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What is perfection?

Webster defines “perfection” as an exemplification of supreme excellence or an unsurpassable degree of accuracy or excellence.

In baseball perfection is defined as a complete game in which no opposing batter reaches first base.

Both definitions are fitting descriptions of Dylan Earnest’s (Hamilton HS) performance against the Booneville Braves in the opening game of the 2009 American Legion Baseball State Tournament in Tupelo on Friday.

Earnest struck out 8 of the 21 batters faced to record his first career no hitter and to pitch the perfect game.

While Earnest was nearly lost for words after the game, his actions during the game did all the talking for him.

Bottom of the 1st

Lee Wilson (Wheeler) grounded out to the shortstop.
Drew Dodds (New Albany) struck out swinging.
Will Wallis (Ripley) struck out swinging and was thrown out by catcher.

Bottom of the 2nd

Chris Gullick (Lafayette Co) grounded out to third.
Jordan Gurley (Corinth) struck out swinging.
Jimmy Marshall (East Union) grounded out to second.

Bottom of the 3rd

Justin Smith (Lafayette Co) grounded out to short.
Lee Griffin (Tishomingo Co) struck out swinging.
Kyle Stephenson (Booneville) grounded out to short.

Bottom of the 4th

Wilson grounded out to short.
Dodds struck out looking.
Wallis grounded out to second.

Bottom of the 5th

Gullick flew out to right.
Tanner Gaines (Baldwyn) flew out to center.
Marshall struck out swinging.

Bottom of the 6th

Smith grounded out to short, a nice play by Latham Brister (Houston) stole a hit.
Griffin grounded out to second, another nice play by Zach Chavers (Pontotoc) stole a hit.
Stephenson struck out swinging.

Bottom of the 7th

Justin Jordan (Myrtle) grounded out to short, a nice dig by Nathan White (Pontotoc) kept the perfect game in tack.
Gabe Richey (Tupelo) struck out swinging.
Wallis stuck out swinging to complete the perfect game for Earnest.

While Golden Wave Field was buzzing with excitement over witnessing the perfect game, their was one person in the stadium smiling as he quietly filled out his lineup card for the next game.

Tupelo 49er’s head coach Kirk Presley and former Tupelo Golden Wave standout pitcher laughed when someone asked him if he had ever seen a perfect game.

“I’ve seen a few before,” he humbly answered with a smile.

Presley, who was selected by the New York Mets as the overall 8th pick in the 1993 MLB draft, threw two perfect games during his high school career.

Earnest will be a senior at Hamilton High School this upcoming season.

Calhoun Academy 8-Man Football Schedule

August 21 Mt. Salus
August 28 OPEN
Sept 4 Veritas School
Sept 11 @ Immanuel
Sept 18 @ Kemper
Sept 25 @ Rebul
October 2 Central
October 9 OPEN
October 16 Veritas School
October 23 Hebron
October 30 @ Calvary

Thanks to Coach Dalton for sending the corrected version of the schedule.

Calhoun Academy Fast Pitch Softball Schedule

Aug.3 @ Winona Christian 5:00
Aug.8 @ Kirk Tournament  TBA
Aug.13 @ Kemper Academy 4:00
Aug.15 Calhoun Tournament TBA
Aug.17 Central Academy 5:00
Aug.22 @ Winona Christian Tournament TBA
Aug.24 @ Winona Christian 5:00
Aug.27 Hebron Christian 5:00
Aug.31 Kemper Academy 4:00
Sep.3 @ Central Academy 4:00
Sep.8 Carroll Academy 4:00
Sep.12 @ Carroll Tournament TBA
Sep.14 Winona Christian 5:00
Sep.17 @ Hebron Christian 4:00
Sep.19- District Tournament TBA
Sep.25- North State Tournament
Oct.3- Class A State Tournament

Thanks to Cheyanne “Sassy” Landerth for sending me the softball schedule.

TUPELO — Dylan Earnest (Hamilton) was near speechless after the Pontotoc Red Sox 11-0 win over the Booneville Braves in the opening game of the 2009 American Legion Baseball State Tournament on Friday.

The lefty threw his first carerr no-hitter but also recorded a perfect game for the Red Sox.

“Going into the seventh inning I was pretty nervous. It was really all I could think about, ” said Earnest.

Latham Brister (Houston) and Zach Chavers (Pontotoc) had a pair of great plays  in the sixth inning and a nice dig at first base by Nathan White (Pontotoc) in the seventh helped keep Earnest’s perfect game in tack late in the contest.

“I had some great plays behind from me… they played awesome,” Earnest.

Jordan Moore (Delta State) blasted a towering two-out grand slam over the scoreboard in left field to give the Red Sox a 6-0 lead in the second inning.  Brister and Jacob Long (Houston) each had multiple hit performances while David Bowen (South Pontotoc) tripled and Adam Roye (South Pontotoc) doubled in the win.

