October 9, 2009

FARRIS ANNOUNCES FOURTH “FIRST PITCH BANQUET” FOR 2010

BOONEVILLE, MISS. – Plans have been set for the Northeast Mississippi Community College baseball’s “First Pitch Banquet” and it is scheduled to take place on Monday, January 25, 2010 at 7 p.m. according to Tiger head coach Kent Farris. 

The “First Pitch Banquet” kicks off the season for the Northeast baseball program and allows members of the community to meet the 2009 baseball team.

Coach Farris and the Tiger baseball team will welcome two special guest’s for the event this year……Scott Berry, University of Southern Mississippi head baseball coach,  who will be the speaker for the event, and former NEMCC Sports Information Director Matt Wyatt, who now hosts the Sports Drive Radio Show in Tupelo will be the emce for the evening.

Coach Berry joined the Golden Eagles staff in 2001 and during that time Berry garnered a 346-197 (.637) record while advancing to NCAA postseason play six times. The team also won the Conference USA Championship in 2003.

In his tenure at Southern Miss, Coach Berry's main responsibility has been working with the pitching staff, mentoring four pitchers to seven All-American honors, including at least one All-American in four consecutive years from 2003-06. He also has coached three pitchers to freshmen All-American honors and saw 12 pitchers drafted into professional baseball.

Last year turned out to be a magical year for the Golden Eagles. Berry helped guide the University of Southern Mississippi to its first ever Super Regional against the University of Florida and with a 7-6 win in Game 2 against the Gators, Berry goes down in the USM record books as part of the coaching staff to lead the Golden Eagles to their first-ever College World Series appearance.

Southern Mississippi overcame a 6-1 deficit including a three-run eighth inning in knocking off the Gators at McKethan Stadium in Gainesville. Southern Mississippi stunned the nationally-ranked Florida Gators with a two-game sweep in the best-of-three Super Regional series in earning the school’s first-ever CWS berth.

In addition, a member of the USM coaching staff is former Northeast assistant baseball coach Richie Harrelson who oversees the Golden Eagle outfielders, works with the USM hitters and coaches’ first base. Harrelson also runs all of the Southern Miss baseball camps and private lessons.

Prior to joining  Head Coach  Palmer's staff in 2001, he was the head coach at Meridian Community College where he amassed a 186-57 mark. In his four years as the head coach at MCC, Berry guided the Eagles to the NJCAA World Series twice, won the Region 23 Championship three times and captured the Mississippi/Louisiana Championship all four years.

Coach Berry was named the Regional Coach of the Year three times (1997, 1998 and 2000), District Coach of the Year twice (1998 and 2000), while earning the Diamond Sports ABCA Region Coach of the Year in 1998 and the Louisville Slugger Coaching Award two times in 1997 and 1998.

At Meridian, he coached 30 players who signed to play Division I baseball and had 10 players selected in the major league draft, including 2008 American League Cy Young Award winner, Cliff Lee, of the Cleveland Indians, who played for Berry in 1999 and 2000.

Berry, a native of Neosho, Mo., played two seasons collegiately at Crowder College, where he was a two-time all-region selection and the team's most valuable player his sophomore season. A back injury forced his career to come to an end prematurely, but Berry spent the final two season of his college career as a student assistant coach at Southwest Missouri State where he earned both his bachelor's and master's degree.

Wyatt graduated from Mississippi State University in May of 2000 with a B.S. in Sports Communication. While at MSU from 1995-2000, Wyatt was a member of the football team and played quarterback for coach Jackie Sherrill and the Mississippi State Bulldogs.

After redshirting during the ’95 season, Wyatt played in 10 games for the Bulldogs in 1996 as a redshirt freshman, earning a starting spot in games played against South Carolina and Auburn. During his sophomore season at quarterback, Wyatt earned a starting position and helped MSU to a 7-win season. The former Prattville High School standout shared the quarterbacking duties with Wayne Madkin during his next two seasons earning four starting nods.

During the 1998 and 1999 seasons, Wyatt played in the Southeastern Conference Championship Game in Atlanta, Ga. (vs. Tennessee, 1998), in the Cotton Bowl (vs. Texas, 1998), led the largest fourth quarter comeback in MSU football history (vs. Auburn, 1999) and was part of a team that won ten games capped by a victory over Clemson in the Peach Bowl during the 1999 season.

Several of Wyatt’s Mississippi State teammates have made names for themselves in the NFL. Those include: Reggie Kelly (Cincinnati Bengals), Justin Griffith (Atlanta Falcons), Mario Haggan (Buffalo Bills), Eric Moulds (Houston Texans), Floyd “Pork Chop” Womack (Seattle Seahawks), Randy Thomas (Washington Redskins), Fred Smoot (Minnesota Vikings), Willie Blade (Jacksonville Jaguars), Eric Brown (Houston Texans), Dorsett Davis (Denver Broncos), Greg Favors (Jacksonville Jaguars), Walt Harris (Washington Redskins), Donald Lee (Green Bay Packers), and Ellis Wyms (Tampa Bay Buccaneers).

Upon graduation in May of 2000, Wyatt moved to Hamburg, Germany, where he played professional football in the GFL (German Football League) and was the starting quarterback for the Hamburg Blue Devils. Aside from traveling Europe and meeting some interesting people, Wyatt says the highlight of his time in Germany was leading the Blue Devils to the 2000 Euro Bowl Championship Game.

Wyatt worked as a sports reporter for WTVA Television in Tupelo, Miss. from 2001-2003. In June of 2003, he accepted a position with WTVA as weekend sports anchor and reporter.

Wyatt notes the highlights of his 5-years of media experience being; covering MSU and Ole Miss football, basketball, and baseball games, covering high school sports including the state championships in Jackson, Miss. each year, and coming to Booneville, Miss. on a regular basis to cover Northeast Tiger sporting events. 

Wyatt had a two-year stint at Northeast as the Sports Information Director from 2006-08.  Wyatt is currently the personality behind the Sports Drive Radio Show that is aired on Miss 98 (97.5 F.M) Monday through Friday from 6-8 p.m.

"We are very excited about having Matt back on campus to emcee this year’s banquet, and we also look forward in hearing Coach Berry speak at the event”, said Farris.

“We would like to encourage everyone to attend the banquet and enjoy this special evening as we prepare for the upcoming 2010 season."

“This has been a very successful fundraiser over the past few years and it is a great way to introduce our kids to the public", explained Farris.   

The banquet will be held in the Claude Wright Room on the second floor of the Haney Union on the Northeast campus.  

Advance tickets for the Northeast Mississippi Community College First Pitch Banquet are $20 and can be purchased by contacting any Northeast baseball player, diamond girl or NEMCC head coach Kent Farris at 662-720-7309.

Tickets include a buffet dinner.

Checks should be made payable to the NEMCC Development Foundation, and should be mailed to: Northeast Mississippi Community College, 101 Cunningham Boulevard, Booneville, MS, 38829, Attn. Kent Farris

Tickets will be sold at the doors of the Claude Wright Room on January 25 for $25.

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