[05/14/01] Kevin Coker’s biggest opportunity came after one of the worst performances of his life.

The emotion-driven senior catcher at Warren Central, a one-year starter, was 0-for-3 with three strikeouts against Horn Lake in a game earlier this season.

With a runner on third, Coker drew a walk in his fourth at-bat. As is customary, Coker sprinted to first base, then charged toward secondwithout hesitating in hopes of drawing a throw and allowing the runner on third to score.

The play opened the door for a WC win and for Coker to play Division I baseball.

Lane Burroughs, an assistant coach at Southern Mississippi, was in the crowd and on the strength of that one play and WC coach Sam Temple’s recommendation the Golden Eagles offered Coker a scholarship.

“I’m a one-year starter and it looks now like they took a chance on me,” Coker said on Sunday, one day after the Vikings captured the Class 5A state championship with a 5-2 win over Hattiesburg. “I want to show them that I wasn’t a gamble, that I was a sure thing. Anything I can do to help the team win, I will.”

That was never more apparent after Coker broke his finger on the first play of WC’s second-round playoff game against Madison Central.

Lost for the season, Coker turned into the team’s biggest cheerleader, all the while his right hand wrapped in a cast and stabilizer to keep his injured finger from getting hit.

“Other than the broken finger, this was a storybook ending to a storybook career,” Coker said. “All season we had been talking about our last run together and that run is over now.

“But we fought the good fight and came out victorious.”

Coker was recruited heavily to play basketball at Mississippi Delta Community College and had ideas of trying to walk on at Ole Miss as a basketball player.

But a push by the Golden Eagles for his baseball services won out.

“Baseball is taking me to college,” said Coker, who finished the season hitting .393 with 10 doubles. “I love basketball, but baseball is obviously my sport.”

Shea Douglas, a sophomore at Southern Miss, had a big effect on Coker’s decision. Coker was Douglas’ bullpen catcher in both his freshman and sophomore years.

Coker also credited Temple for making the call to USM coach Corky Palmer in the first place.

“He told me to do my job and he’ll do his and college baseball would be staring me in the face,” Coker said. “He made the phone call and told them I was worth taking a look at. All he wanted was for them to give me a chance.

“I did the work, but coach Temple did the talking.”

Coker said he hopes to be healthy enough to play in the state all-star game in June, but his status is still in question.

“Coach Palmer told me to take it easy because falls are not easy around Hattiesburg,” Coker said with a chuckle.