Arrow baseball celebrates successful season
By Danny C. Davis
Pictured (l to r) are All Region players, front row: Stone Crain, Ethan Dodson, Chad Bates, Josef Walker and Parker Burrow; and back row: Parker Thames, David Steelman, Tyrese Haggard and Brody Zumbro.
The Clinton High School baseball team finished just a few wins short of getting to the championship series this season, but all in all, had a good season.
Clinton defeated defending Class 7 A champion Hernando in two games in the opening round of the MHSAA North Class 7 A playoffs, but fell to Tupelo in the second round in a couple of close games.
The Arrows finished 21-9, including wins over eventual Class 7A State Champion Madison Central, Germantown, and Tupelo.
At the end of the season at the annual CHS baseball banquet, the players were recognized with awards.
Junior high awards included Arrow Awards to Harrison Cooley and Brenley Blair; and Junior High Most Valuable Player Awards to Ben Brunson and Walker Jackson.
Pictured (l to r) are junior high award winners Harrison Cooley, Arrow Award; Ben Brunson, Most Valuable Player; Brenley Blair, Arrow Award; and Walker Jackson, Most Valuable Player.
Varsity awards were given for Most Valuable Players Stone Crain and Ethan Dodson; Best Offensive Player Chad Bates; Best Defensive Player Josef Walker; Arrow Awards to Phillip Burchfield and Parker Thames; and Pitching Awards to Tyrese Haggard and Brody Zumbro.
First team Class 7A All-State players Ethan Dodson and Stone Crain, and second team Class 7A All-State player Chad Bates were also recognized.
Celebrated also were All Region 2-7A players Stone Crain, Chad Bates, Ethan Dodson, Josef Walker, Parker Burrow, Parker Thames, David Steelman, Tyrese Haggard, and Brody Zumbro.
Clinton High School head baseball coach Sam Temple had praise for his 2025 Arrow baseball team.
Pictured (l to r) are the senior players from the 2025 Arrows baseball team Brody Zumbro, Rodney Harris, Parker Thames, Caleb Waldo-Spieth and Phillip Burchfield.
“I could not have been more proud of this team and what they accomplished this season. They got stronger as the season went on, and that is all anybody could ask for,” said Temple.
“We swept the # 1 team in the state, Hernando, in the first round of the playoffs. We just came up short in the second round to our conference foe Tupelo, that we had split with during the regular season.”
“I am proud that this team was so good offensively,” said Temple. “We finished the regular season hitting .350 as a team. We had guys like Ethan Dodson that hit .520, Stone Crain hit .440, Chad Bates hit .402, and Parker Thames hit .370. You cannot overstate what those four guys contributed, and that Ethan Dodson hit .520 against Class 7A competition and that countless others were hitting above .300.”
“We prided ourselves ever since we have been here to be one of the leading teams offensively in the state. These guys hit all the team, and the offensive system has been good.”
“Our pitching was very good by the end of the season, and I credit that to our pitching coach, Grady Turman. Parker Burrur and Tyrease Haggard were very good pitchers, and they were only ninth and tenth graders and will be back for several more years. Seniors Brody Zumbro and Phillip Burchfield did a great job on the mound in relief. Looking to the future, Brady Holmes has a lot of upside to our pitching, and he is going to be very good.”
“The division that we play in Class 7A is the toughest in the state. It going to be very tough again next year with us, Madison Central, Germantown, Oxford, and Starkville, with only three teams making the playoffs.,” said Temple.
“But we are very excited about next year with the players we have coming back.”
Pictured (l to r) are varsity award winners, front row: Stone Crain, Most Valuable Player; Ethan Dodson, Most Valuable Player; Chad Bates, Best Offensive; and Josef Walker, Best Defensive; and back row: Phillip Burchfield, Arrow Award; Parker Thames, Arrow Award; Tyrese Haggard, Pitching Award; and Brody Zumbro, Pitching Award.
