New coach plans to take Dustdevils to the next level

The second baseball season started with a new head coach on board: Mickey Callaway.Having played baseball since he was six years old, Callaway went on to play at Ole Miss University for three years.Afterwards, the Tampa Bay Devil Rays signed him professionally in the 7th round of the 1996 draft.”I made my Major League debut in June of 1999 and was traded in 2002 to the Anaheim Angels, where I became a part of the World Series championship,” said Callaway.He then played for three years in South Korea before accepting the interim head coach position for the Dustdevils.Although Callaway has no coaching experience, he believes he will be an asset to the team.”I am in tune with what the players’ view of the game is and can understand their view more so than someone who has only been a coach.”Callaway joined the team this spring and consequently has not coached his players the entire school year. Due to time constraints, he believes success will result from “stressing fundamentals and hustle.”Callaway has no doubt his team can perform at a high level; last year’s season was good, and he hopes this year’s will be better and accompanied by a conference title.”The team’s hitting and defense is great,” he said. “However, we are a bit thin on the pitching side.”As a temporary coach, Callaway wants to teach his players as many things about baseball as possible, but his main concern is to teach them “to have pride in anything that they do, whether it is baseball or something else, and to always have a positive attitude.”Callaway compliments his team and said, “They hustle like no other team I’ve ever seen before, so please come and support them; you will not be disappointed because we will give 110%.”The team has its next home game, a double-header, on Feb. 15 against Panhandle State at 12:00 noon. On Saturday, Feb. 16, they will face Panhandle again to conclude the series.