Warrior Magazine June 2020

The East Central Community College baseball team raised nearly $25,000 during Around the Diamond with Tim Anderson held in January and featuring the former Warrior All-American baseball player and current Major League Baseball batting champion. Anderson, the starting shortstop for the Chicago White Sox, headlined the event held at the Neshoba County Coliseum in Philadelphia. The evening included dinner, a question-and-answer period with Anderson and ECCC Head Baseball Coach Neal Holliman, a silent auction of sports memorabilia, and an autograph session. The question-and-answer session was moderated by Bart Gregory, an assistant athletic director at Mississippi State University, a 20-year broadcasting veteran of the Mississippi State Radio Network, and a play-by-play announcer for the SEC Network. Gregory, a Nanih Waiya native, is a 1997 graduate of ECCC, where he was selected to the college’s Student Hall of Fame. A native of Tuscaloosa, Ala., Anderson hit a Major League Baseball-best .335 during the 2019 season, with 18 home runs, 32 doubles, and 56 runs batted in. He became only the third White Sox player to win the American League batting title. MLB Hall of Famers Frank MLB batting champion Tim Anderson headlines baseball fundraiser

Thomas (1997) and Luke Appling (1936 and 1943) also accomplished the feat. Anderson played for East Central in 2012 and 2013, helping lead the Warriors to a

Mississippi Association of Community and Junior Colleges State Championship his sophomore year. He was first team National Junior College Athletic Association All-Region 23 and MACJC All-State both seasons, and first team NJCAA All-American in 2013. He led the nation in batting with a .495 average and was named the NJCAA Male Athlete of the Year in 2013. Anderson was drafted by the White Sox in 2013 as the 17th overall selection in the Major League Baseball Draft.

Spring Sports Update

On March 12, in conjunction with the National Junior College Athletics Association and the Mississippi Association of Community and Junior Colleges, all spring sports competition at ECCC was canceled for the remainder of the spring due to the Coronavirus Pandemic. ATHLETICS

19