Saturday night at Trustmark Park, Clint Wilkerson received his second plaque from the Mississippi Association of Coaches for leading St. Aloysius to a second consecutive Class 1A baseball championship.

Wilkerson then got to watch with ease as three of his graduated senior ball players played in the D.M. Howie 1A/2A/3A Crossroads Diamond Club All-star game. The three players, Ryno-Martin-Nez, Stephen Evans, and Pierson Waring, were seventh graders when Wilkerson took over the St. Aloysius baseball program.

In six years, Wilkerson led the three all-stars plus five other seniors — Regan Nosser, Luke Burnett, Justin Rushing, Blake Haygood and Brendan Beesley — to a 125-50 record and two state championships. In that time, Wilkerson has been named the Vicksburg Post’s Coach of the Year three times. Well, make that four. It’s hard to ignore a coach who got his team back to the 1A finals and won it again, this time in three games over the Myrtle Hawks.

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Wilkerson is not expected to be back for a seventh season at St. Al. He has been contacted about some college coaching openings. Right now, though, he is more concerned about the arrival of the newest Wilkerson. His wife, Macy, gave birth to the couple’s second child on Wednesday.

Nothing has come easy for Wilkerson this year. But the former Mississippi College standout doesn’t seem to mind.

“It’s been an awesome year,” Wilkerson said. “Yeah, it was tough, but looking back at it, I don’t think I would have it any other way. We had to battle through death, injuries and a tough draw. We were tested in every round of the playoffs. It started with Edinburg, being a game down in the series and coming back to win it in three games against one of the best pitchers in the state,” Wilkerson said in reference of Edinburg’s Mitchell Wooten.

Wooten lost Game 3 to the Flashes 3-0 as St. Al ace Stephen Evans outpitched his Jackson 96er teammate with a three-hit shutout. Ironically, Evans caught Wooten in the sixth inning of the South’s 7-2 all-star win last week.

Wilkerson said the Edinburg series and a mid-season slump when the Flashes booted away the Division 7-1A title to Cathedral, were all part of a huge puzzle.

“Everything was like a little piece of the puzzle. We went through that spell during mid-season with guys being hurt and people out of position. Then we found a piece and then another one. Then we get both Justin Rushing and Ryno back for the playoffs. That was another big piece. By the time we were done after beating Myrtle, we had a masterpiece,” Wilkerson said.