elementary School in Kentwood, La., where his mom, Wanda, teaches. His cousin Maddox Williams, a catcher and outfielder, attends Parklane Academy. Both cousins are going into the sixth grade.
“I have never had two brothers or anybody related before,” Coach Price said.
There are also three Prices on the team as Adam is the head coach, his younger brother Aaron is an assistant and Whit, who is going into seventh grade at Parklane Academy, is a pitcher.
Adam Price said the family members have been supportive of each other on the team.
“I think they know their boundaries,” he said. “They just stay out of each other’s way on the baseball field and I haven’t had any issues whatsoever with them — any brotherly bickering or anything like that.
“The cousins, same thing. Everybody seems to be getting along. No bickering. Maybe they’re scared of the coach. I don’t know, but they’ve been good here.”
The head coach said he knew the Bass brothers were related, but the Williams cousins came as a surprise.
“We drafted and I just drafted them,” he said. “I didn’t realize Beau and Maddox were cousins until after I drafted them. I found out they were cousins.”
The Bass brothers have been same team every other year for the past six seasons. They were with the Mississippi Spacewalks in the 7- to 8-year-old league, White Sands Realty for 9- to 10-year olds and now Stewart Signs.
“We don’t have to worry about if we’re on the same team,” Seth said. “We win together. We lose together.
“We practice at home hitting and fielding.”
Tayden agreed.
“It’s been fun and I have confidence with him on the team,” he said.
This is the second consecutive year the Williams cousins have been on the same team. Since Beau and Maddox attend different schools and Maddox’s parents are divorced, youth baseball gives the two a unique opportunity to work together.
“We’ve had a lot of fun playing together,” Beau said. “It’s our second year playing together.
“It’s a pleasure because we barely ever see each other. Him, his mom and his daddy swap back and forth just about every week.”
Maddox agreed.
“It’s fun,” he said. “Sometimes he gets to come home with me after.”
While there is just one Price playing on the team, the family was able to come together in ways it had not in the past.
Adam Price, a 1990 McComb High School graduate, stopped playing baseball at 12-years-old and stuck with basketball and golf. Aaron Price, a 2003 Parklane Academy graduate, played every other sport other than baseball, but has been an assistant for his brother for three years.
“I just wanted to be a part of it with my nephew and my brother,” Aaron said.
Whit Price is 6-1 for the season pitching for Stewart Signs and his dad and uncle do not give him any special treatment.
“Sometimes they’re harder on me,” Whit said. “If I mess up, I might get yelled at a little more.”
Whit’s one loss came in the regular-season finale when Stewart Signs fell 12-2 to Quality Rental.
“He was just telling me to settle down and everyone has their bad nights,” Whit said, adding he told him to keep his head up and do better.
Whit is a shooting guard in basketball and wide receiver in football, noting basketball is his favorite sport.
However, Adam said his son his always ready to play sports.
“Whit, since he could swing a bat, has always loved baseball, but he’s also like a Labrador Retriever,” Adam Price said. “If there’s any ball, he’s going to want to play it — basketball, football, whatever. It doesn’t matter. Whatever the season is, it’s his favorite sport.”
The Bass brothers are the son of Mr. and Mrs. Josh Bass from McComb. Beau Williams is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Daniel Williams from Osyka. Maddox Williams is the son of David and Julie Williams and Robert and Leslie Lord from McComb.
