After helping the Southwest baseball team make their first playoff appearance in nine years, four members of the squad have received postseason honors from the head coaches of the MACJC.
Freshman catcher Walt Aldridge (Parklane Academy) was selected 1st Team, All-State. Aldridge finished his initial campaign with the Bears with a .352 batting average, a .432 on-base percentage and a .528 slugging percentage. He also slammed 14 doubles and drove in 22 runs and was third on the team with 44 hits. He was named the Player of the Week after going 3-4 against Holmes with two home runs, a double, a walk and six RBI in week six of league play.
Selected second Team, All-State were freshman outfielders Ross Buckley (Germantown High School) and LD Coney (North Pike High School) and sophomore pitcher Sam Richard (Ridgeland High School).
Buckley finished the year with a .318 batting average and was second on the team with 47 hits. He picked up 13 doubles while driving in 32 runs and scoring 26.
Coney had a .329 batting average and led the team in hits (49), runs scored (44) and walks (29).
Richard, a William Carey University signee, ended the year with a 5-2 record on the mound and an earned run average of 3.264. He was the winning pitcher in the Bears’ 5-3 win over Hinds on April 16. Hinds was ranked No. 1 in the NJCAA at the time.
