Kylie Ming made quite a name for himself as a hard-nosed second baseman for Louisville High School. Now, the former Wildcat standout is entering his first season as the school’s head baseball coach.
Ming and the Wildcats are preparing to open their season Saturday with a pair of contests against Alabama teams in a classic tournament at Caledonia. They’ll face Phil Campbell and Gordo high schools, with action scheduled to start at 1:30 p.m.
Louisville is coming off a 3-17 season after which longtime coach Charlie Smith retired after his second tenure at the school. Numbers have been down for the Wildcats in recent years, but Ming said he hopes to change that soon starting with a 20-man roster this year.
“We had a lot of fun and a lot of success when I was playing and I’m trying real hard to get us back to that point,” Ming said last Saturday as his team was participating in jamboree action at Nanih Waiya. “We’ve got to try to get these young guys some playing time and some experience and get things turned in the right direction.”
Four seniors graduated off last year’s team, and Ming only has four seniors again on the 2018 squad.
Gone from a year ago are stalwarts like Payson Roberts and Tonk Jackson, as well as Cam Herrington and Quay Eiland.
Roberts led the team in plate appearances, hits, runs scored (18), RBIs (13) and stolen bases (14) last year. Jackson hit .316 with 16 runs and 11 RBIs and also led the team with 31 innings pitched after sporting a 3.22 earned-run average.
About 10 Wildcats who saw significant action last year are back, however, led by junior Deonte Yarbrough who hit .341 with four doubles, 11 runs scored and eight stolen bases as a sophomore.
Seniors Pervis Frazier (.280, 16 runs, eight RBIs, 10 stolen bases) and Keyandra Boler (17.1 innings pitched) are among the returnees, as is junior Shemar Eiland. He hit .311 with 12 runs, 10 RBIs and nine stolen bases, while senior Markevious Jackson hit .250 with 12 runs and seven RBIs last year.
Sophomore Dre Shumaker had 50 plate appearances as a freshman; sophomore Nasir Brown struck out 27 in 22 innings as a freshman; sophomore Braylon White threw 13 innings last year; and Camden Sanders earned 24 plate appearances as an eighth-grader in 2017.
Ming said Roper Stoots will see lots of action behind the plate for the Wildcats, while White and Brown could see time at first base.
White and Noah Essary will play third, Boler and Sanders will play shortstop and Elijah Wilkes and Sanders figure to see time at second.
Most of the rest of the roster is expected to vie for playing time in the outfield, and a number of Cats will get a chance to pitch.
“We didn’t return a lot of pitching, so pretty much all of them got a chance,” Ming said. “It was the only way I knew how to do it … to try to find some young guys.”
Markevious Foster, John Mark Wallace, Kayliah Coburn, Ty Cooper, Jaylin King, Takobee Johnson, Ken Holmes and Javier Hunt are among the Wildcats who could contribute.
Ming played two years at East Central Community College and two more at Mississippi Valley State. He returned to Louisville four years ago and has coached both slow-pitch and fast-pitch softball since his return.
He’ll be assisted by Dicenzo Miller, Micah McCain and Newlie Long.
“They have really stepped up and helped out,” Ming said. “I could not do this without them.”
The Wildcats will compete in Region 4-4A along with New Hope, Leake Central, Noxubee County and Kosciusko.
“Just about every one of them will be tough,” Ming said.
Louisville’s home opener is scheduled for Tuesday, Feb. 27, against East Webster.
