2007

Holliman brings work ethic to Eas~ Central program I n coaching, one man's problems are another man's opportunities. Take East Central Community College baseball coach Neal Holliman for instance. To start with, Holliman took over Warriors arc facing one of the greatest inequities in college recruiting. In junior college the recruiting process. The net result is often that the top players from East Central's five-county recruiting district that don't go to a lhur-year school often sign with tlw Eagles. So how does Holliman I"Nll about that? was an assistant on West Alabama's Gulf South Conference championship team last year. In many ways, West Alabama is much like East Central. UWA has ta:deal with national pow– ers Delta State and North Alabama. And let's face it, Livingston, Ala., isn't the easiest place to attract recruits. Having covered the GSC before, win–

baseball, Mississippi junior colleges may protect players in their district. That means those players are assured scholar– ships and are "pro- tected" from being recruited from other state junior colleges,

an East Central program that seemed to be in ruins. The Warriors won just 13 games last year and seemed to play with the least amount of effort I've seen in some time on a college base– ball field. In Holliman's eyes, the Warriors were desperately behind when it came to facilities. And then the biggest challenge is probably location. The Warriors are just 25 miles from Meridian and the junior college juggernaut that is MCC baseball. Not only are the Warriors battling MCC's reputation for win– Qing anq play~r P.evelop.ro~nt, bpt th~

"First of all, we want people who want to be here," Holliman said. "You're never going to henr me say anything negative about Meridian. They've got a great progrnm. I can' t be concerned about what Meridian is doing. I've got to be concerned about what East Central is doing." Honestly, it would be easy and jus– tified.to complain and mdan about Meridian's unfair recruiting advan– tage but don't expect to hl:'ar any of that from Holliman. ! Instead of complaining; Holliman spends his time working, .Holliman

ning at West Alabama isn't impos– sible but certainly takes a little more work. Such is the case at East Central. Winning here isn't impossible but it's certainly a challenge. It's can be done. Late coach Jamie Clark has won the Region 23 championship before and former coach Jake Yarbrough was only two years removed from a remarkable Region 23 title run.

Robbie

Robertson

except for Meridian. The Eagles can recruit the entire state and sign play– ers off of anybody's protected list. To top that, MCC can also talk with prospects before other junior col– leges in the state can, often leaving schools li,ke E~~t .9eJ:l!ral b.e.hind ,in ,

. .St;e_ HOU.IrAAN,. J?~g<;·) . .

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