MONTICELLO – The Lawrence County Cougar 2003 baseball team hadits best ever season in the school’s history under the direction ofChris Clark.

The Cougars went from a struggling 3-7 team early in the seasonto finish 22-14 at the end of the season. Lawrence County advancedto the finals of the South State 4A playoffs before falling toPicayune in the semifinals.

For his achievements, Clark has been named as The DailyLeader’s Area Baseball Coach of the Year for the 2003season.

“I am honored to win the award,” said Clark. “I thank myassistant coaches. And the players.”

Clark shared the honor with assistant coaches Craig Davis andCory Keyes. “We have a great relationship,” explained Clark. “It’sa combination. There is so much that goes on you can’t do it byyourself. It’s been team oriented.”

Clark coaches the offense, Davis sets up the defense and Keyesworks with the pitchers. This three-man trio has proven to be asuccess at Lawrence County.

Clark was optimistic about this team before the start of theseason.

“I thought we have a chance to be pretty good,” stated Clark.”Then we started out 3-7. We struggled. We played horrible in theMcComb tournament.”

Clark told a story about taking the team to Southern Miss to seethe Eagles play but the game got rained out. The players go tospend time with each other away from baseball field and they seemedto bond after that.

“The personality of the ball team changed,” said Clark. “Successbreeds success. They decided one day we’re not that bad. And theyweren’t. They played with reckless abandon. Whatever it took towin, they did. Hopefully, we can expect this for years to come. Ittakes all of us.”

Clark mentioned the winning streak the Cougars put together nearthe end of regular season play.

“At one point we had won 15 out of 18 game,” Clark said. “Thenwe faced (and won) elimination games with McComb, Terry and amake-up game with Raymond. Then we defeated East Central, thenLaurel and lost to Picayune.”

Clark couldn’t put his finger on what turned the teamaround.

“It was an awesome ride,” smiled Clark. “I don’t know why ithappened but it did. It was a team effort. ‘I’m gonna do what Ihave to do to help the team. We only lose 2 seniors. We have agreat tangent of talent coming back.

“They (Cougars) started picking up each other,” continued Clark.”This was not a one-horse show.”

Clark repeated a compliment passed on to him by a fan. “Coach,your team played the game they way it is supposed to be played, byguys who wanted to play. You have success with kids who love thegame.”

“We had a different guy step up each game,” stated Clark. “Itwas a great ride. The guys came together.”

Clark talked about teams like the top teams like the NorthwestRankins, the Laurels and the Petals who are always in the playoffsand that is where he feels Lawrence County has the talent tobe.

“We can be in that upper echelon,” stated Clark. “You have tocommit.”

Clark was born in Brookhaven in 1969 but moved to Petal where hegraduated from high school in 1988. Clark played outfield inbaseball and a wide receiver in football.

While playing at Petal, the baseball team won 108 games and werein the state playoffs all four of his high school years.

Following graduation, Clark played baseball at Pearl RiverCommunity College and William Carey. Clark transferred to theUniversity of Southern Mississippi for his final two years where hegot his degree in school administration and social studies and aminor in health.

Clark spent his first year coaching at Columbia Academy. He wentto Forrest County AHS for the next 3 years and won a Class 3A statechampionship in 1996. He went to Newton County for three years thentook over the head coaching job at Lawrence County three yearsago.

The greatest influences were his parents, Bob and Carolyn andPetal high school baseball coach Larry Watkins.

“My dad is my No. 1 mentor for sure,” said Clark. “He taught meabout being the hardest worker and going the extra mile.”

His father’s slogan was “winners are the ones who are willing todo what losers won’t do.”

Clark learned about baseball from Watkins. “He taught me thegame of baseball. Everything I know about baseball, I learned fromhim.”

One thing Clark learned is you earned your starting position andyou have to play well to keep it. You were always striving to getbetter as a player.

“You had to continue to work,” said Clark. “You competed withothers for your position. I had to work harder than otherfolks.”

Clark is thankful for the support from his wife Gail ( teacherand cheerleader sponsor at Lawrence and his 4-year-old daughterEmily. Emily has also sang the National Anthem at the home ballgames.

“My daughter is a baseball girl,” smiled Clark. “She helps mecut grass. It’s a family-oriented group.”

Clark thanks his wife for understanding. “She understood it wasimportant to me. I had to work harder than other folks.”

Clark thanked the administration and the fans for their loyalsupport. “We have a great structure here.”

Clark is also active in the National Guard Reserves. He was onactive duty in 1991 during Desert Storm out of Camp Shelby, southof Hattiesburg. Last summer, he was in Officer Training School inAberdeen, Md.

Clark feels good about next year’s squad.

“We have some good kids coming back,” said Clark. “Hopefully,they can take this year and keep it rolling. I thank the players ofLawrence County for supporting me. The Good Lord has given us thetalent.”