“Hey, Mister Tom. How ya’ doing?”

The voice came from a familiar face. Twenty-three years olderbut still easily recognized, Donnie Foster flasheda wide smile and offered a firm handshake.

Foster, a 1980 Brookhaven High School graduate, was in RaymondTuesday night to scout Brookhaven Academy. He coaches theRiverfield (La.) Academy boys basketball team that won the District3-AA Tournament last weekend.

Riverfield (29-5) lost 51-39 to Presbyterian Christian School ofHattiesburg Wednesday in the second round of the South State AATournament at Central Hinds.

Foster has been coaching at Riverfield for 17 years and producedmany successful teams. At BHS he was a 4-sport letterman, starringin football, basketball, baseball and golf.

Baseball was probably Foster’s best sport. He was part of thePanther squad which was coached by Butch Holmes. That 1980 team wasrunner-up to Hattiesburg in the South State A-AA playoffs.Hattiesburg went on to win the state title that spring.

Sensational southpaw Bobby Myrick of Hattiesburg pitched thevictory. Buddy Thibodeaux, another southpaw and a junior, took theloss in the final game on Moyer Field. Certainly, Brookhaven had anexceptional group of players that year.

For starters, Brooks Warren was at first base, Mutt Wallace atsecond, Jeff Beeson at shortstop, Alan Currie at third base, PaulHenning at catcher, Marty Cooley and Frederick Cannon alternated inleft field and Tucker Peavey was in right. Robbie Thibodeaux wasdesignated hitter. Foster and Buddy Thibodeaux alternated incenterfield.

Some other players on the BHS squad were Greg Bowman, RandyFurr, Alan Kent, Jeff Richardson and Steve Wright. The Panthersentered the state playoffs with an 18-2 record that season.

Besides Holmes, Kenneth (Pop) Warren was first base coach andTommy Goodson coached from the bench. The Panthers finished 20-5.They beat Biloxi in the opening round of the playoffs in abest-of-three series. The Panthers lost to Hattiesburg 2-1 in theHub City and then 5-3 on old Moyer Field.

Hattiesburg had a huge following. Fans chartered some city busesto bring them to Brookhaven from the Hub City. It was astanding-room-only crowd, the largest ever to witness a game onMoyer Field.

Gives you spring fever, doesn’t it?

Brookhaven’s Diamond Day is Saturday on new Moyer Field, locatednext to Lipsey School. There will be a Kids Clinic and a BHSHit-A-Thon in the morning. The first BHS Alumni Game is scheduledto start at noon.

BHS head coach Randy Spring is looking forward to a big day onMoyer Field, providing the weather cooperates. Working as assistantcoaches are Jaymie Palmer and Jeremy Albritton.

The Diamond Club is sponsoring a Red Beans & Rice Meal from11 a.m. to 1 p.m., at Lipsey School. Tickets are $5 a plate.

The Co-Lin Wolves, under the direction of head coach Keith Case,kick off their baseball season Saturday on Sullivan Field. They’rescheduled to host LSU-Eunice for a doubleheader, starting at 1p.m.

It should be an interesting year for the Wolves. There are 18freshmen on the 26-member squad who must grow up in a hurry

Security is a serious concern at sporting events, especially athigh school athletics. Bassfield’s basketball program was slappedwith a severe penalty last week after a fight broke out in theschool’s parking lot after a game. Fans and players from Collinsgot into a scuffle with some Bassfield followers.

Someone in an automobile fired a shot as the vehicle left theparking lot. The Mississippi High School Activities Associationfrowns on such incidents and deals harshly with infractions.

Bassfield, a Division 7-2A member was banned from the divisiontournament. The Yellow Jackets were expected to be seeded third andthe girls were seeded second.

According to MHSAA deputy director N.Z. Bryant, “The bottom lineis (Bassfield’s) lack of security. They have a security plan theyare supposed to follow. They did not follow it.”

According to the MHSAA, security must be provided by the hostschool. There was no security officer on duty but the BassfieldPolice Department did respond to the incident in the parkinglot.

If you remember January of last year, Bowling Green Academy ofFranklinton, La., was placed on probation after fans attacked thereferees who were officiating a game. As a penalty meted out by theMississippi Private School Association, Bowling Green wasn’tallowed to play a home basketball game this season. To their creditthe Bowling Green boys did make it to the South State AA Tournamentas the No. 3 team out of District 4-AA.