ten years after

Ten years ago today, Jeremy McClain toed the rubber at Smith-Wills Stadium and threw the first pitch of the first home game in Jackson Senators’ history. A crowd announced at 3,475 on a Friday night watched the Senators, of the independent Central Baseball League, fall to the Alexandria Aces 7-6. The outcome notwithstanding, the game was a fun one. The crowd was into it. McClain, now the Delta State athletic director, fell behind early, let down by his defense, but departed after six innings with a 6-5 lead. Tommy Bost homered in the second inning. Kyle Hawthorne scored a couple of runs, both times knocked in by Dan Singletary. Yuji Nerei and Gerard McCall notched RBIs. The visiting Aces, who had beaten the Sens four straight times in Alexandria, pulled out the victory with single runs in the eighth and ninth against Ramon Linares. The Sens enjoyed a short but relatively sweet run at Smith-Wills. That first team, which brought pro ball back to Jackson after a year’s hiatus, would come up one win short of a league championship. The 2003 team won the title. The club quietly ceased operations after the 2005 season, essentially forced out by the arrival of the Double-A Mississippi Braves in Pearl that same year. The Senators are long gone now but not completely forgotten.