Kilpatrick enjoys successful first season at Kemper Academy
Colt Kilpatrick’s first season as head baseball coach at Kemper Academy ended with his team making it to the second round of the playoffs and finishing with an 11-8 record.
Kilpatrick grew up at Laurel Hill and went to Neshoba Central where he played baseball.
After they got started, Kemper Academy had a seven-game winning streak going. This led to them tying for the district championship and carried them through the first round of the playoffs. Kilpatrick is now getting ready for the next school year in which he will be wearing a few more hats.
“Our baseball team far exceeded my expectations when we first started back in January,” Kilpatrick said. “I am going to be busy this summer but not quite as busy as during the school year. We are looking to go further in the playoffs next year. We are playing a summer schedule in June. And we have our athletes lifting weights Monday, Tuesday and Thursday during the summer.”
Last year, Kilpatrick taught health classes and elementary school physical education. He will be doing that next year along with being an assistant football coach and taking on the duties as the school’s athletic director.
After graduation in 2014, he attended East Central Community College and got a degree in electrical technology. He later attended William Carey University in Hattiesburg where he got a degree in health, PE and recreation. He finished in 2020 and started to work at Kemper Academy.
“I have a passion for coaching and preparing young people for their futures,” Kilpatrick said. “I want to have an impact on the kids’ lives, not just on the field but off the field as well.”
Kilpatrick played under coaches Brian Jones and Justin Stovall while at Neshoba Central. He said he used a lot of what he learned from them during his first season as a head coach,
Kilpatrick is married to his wife, Dakota, who he first met when they were freshmen in high school. They have been married five years and have two sons, Fenton and Jhett. They live on a farm on family land between House and Collinsville.
When he isn’t working, he likes to hunt and fish. Fenton is old enough to start helping prepare hunting sites.
He has been going to the Neshoba County Fair all of his life. His family owns cabin No. 393. He loves the horse races.