COVID-19 ends title run for Lady Rockets, Embry

COVID-19 ends title run for Lady Rockets, Embry

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Neshoba Central's seven-year run as state fast-pitch softball champions came to an end last week,

But nobody beat them on the field.

When Gov. Tate Reeves announced he was closing the public schools for the rest of the spring semester because of the coronavirus pandemic, the Mississippi High School Activities Association announced that the rest of the spring sports seasons were canceled as well.

The Neshoba Central Lady Rockets were quite possibly on their way to an eighth-straight state championship. They had put together a 9-0 record, But it wasn't to be.

"We were trying," Coach Trae Embry said. "We had a really good group this year that played hard and bought in to what we were wanting to do. They put the team first and were very unselfish.

"The high school activities association made the right decision. It is something we can't control and we'll have to live with. It was hard. This was my last year and it was the last year for our seniors. But they made the right decision and we are going to move on," Embry said.

Embry will be leaving Neshoba Central to become the head coach at Holmes Community College. He put together a combined record of 475-41 in fast-pitch and slow-pitch softball. In his eight years, his teams won eight straight slow-pitch softball championships and seven straight fast-pitch championships.

Counting his years at Eupora, Coach Embry has won 20 state championships and has won more than 850 career wins.



"It has been a great eight years," Embry said. "I have coached some of the best kids you could ever ask to coach. They have always done what we have asked and worked hard. We have had kids who signed junior college scholarships all the way up to SEC scholarships. It is just incredible when you consider the talent that has run through this school and is coming up in this school."

Throughout the years, Embry has credited his players, assistant coaches, the players' families and the school administration for all of the wins and championships the Lady Rockets have.

Players came and then graduated, and the Lady Rockets reloaded, thanks in a big part to a strong junior varsity program and junior high program.

"This program is very deep," Embry said. "We took a lot of pride in our junior varsity. If a player wasn't playing varsity, they wanted play JV and they wanted to win those games. That builds toward their future so that when it is their time to step up into the varsity, they are ready to do it. We played 17 to 20 JV games each year," Embry said.

"The junior high program has taken our program to another level. It has involved more kids. For a seventh grader not having to compete with a junior or a senior for a spot on the varsity team, it gives them an opportunity to develop and get to play," Embry said.

"The program is better than when we started," Embry said. "It has been a continuous building phase. It is remarkable that we have been able to accomplish."






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