Kevin Coker, right, with his broken finger in a splint, is consoled by Warren Central teammate and fellow senior Taylor Tankersley after Saturday’s win at Madison Central. Coker, Tankersley’s catcher, is out for the season.(The Vicksburg Post/MARK THORNTON)

[04/30/01] The emotional spark plug for Warren Central’s state championship run will spend the rest of the season as a cheerleader.

Kevin Coker, who is third on the team with a .383 average and 15 doubles, dislocated and broke his middle finger on his non-throwing hand during the Vikings’ 5-0 win over Madison Central.

Sophomore Tyler DeRossette will replace Coker.

The senior, being recruited heavily by Southern Mississippi, will have surgery this afternoon and is expected to be out several months, he said. He will also be forced to miss the state all-star game in June. He was one of three Vikings chosen for the postseason game.

“It’s going to be different. I want to be out there,” said Coker, whose team will square off against rival Tupelo Thursday in the first game of the North State championship series. “It will be tough, but I have to swallow my pride and look past myself and look at the team. Everyone needs me to be myself. If everyone sees me down, I’m not being a leader.”

Coker, the leadoff hitter, hit a shot to third base which was fumbled around. The throw to first sailed high, so Coker dove to the bag. His middle finger jammed into the dirt.

“What’s tough to stomach as a coach is that he always gets hurt going a hundred miles per hour,” WC coach Sam Temple said. “He was doing exactly what he was taught to do. It was pure hustle.”

Coker went to a Madison medical clinic, then saw two doctors after the game. He returned after the first visit to see the Vikings’ final inning, the series clincher.

“Everyone ran out on the field after the game, except Taylor (Tankersley),” Coker said. “He came over … and said he was going to finish this one out for me.”

DeRossette is hitting .242 with two home runs and four doubles.

“When he’s in there, we don’t miss a beat and if he does need anything, I’m only 20 feet away,” Coker said.

DeRossette, ironically, helped Warren Central’s junior American Legion team win a state championship after Coker was injured in the state tournament.

Coker was legging out a grounder, lunged for the base and broke his ankle. The team went on to win state, then play in the AL World Series in Kansas. Coker also broke his thumb in a baseball-related injury as a freshman.

Coker scored the game-winning run in Friday night’s Game 1 win over the Jaguars after hitting a one-out double in the seventh. He scored on a Brent Towne single.

“I went out the same way I came in,” Coker said. “My parents raised me to give 110 percent. … That last play sums up my career I scratch, claw, bite, do whatever it takes to win and I take more pride in that than any batting average.”