At the beginning of the season, St. Aloysius baseball coach Jay Harper laid out of a list of goals for his players.

“I tell them it’s like a grocery list that your mama sends you to the store with. You go down and check off the list,” Harper said. “You’ve got the milk, you’ve got the eggs. A lot of them wanted to win district and they checked it off the list. They wanted to win our spring break tournament, checked it off the list. Wanted to win the first round of the playoffs, checked it off the list.”

And for Harper?

The Vicksburg Post baseball Coach of the Year award. Checked it off the list.

Harper, who is in his second season as the Flashes’ head coach, led them to their first district championship since 2014 and first playoff series victory since 2015. It was a breakthrough season that put him atop the list of Warren County’s coaches.

“It feels very awesome. But all of my assistant coaches helped tremendously. They go above and beyond,” Harper said, giving credit to his staff of Brad Babb, Kevin Magee, Jerry Bourne and Michael Coomes. “The reflection that the guys have off of the hard work that they see our coaches put in shows how our season went.”

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How it went was, quite often, a white knuckle thrill ride. The Flashes had four walk-off wins that were the difference in success and mediocrity. Two came in key district games against Adams County Christian School and Copiah Academy that were pivotal in winning the MAIS District 4-5A championship. Two others came in a first-round playoff series against Silliman.

The four wins swung the Flashes’ record from 12-16 in 2024 to 17-14 in 2025. It was the team’s first winning record since 2021.

The Flashes also swept a doubleheader against Cathedral after losing the first game of the three-game series to clinch the district title. Two weeks later, they did the same thing to Silliman after dropping Game 1 of the series on the road.

“I think that goes back to those seniors. They had in their mindset to never give up in a fight,” Harper said. “Even when we were down, maybe throughout the whole ballgame, they found it within themselves to get their team up. To motivate their team. To believe in each other. That was a big thing this year. Each baseball player believed in each baseball player like a brother believed in a brother. I think that’s what we’ve lacked in the past.”

The seniors were shortstop Carson Smith, first baseman Clark Hobson and third baseman Laken Bradley. They’ll all be missed next season but, Harper noted, a small senior class means there’s also a lot of experienced players returning.

Many of those young players, Harper said, made a big leap in both talent and mindset this season.

“We had some young guys step up. We found some roles for some younger guys, for some ninth- and 10th-graders. They filled those voids we’ve had in years past,” Harper said. “It goes back to the three seniors we had. The hard work they’ve put in the past six years. It just shows how good you can be if you work really, really hard.”

St. Al had a 10-40 record the two years before Harper was promoted to head coach — he was an assistant from 2017-23 — and are 29-30 since then. He fully expects to push that career record over .500 in 2026, and put St. Al back on the map as a state championship contender.

“These guys are hungry for more,” Harper said. “They got a little taste of postseason success. We went a little further than we did last year. They know what it takes to get to where we got this year and know it’s going to take a little more to get us to where we want to be.”

Vicksburg Post Coaches of the Year
2025 – Jay Harper, St. Aloysius
2024 – Randy Broome, Warren Central
2023 – Randy Broome, Warren Central
2022 – Antonio Calvin, Vicksburg
2021 – Sid Naron, St. Aloysius
2020 – No winner (COVID)
2019 – Conner Douglas, Warren Central
2018 – Sid Naron, St. Aloysius
2017 – Conner Douglas, Warren Central
2016 – Conner Douglas, Warren Central
2015 – Conner Douglas, Warren Central
2014 – Conner Douglas, Warren Central
2013 – Derrik Boland, St. Aloysius
2012 – Ryan Grey, Vicksburg
2011 – Jerry Bourne, Porters Chapel
2010 – Clint Wilkerson, St. Aloysius
2009 – Clint Wilkerson, St. Aloysius
2008 – Jamie Creel, Vicksburg
2007 – Clint Wilkerson, St. Aloysius
2006 – Randy Wright, Porters Chapel
2005 – Clint Wilkerson, St. Aloysius
2004 – Randy Broome, Warren Central
2003 – Randy Wright, Porters Chapel
2002 – Joe Graves, St. Aloysius
2001 – Sam Temple, Warren Central
2000 – Jamie Creel, Vicksburg
1999 – Randy Wright, Porters Chapel
1998 – Sam Temple, Warren Central
1997 – Ray Burroughs, Vicksburg
1996 – Joe Graves, St. Aloysius
1995 – Joe Graves, St. Aloysius
1994 – Joe Graves, St. Aloysius