2008

r''"'" "·' ~ '·-· ·~, Polk issues challenge to DiamondWarriors

111 a supreme being. Withot faith, you walk through I if without plHlJO$e. "You need to have some thing to pick you up becaus you'rl! going to have goo days as wdl a$ bad days. "You have to ha,·c a com mitmcnt to be ~omethin special. "And you need to make dttlcrencc in someone·s Iii e\ery day. This world need ui fTc renee 'makers." Polk also took the oppor tunity to thrO\\ in a fc, barbs at SEC--rival Ole Mb~ Continued on 38 ... Sec Polk...

20·year old boys here tonight ... what an exciting time in their lives." Poll-.. said. "The scoreboard is going to be turned on in a few weeks. I really like shaking the hands of the other coach after wc'\'e won. but it'5 not the only thing. Baseball is a sport and should be treated as such, not as a war "In life. you're going to have wmners and losers. That's what irs all about But these young men play because they enjoy the game, the fellowshtp. the competition.

"Raising yuung men 111 this ag~: is dillicult. It's our job to make sun: they under– stand the more important thing~. "Let'~ lo\'C them and nuturc them, J\nd kt'~ disci– pline them with what's right and what's wrong. There arc so many dtstmctions today. "The nc:xt three or four years arc going to dcten\line what vou become the rco;t of your iire. You l·annot rcpltiec these years:· Polk listed four step~ ft>r the Warriors to follow to help ensure bright luturcs "You'\'e got to ha\c •fitith

By Marty Stamper Appeal Sports Fditor \Vhcn long-time tvllssiss~ ipp1 '\tate hl·ad basebal l coach Lon l'nlk spoke an estimated cnmd of 200 at· the st-cond-annual First Pitch Dumcr on Jan. 22 at I• c 1 c· · L ~ust entra ommuniiY, College. he issued th~ Diamond Warriors u fe\v. challenges. Surpri singly to thosq unfamiliar with the Bulldog skipper. none had anythind to do with repeating a~ MACJC state champions. "We have all these 18, 19. like a Greek god. Now he looks like a Greek restaurant." And no Polk speech comes without a not-so-friendly ref– e rence to the NCAA. "The NCAA is not a friend ofcollege baseball," Polk satd. "But there arc no umpires and no NCAA people here, so we're going to get along great." The ECCC Warriors open their season on Feb. 5 at I p.m.

,;\leeting Mississippi State head baseball coach .Ron Polk (cen– ter) are jo'efHill (left) and J ohn Ross Griffin . both of Decatu~ ·· .· Photo by MartJ' StamfJer

Polk... Contin ued from 2B .•. " I have great respect for the city of Oxford," Polk said. " It's a great place to visit, not to stay. Whenever I'm there, J ahvays ask for a room without a view." He also recognized former MSU Bulldog and ECCC Warrior Hank Thoms. ..When he played, he looked

in Decatur against Alabama Southern Community College Warrior coach Nell Holl iman announced several improvements to the Clark– Gay Baseball Complex Among them are 17 flag poles representing each of the MACJC member schools. A new entrance is currently being constructed and 58 chairback seats have been installed for the '08 campaign.

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