Where are the Brookhaven Brakemen?

My jaw dropped a few inches Wednesday morning when I glanced ata copy of The Clarion-Ledger. On page 2 of the sports section werethe usual agate or fine print scores, statistics , standings,transactions, etc.

A few inches were reserved for the Cotton State Leaguelinescores. Low and behold, a Brookhaven team had played adoubleheader against a Clinton team.

According to my information, the Brookhaven Brakemen were notactive this summer. That means no games on Moyer Field, no localplayers, no night games and no Sunday afternoon activity.

To say the least, it is a confusing story. The Cotton StateLeague, formed in the spring of 2000, featured college levelplayers from Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee and Louisiana. Theyused wooden bats which dramatically reduced the home run totals butdid make for a Major League atmosphere.

Longtime baseball veteran Doug Shanks was the Cotton Statecommissioner and former USM head coach Hill Denson was leaguepresident. Six teams began the inaugural season.

Brookhaven, under the direction of the Brookhaven High SchoolDiamond Club president Kenny Goza and BHS baseball coach RandySpring, produced the best franchise in the league. Due to volunteerefforts by the Diamond Club, the team actually made a small profit.Stan King donated the baseballs for the games and every foul balllanding behind the fence became a souvenir.

Pete Young, Copiah-Lincoln Community College pitching coach,managed the Brakemen. To their credit, they won the first leaguechampionship. Out-of-town players on the roster were housed bylocal families. It provided a warm, friendly atmosphere and manyfolks were eagerly anticipating the next season.

That’s when the fun ended. In October, Spring received asurprising telephone call from a baseball uniform company. Would heplease pay for the Brookhaven uniforms?

The uniforms had been purchased by the league and paid for bythe Brookhaven franchise. The money had long since been sent toleague headquarters in Jackson.

In the meantime, Shanks had accepted the position of headbaseball coach at Mississippi Valley State University. Denson alsohad taken a coaching job at Belhaven. The Cotton State Leaguedidn’t have an admiral or a captain.

Eventually, Overtime Sports, a sports management company, tookover the league and the overdue bills. A week before the season wasscheduled to begin, Goza received a call to prepare for leagueplay. It was far too late for organized formation of the Brookhaventeam.

Besides, Spring is in summer school pursuing a higher degree ofeducation. Goza said that the Brakemen could return for the summerof 2002 if conditions are right.

In the meantime, the sports management company claimed theBrakemen’s uniforms. That’s why there was a Brookhaven team listedin the linescores even though the players are from the Jacksonarea. End of story.

In case you missed it, Delaware Tech captured the NJCAA DivisionII World Series at Millington, Tenn. Tech went undefeated in thedouble-elimination tournament and showcased a strong pitchingstaff. beating Phoenix (Ariz.) College 2-1 in the championshipgame. Tech’s Mark Comolli was named Tournament MVP and Tech’sCurtis Brock was named Coach of the Year.

In four tournament games, Tech allowed a mere four runs. GrandRapids (Mich.) finished third and Iowa Central was fourth.

St. Louis Community College at Forest Park beat Co-Lin in theCentral District finals at St. Louis but fared poorly in the WorldSeries. The Highlanders lost to Grand Rapids 2-0 and Iowa Central9-4, making an earlier than expected exit from USA Stadium.

In women’s fastpitch softball, Mississippi Gulf Coast CommunityCollege made a strong showing in its first year of fastpitch. TheLady Bulldogs rebounded to beat Co-Lin for the Region 23 Tournamentchampionship and then swept Murray State (Okla.) 4-0 and 6-1 atPerkinston in a district playoff.

The Lady Bulldogs, coached by Carolyn Patterson, advanced to thenational tournament in Phoenix, Ariz., where they placed fifth, onevictory short of making the Final Four. At Phoenix, they lost toKankakee (Ill.) 10-2 in the first round but rebounded to beatKirkwood (Ill.) 7-2 and Muscle Shoals (Ala.) 6-2, before losing toShawnee (Ia.) 6-5.

Co-Lin, coached by David Smith and Johnny Williams, beat GulfCoast in 5 of 7 encounters this season. Two of the setbacks came inthe regional tournament. The Lady Wolves came mighty close tomaking the nationals in their first year of fastpitch.