“The bats helped keep me from going all nine innings and helped shorten the game up for me,” Earnest.

Pontotoc will advance to play the winner between Tupelo and Hub City.  Booneville will be faced witha must-win situation tomorrow in the tournaments first elimination game against the loser between the same two teams.

American Legion State Tournament — Game One

Pontotoc     2  4  1  3  0  0  1   –  11  9  0
Booneville   0  0  0  0  0  0  0   –    0  0  5

WP: Dylan Earnest (P) – perfect game.
LP: Chris Gullick (B)

Multiple Hits: (P) Latham Brister, Jacob Long.
2B: (P) Adam Roye.
3B: (P) David Bowen.
HR: (P) Jordan Moore — Grand Slam.

Top of the first (Pontotoc)

Hunter Mize: walk
Zach Chavers: struck out swinging – 1 out.
David Bowen: stand-up triple to center, Mize scores 1-0.
Daniel Tunnell: reached on fielder’s choice, Bowen tagged out after slipping when trying to go back to third – 2 outs. Advanced to second on a pass ball.
Jordan Moore: single up the middle, Tunnel scores 2-0.
Latham Brister: hit batsman, runners on 1st and 2nd
Nathan White: reaches on an error by the second baseman, bases loaded.
Jacob Long: groundout to the pitcher – 3 outs.

Pontotoc scores 2 runs on 2 hits and 1 error, 3 left on.

Bottom of the first (Booneville)

Lee Wilson: groundout to shortstop – 1 out.
Drew Dodds: struck out swinging – 2 outs.
Will Wallis: struck out swinging, thrown out by catcher – 3 outs.

Booneville scores 0 runs on 0 hits and 0 errors, 0 left on.

Top of the second (Pontotoc)

Adam Roye: fly out to center – 1 out.
Mize: groundout to third – 2 outs.
Chavers: reachers on an error by the shortstop.
Bowen: walk, runners on 1st and 2nd.
Tunnell: walk, bases loaded.

Sanderson out to the mound, Gullick stays in the game.

Moore: grand slam over the score board.
Brister: pop out to first – 3 outs.

Pontotoc scores 4 runs on 1 hit and 1 error, 0 left on.

Bottom of the second (Booneville)

Chris Gullick: groundout to third – 1 out.
Jordan Gurley: struck out swinging – 2 out.
Jimmy Marshall: groundout to second – 3 out.

Booneville 0 runs on 0 hits and 0 errors, 0 left on.

Top of third (Pontotoc)

White: groundout to the pitcher – 1 out.
Long: reached on an error by the second baseman.
Roye: stand-up double to the wall in left.

Sanderson out to the mound, Gullick out – Kyle Stephenson in.

Mize: robbed of a base hit by a diving catch in center, Long scores – 2 outs.
Chavers: grounds out to third – 3 outs.

Pontotoc scores 1 run on 1 hit and 1 error, 1 left on.

Bottom of the third (Booneville)

Justin Smith: groundout to short – 1 out.
Lee Griffin: struck out swinging – 2 outs.
Kyle Stephenson: groundout to short – 3 outs.

Booneville scores 0 runs on 0 hits, 0 errors.

Top of the fourth (Pontotoc)

Bowen: reaches on an error by the third baseman, advanced to third on wild pitch, scored on wild pitch.
Tunnell: single to left, advanced to second on wild pitch, advanced to third on wild pitch.
Moore: struck out swinging – 1 out.
Brister: single to left, Tunnell scores.
White: ruled safe after first baseman was drawn off the bag by the third and dropped the ball on the tag — error on the first baseman despite argument from Sanderson.
Long: single to left, Brister scores.
Roye: struck out swinging – 2 outs.
Mize: ground out into a fielder’s choice – 3 outs.

Pontotoc scores 3 runs on 3 hits and 2 errors, 2 left on.

Bottom of the fourth (Booneville)

Wilson: groundout to short – 1 out.
Dodds: struckout looking – 2 outs.
Wallis: groundout to second – 3 outs.

Booneville 0 runs on 0 hits and 0 errors, 0 left on.

Top of the fifth (Pontotoc)

Chavers: struck out swinging, thrown out by catcher – 1 out.
Bowen: walk
Tunnell: ground into a double play to end the inning.

Pontotoc 0 runs on 0 hits and 0 errors, 0 left on.

Bottom of the fifth (Booneville)

Gullick: fly out to right – 1 out.
Tanner Gaines fly out to center – 2 outs.
Marshall: struck out swinging – 3 outs.

Booneville 0 runs on 0 hits and 0errors, 0 left on.

Top of the sixth (Pontotoc)

Moore: groundout to short – 1 out.
Brister: single up the middle.
White: fly out to short, throw out at first for double play to end the inning.

