Ben Slaton, a catcher for the McComb baseball team in 2007-08, is coming back to the program as the new Tigers’ head coach after spending the past two seasons as an assistant at Southwest Mississippi Community College.
“They’re running a first-class baseball program over there (at SMCC), and it was a tough decision to leave,” Slaton said. “But being in the situation that I am, I feel like McComb offered a great opportunity to come over here and revive a baseball program that’s been sort of neglected, for lack of a better term, for the last several years.
“I feel like it’s a great opportunity for me and my family. I feel like there’s a lot of potential in this place with the right amount of stability.”
Slaton is a 2009 Ocean Springs High School graduate, but was at MHS for the second semester of his sophomore year and all of his junior year. He lived in Ocean Springs prior to coming to McComb.
The new McComb head coach redshirted at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College for one season, played the next two years and graduated in 2012. He switched from catcher to left and right field and a designated hitter as a sophomore at MGCCC. He graduated with a degree in history in 2014 from Old Dominion in Norfolk, Va., where he continued his baseball career.
Slaton, a left-handed hitter, had 14 home runs his sophomore year at MGCCC, which is a single-season record in the dead bat era that started in 2010. He earned All-Region, All-Region 23 and All-State honors as a sophomore at MGCCC.
He also was an All-Star in high school and earned All-District and All-State honors.
New head coach has strong ties with community
Slaton was living in Biloxi when SMCC assistant baseball coach Justin Hay let him know the Bears were looking for another assistant. Hay was an assistant coach for Slaton’s summer team, the Jackson 96ers, when Slaton went to MHS and the two remained friends.
Slaton met his wife, Maggie, an assistant for Southwest’s softball team at SMCC, while his father-in-law, Ken Jackson, is the Bears’ head coach.
“It’s been a great experience ever since then,” Slaton said of coming to SMCC two years ago. “Justin took me under his wing and sort of played a big brother role for me and helped me continue to grow as a baseball person. And, obviously, Ken, I’ve learned a lot from him even just by being around him. He’s obviously a great baseball mind.”
Slaton, a Magnolia resident, is the son of Rene Paoletti and Max Slaton, who also live in Magnolia. Slaton and his dad have been getting the field ready every night since he was hired. He said getting the field in shape was one of his responsibilities at SMCC, and Hay taught him a lot about that.
Although Slaton has only been back in Pike County for two years, his relationships remained strong for the years he was away. Brady Jones, a former McComb, SMCC and Delta State University baseball player, was his coach with the Tigers.
Jones also was a catcher and is now a physical education teacher at Otken Elementary School.
“He remains to this day one of my best friends and biggest mentors,” Slaton said. “We kept in touch throughout college altogether. That’s when I really learned about the McComb program, the rich history and talent and greatness of the baseball program.”
Slaton was a linebacker and fullback on the McComb football team for a season under former head coach Randy Martin and former offensive coordinator Jamie Brown, who is now the head principal at Denman Junior High School.
“I still have these old connections that have really been beneficial and helpful to me throughout this whole process,” Slaton said. “I can’t thank them enough for that.”
Slaton’s uncle, Col. Philip Parker, a Mississippi Chief of Staff in the National Guard, was inducted in the McComb High School Hall of Fame last year.
Slaton has high hopes
Slaton succeeds Matt White, who resigned after one season to become Brookhaven’s head coach.
While there have been many coaches in recent years, Slaton said he plans to stay with the program for several years and hopes that brings stability. He added the program needs money and support to perform well, but stability is still the most important factor.
Slaton said his wife loves her position at SMCC and he is happy to be back at McComb. He believes his actions will show the community his commitment to the program.
“You could tell (people) whatever you want, but I think just showing them that you’re devoted and the program that they’re trusting their kids to be in is growing as baseball players and student-athletes,” he said. “You just show how much it means to you and you devote your time and all of your resources that you can to the program.”
Slaton said he hopes a couple of athletes per year will earn the right to play college baseball and many of them could move on to SMCC.
“Nobody’s really going to slip through the cracks, especially this close to Southwest,” Slaton said. “If there’s a player within 100 miles of here that had an opportunity, they’re going to know about it. You really don’t have to do too much.”
Slaton said he plans on meeting with his team later in the week and retaining assistant coaches Derrick Woodall, Deon Smith and Harry Jones.
Slaton acknowledged the Tigers will be a young team in 2017 but said that gives him the opportunity to build a program to where it has been before and keep it there,
So far, Slaton said everyone in the McComb School District has been welcoming.
“It’s been outstanding, really,” he said. “One of the things I highlight is just how much history there is in this town with McComb. There’s a lot of proud alumni around.”
Kansas City Royals outfielder Jarrod Dyson is a McComb graduate and played for SMCC. Dyson was at SMCC several times when Slaton was an assistant.
Slaton said he hopes to get Dyson to speak to the athletes at McComb.
Slaton will be working in the alternative school at the TAC next to the baseball field. He will be teaching all subjects to students in all grade levels.
“I look at it more as like a mentor’s role,” he said. “I’m not going to teach them algebra and biology, but maybe I can have an opportunity to impact them, give them some positivity and try to get them back on the right track. Obviously, that’s what they’re kind of there for.”
He also plans to volunteer his time to give back to the community. One example of his community service was when he went to Crosby last weekend with an interdenominational group from McComb and gutted houses.
“I think you really have to go deeper and really invest more into personally and socially and all that with the kids,” he said.
