milestone watch

Congratulations to William Carey coach Bobby Halford on notching career win No. 800 (and No. 801) on Saturday when the Crusaders swept Spring Hill in Hattiesburg. Next up on the milestone watch: Jim Page of Millsaps. Page needs one win for his 500th at the Division III school. The Majors open Friday at home against LaGrange. The small college season really gets rolling this week, with perennial D-II power Delta State opening on Tuesday against NAIA Belhaven in Cleveland. Belhaven, already well under way, plays its home opener Friday against LSU-Shreveport at Smith-Wills Stadium. Not too far behind is D-III Mississippi College, which starts on Feb. 10 against Belhaven at Smith-Wills in a Maloney Trophy Series game. Mississippi’s Big Three Division I schools — Ole Miss, State and USM — have become annual contenders for NCAA bids, but the less-visible small schools are also cranking out consistent winners. It would not be surprising at all to see DSU, Carey, Belhaven and Millsaps — all under the direction of veteran coaches — playing in the postseason, and Brian Owens, entering his third year at MC, has the Choctaws on the rise again. For baseball fans in Mississippi, these are the good old days.