Pontotoc 0 runs on 1 hit and 0 errors, 0 left on.

Bottom of the sixth (Booneville)

Smith: groundout to third – 1 out.
Griffin: groundout to second – 2 outs.
Stephenson: struck out swinging – 3 outs.

Booneville 0 runs on 0 hits and 0 errors, 0 left on.

Top of the seventh (Pontotoc)

Corey Smith in to pitch for Booneville.

Long: single past third and short.
Roye: sacrifice bunt advances Long to second – 1 out. Scored on balk.
Mize: pop out to first – 2 outs.
Chavers: walk, runners on 1st and 2nd. Advanced to third on balk.
Bowen: walk, bases loaded. Advanced to second on balk.
Tunnell: groundout to second. – 3 outs.

Pontotoc scores 1 run on 1 hit and 0 errors, 2 left on.

Bottom of the seventh (Booneville)

Justin Jordan: groundout to short – 1 out.
Gabe Richey: struck out swinging – 2 outs.
Wallis: stuck out swinging – 3 outs.

Dylan Earnest throws a perfect game for the Red Sox.

The 2009 version is off to a MUCH better start than last year’s American Legion Baseball State Tournament in Pontotoc. Opening pitch quickly approaching (4:30 p.m.) there is no sign of rain in the area — last season almost every day had multiple rain delays or washouts.

Here are the players participating in the ALB State Tournament according to the program:

Booneville Braves: Coach Shane Sanderson

Jordan Gurley (Corinth), Justin Smith (Lafayette Co), Drew Wray (New Albany), Gabe Richey (Tupelo), Sawyer Wheatley (New Albany), Lee Wilson (Wheeler), Drew Dobbs (New Albany), Justin Jordan (Myrtle), Jimmy Marshall (East Union), Kyle Stephenson (Booneville), Hunter Maness (Booneville), Lee Griffin (Tishomingo Co), Chris Gullick (Lafayette Co), Sam Cruse (South Pontotoc), Will Wallis (Ripley), Brandon Woodruff (Wheeler), Parks Frazier (Corinth), Corey Smith (New Albany), Tyler Beaty (Mantachie), and Tanner Gaines (Baldwyn).

Hattiesburg Hub City Bombers: Coach Anthony James

Buck Barnard (Petal), Drew Carruth (Petal), Tyler Fall (South Jones), Blake Herrin (Pearl River Central), Brandon Holley (West Jones), Ben Lawshe (Lumberton), Justin Lee (Lumberton), Matthew Magee (Petal), Robert Marconi (Purvis), Chanse Mathis (South Jones), Jared Miller (Sumrall), Garrett Moore (West Jones), Jonathon Morgan (Franklin Co), Tucker Morgan (Franklin Co), Nathan Stringer (Stringer), Brett Tortorich (Pearl River Central), and Bryn Whitehead (Pearl River Central). Asst Coaches: Ryan Lott and Mark Herrington.

Pontotoc Red Sox: Coach Nickey Browning

David Bowen (South Pontotoc), Latham Brister (Houston), Landon Brister (Houston), Zach Chavers (Pontotoc), Dylan Earnest (Hamilton), Brock Foster (New Albany), Josh Johnson (Water Valley), Jacob Long (Houston), Heath Kitchens (South Pontotoc), Hunter Mize (Lafayette Co), Jordan Moore (Calhoun City), Weston Mounce (North Pontotoc), Chase Reeves (Hamilton), Adam Roye (South Pontotoc), Jake Smithy (Pontotoc), Charley Sullivan (Oxford), Daniel Tunnell (New Albany), and Nathan White (Pontotoc) Asst Coaches: Scott Cummings and David Kidd.

Tupelo 49er’s: Coach Kirk Presley

Collin Dexter (Tupelo), Channing Walker (Tupelo), Blake Jolly (South Pontotoc), Ben Kingsley (Mooreville), Austin Burns (Saltillo), Dillon Payne (Saltillo), Joseph Koon (Tupelo), Jared McGonagall (Itawamba AHS), Kirk Roberts (Tupelo), Ben Hudspeth (Tupelo), Chris Stratton (Tupelo), Jake Scott (Shannon), Matt Belk (Shannon), Bronson Smith (Itawamba AHS), Lex Rutledge (Tupelo), Drew Wheeler (Mooreville), John Gatlin (Tupelo) and Luke Hargett (Itawamba AHS). Asst Coaches: McKinle Holland and Chris Hardy.

Opening pitch for the 2009 American Legion Baseball State Tournament is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. at Golden Wave Park in Tupelo.

Game One will pit rivals the Pontotoc Red Sox and Booneville Braves against each other while defending champion Tupelo 49er’s will take on the Hub City Bombers of Hattiesburg in the final game of the day scheduled for 8:00 p.m.

