Hinds’ Temple to coach NJCAA national team

Published 8:00 am Tuesday, May 29, 2018

RAYMOND — Sam Temple has taken Hinds Community College’s baseball program to national prominence, and apparently it has not gone unnoticed.

Temple, a Vicksburg native, was selected to be the head coach of the NJCAA National Team at the 2018 National Baseball Congress World Series later this summer.

The 84th annual World Series will be played Aug. 1-11 in Wichita, Kansas, and includes amateur and semipro teams from around the country. Temple’s 26-player squad will be a collection of junior college all-stars.

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“It’s a great honor and a privilege to represent the NJCAA, Hinds Community College, the MACJC, and Region 23 in coaching the NJCAA National Team,” Temple said in a school release. “To be involved in the process of selecting and coaching some of the best players in the country is a humbling opportunity. I am very excited to spend time with these fine coaches and young men this summer.”

Temple has a 383-253 record in 13 seasons as Hinds’ head coach. He has led the Eagles to the NJCAA Division I World Series twice, and reached the championship game in 2014.

He’s been the MACJC Coach of the Year five times, won three state championships, and has had more than 130 of his players move on to four-year colleges. Nearly half of those signed with NCAA Division I programs.

Among his recent graduates was Southern Miss third baseman Luke Reynolds, who played at Hinds in 2014 and this season won the Conference USA Player and Newcomer of the Year awards while leading the Golden Eagles to the C-USA championship.

About Ernest Bowker

Ernest Bowker is The Vicksburg Post's sports editor. He has been a member of The Vicksburg Post's sports staff since 1998, making him one of the longest-tenured reporters in the paper's 140-year history. The New Jersey native is a graduate of LSU. In his career, he has won more than 50 awards from the Mississippi Press Association and Associated Press for his coverage of local sports in Vicksburg.

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