Register Online - Hitting Under the Lights
Booneville, Miss. - The Northeast Mississippi Community College softball program is latching onto a great idea created by members of the baseball coaching staff and giving it a go themselves.
The Tigers will hold their own version of the Hitting Under the Lights camp at David Carnell Memorial Field during the final four Monday evenings in the month of October.
Young ladies currently in the seventh-through-twelfth grades, which includes the graduating classes of 2018-23, are eligible to sign up for these specialized instructional sessions.
The multi-night gathering starts at 6 p.m. in the City of Hospitality and lasts approximately two hours. Entrants will receive an extra opportunity to work on their offensive skills in a fun and relaxing atmosphere.
Each participant is expected to bring their own gear, which includes but is not limited to athletic apparel, cleats, a helmet and a bat. Softballs will be provided by Northeast at the stadium.
Registration is open to the first 40 applicants at a cost of $100. Please make checks payable to Northeast Softball and send by mail to Jody Long, 101 Cunningham Blvd., Booneville, Miss., 38829.
Athletes have the chance to learn from one of the longest tenured coaches in the Mississippi Association of Community and Junior Colleges (MACJC) and his up-and-coming assistant.
Long has been part of the softball staff since 1997 and was instrumental in the Tigers' rise to prominence since the program transitioned from slowpitch to fastpitch in 2001.
Northeast has captured seven MACJC North Division championships since that move. The Tigers also won the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Region 23 title in 2003.
Long has instructed 19 different All-Americans during his tenure at Northeast. He is the winningest coach in school history with 285 victories since assuming the role of headman in 2006.
Assistant coach Kevin Connell joined Long prior to the 2017 campaign and instantly provided a spark to the program. The duo led the Tigers to their 15th playoff appearance over a 17-year span and to a No. 16 national ranking from the NJCAA.
Connell played baseball collegiately at the Military College of South Carolina (The Citadel). He was a relief pitcher for the Bulldogs with 94 outings, 170.2 innings and 104 strikeouts over four seasons.
For more information about Hitting Under the Lights, contact Long at 662-720-7305 or by email at jwlong@nemcc.edu or Connell at 662-720-7218 or by email at klconnell@nemcc.edu.