The 49er’s, Red Sox, and Braves have all split their series with each other this summer while none of them have played the Bombers before starting tournament play –  making the 09 version of the State Tourney a rather interesting one.

Stay with GoreSports.net for updates from today’s games in Tupelo.

The Monroe Journal has a poll up asking who will be the top QB in the state >>> click here to voice your opinion for the chance to win a CD of your choice.

Jim Holder of WTVA Sports sent out a tweet saying, “Fulton’s Chad Ramey wins the Boys’ Jr. State Amateur golf championship in Jackson by nine shots.” He later tweeted, “Mississippi State’s Connor Powers wins Cape Cod League Home Run Derby tonight with five homers at Fenway.”

Chicago White Sox Mark Buehrle pitched the 18th perfect game in major league history.

The skies parted above Birmingham and Florida’s Tim Tebow descended down from Heaven to participate in the SEC Media Days.  He was joined by a few other guys too — Houston Nutt (Ole Miss), Nick Saban (Alabama), and that guy that has really good seats at all of Tebow’s games… oh yeah!!! Urban Meyer (Florida).

NEMS360: Ole Miss players dealing with hype well
HOOVER, Ala. — Ole Miss coach Houston Nutt was on high alert during the offseason to see how his players would handle the unfamiliar hype. He said Thursday the Rebels are in uncharted territory as a preseason Top 10 pick by some magazines, but he likes how the players have dealt with the attention, including >>> click here to read more from the Associated Press.

The usual suspects are in Birmingham: Brandon Speck, Brad Locke, and Parrish Alford (click their name for their respective links).

Also, don’t forget to check out the video from the SEC Media Days in the lower right hand corner at the NEMS360.com homepage.

Funny moment of the day: Some yahoo said something about Saban looking almost as good as he did, but Saban played it off like a pro thanking him saying it wasn’t very often he got compliments in this business… paraphrasing of course.

More from the Daily Journal from the SEC Media Days:

Urban Meyer and the Florida Gators

Nick Saban and the Alabama Crimson Tide

Mark Richt and the Georgia Bulldogs

Arkansas, Vanderbilt, Kentucky and more in the SEC Notebook

Pending school board approval, Josh Hegwood appears to be set to take over the Calhoun City Lady Wildcats’ softball program next season.

If approved, he will be replacing Patricia Ellison.  Ellison spent one season as the Lady Cats head coach, a position that has seen it’s fair share of changes since start of the program.

Hegwood is currently an assistant football and baseball coach at Calhoun City.

The 2009 American Legion State Tournament is scheduled to begin this Friday at Golden Wave Field in Tupelo.  The double-elimination tournament has been accustom to a six-team format, but this year will only see four teams vying for the state title.

Pontotoc, who won the title in 2007 and has traditionally won their championships in Tupelo, will join the Booneville Braves and Hub City Bombers (Hattiesburg) in hopes of keeping the 49er’s from making a rare repeat appearance as state champions this season.

John Wilbert of the NEMS Daily Journal talks with Pontotoc Red Sox head coach Nickey Browning and Tupelo 49er’s skipper Kirk Presley about the current state of American Legion Baseball.

Friday

Game 1 — Pontotoc vs Booneville — 4:30 p.m.
Game 2 — Tupelo vs Hattiesburg — 8:00 p.m.

Saturday

Game 3 — Game 1 vs Game 2 losers — 1:00 p.m.
Game 4 — Game 1 vs Game 2 winners — 4:30 p.m.
Game 5 — Game 3 winner vs Game 4 loser — 8:00 p.m.

Sunday

Game 6 — Game 4 vs Game 5 winners – 1:00 p.m. (championship)
Game 7 — Game 6 winner vs Game 6 loser – 4:30 p.m. (if needed)

If Mississippi State doesn’t win a single game this season, first-year head coach Dan Mullen seems to have already won the hearts of the members of the media covering the SEC Media Days this week in Birmingham, Alabama.

NEMS360: Mullen tweets, then talks MSU football

HOOVER, Ala. — Dan Mullen showed his youth and tech savvy with a quick tweet before addressing a few hundred Southeastern Conference reporters at media days. The first-year Mississippi State coach joked about tweeting “I am on stage,” while punching buttons on his cell phone. The 37-year-old Mullen breezed through a 14-minute opening statement Wednesday on his goals for the team, his personnel and his multiple spread offense >>> click here to read more from the Associated Press.

Brad Locke, Mississippi State beat writer for the NEMS Daily Journal, was on hand for the SEC Media Day check in on Locke’s take of Mullen’s day with the media by checking out Inside Mississippi State Sports with Brad Locke.

Be sure to check out the lower right-hand section of the NEMS360 homepage to see videos from Brandon Speck of the Monroe Journal from today’s Media Day.