Vicksburg High shortstop Justin Henry flips the ball to second baseman Josh McBride as they show off how they’ve turned double plays for the Gators. The two will team up one more time on Saturday during the Class 4A/5A All-Star Game in Hattiesburg. Gators’ coach Jamie Creel will coach the all-stars. (Melanie Duncan ThortisThe Vicksburg Post)

[06/06/03] Every morning began the same way for Vicksburg High seniors Josh McBride and Justin Henry.

The two baseball players would meet their coach, Jamie Creel, at 7 a.m. at McDonald’s on U.S. 61 for their daily breakfast.

The three, often with other team members as well, would read the sports section of the paper and chat until they had to leave for school.

The routine has been that way ever since they became old enough to drive, but it will come to an end soon since McBride and Henry have graduated and will move on to college.

“I can’t even begin to tell you how much these two guys mean to me,” Creel said. “With those two, and all the seniors, it’s been one close group because they’re the first group I ever coached here.”

Creel, who arrived at Vicksburg in 2000, will get one last chance to coach his dynamic double play duo as he was chosen along with Oxford’s Brian Harvey to coach in Saturday’s Class 4A-5A Mississippi Association of Coaches All-Star game.

Both players are eager to show their skills at the game, and Creel said he’s confident his two stars can hang with the best the state has to offer.

“Josh (McBride) is one of the best fielders that I’ve ever had,” Creel said. “And Justin (Henry) is just a straight out ballplayer. He can hit, he has speed and he can do it all.”

In Vicksburg’s 28 games this season, Henry hit .456 with 36 RBIs, 35 runs scored and 34 stolen bases en route to earning the Vicksburg Post’s Co-Player of the Year award. McBride hit .391 with 36 runs scored.

Henry and McBride have played together since they were 10 years old and have grown up as close friends, living only a couple miles apart.

When they’re not tossing a baseball or working on hittin techniques, they almost always can be found hanging out together after school or on the weekends.

When the two were 12 years old, their team won the Babe Ruth state championship and the regional championship before losing in the World Series.

At 13, they finished second in the state; and at 14, they won state and finished as runners-up at the regionals.

Since then, Henry and McBride each attribute a large portion of their progress as players to Creel’s coaching.

Creel, a former Clinton High baseball star, has used his knowledge of the game to help the two young athletes develop and has transported much of that knowledge to them.

“I’ve learned more under him than under any other coach,” McBride said. “He’s been coaching since he’s 16 or 17 and he passed on to everyone what he’s learned. He’s a great coach.”

Under Creel’s tutelage, Henry and McBride have helped lead a class of seniors that broke the mold for Vicksburg baseball, leading the Gators to their first playoff series victory in school history.

But, as often happens with college, teammates and friends disperse into different areas.

Henry, an Ole Miss signee, said he almost can’t believe this weekend will be his final chance to play shortstop with McBride at second base.

“It’s the end of a long road of playing with Josh,” he said. “It’s kind of weird that this will be the last time.”

McBride also said he’ll have to adjust to playing with a new double play partner next season at Mississippi College.

“I’ve been playing second base for a while now, and I don’t know if I’ve ever played with a different shortstop,” he said. “It’s going to be different stepping on to the field with someone else.”

Looking back, they each said they will miss their time together and will remember the fun they all shared.

“I’ll miss it a lot,” Henry said. “I’ve gotten to play with one of the best second basemen around.”

Creel won’t forget what his McDonald’s breakfast buddies have done both on and off the field, and he said it will be difficult to replace them next season.

“They taught the younger players everything that I’ve taught them,” he said. “I can’t say enough about that.

“I don’t know what I’m going to do without them.”