Published: May 21, 2008 11:52 am            

Buckley named state's best in slowpitch; Chaney, Cochran also honored

NEWTON — The honors continue to pour in for the Newton County Lady Cougar softball program.

Newton County junior shortstop Kasie Buckley was presented the 2008 PopStar Award in slowpitch softball on May 14 at the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame and Museum in Jackson.

Lady Cougars coach Justin Chaney was selected the 2008 Fastpitch Coach of the Year by The Clarion-Ledger.

Senior first baseman Brittney Cochran was a second-team all-state pick by The Clarion-Ledger.

The PopStar awards are named in honor of 1981 National High School Athletic Director of the Year and long-time Jackson Public Schools athletic director W.C. “Pop” Allen. The award honors the top three high school athletes in 23 sports categories. All male and female high school athletes in Mississippi were eligible for the awards which are symbolic of being the state’s top athletes in each sport.

With her senior year still to be played, Buckley already ranks among Newton County’s all-time best softball players.

Over the past four years, Buckley has a .480 batting average with 223 hits in 465 at-bats.

As a junior, she led the Lady Cougars with a .559 batting average that included 17 doubles, five triples, three home runs, and 33 RBI.

As a sophomore, she batted a team-high .464 with 32 RBI. As a freshman in 2005, Buckley hit at a .458 clip with 32 RBI. In 2004, she led the team with a .437 average.

Over the last three seasons, she has driven in 97 runs.

“I don’t like to compare players, but she makes us be a really good coach,” Chaney said. “Not only that, but I think she’s a great teammate. She’s the type person that realizes she can not do things alone.”

The other two nominees in slowpitch were Lainie Simcox of Southeast Lauderdale and Kandi Ray of Eupora.

“Before we went to the banquet, I told her that to be one of the top three slowpitch players in the state was a big honor in itself,” Chaney said. “To be there and to look at her facial expression when she won it was special. “She’s a humble kid and it was a big honor for her. She told me later on that she won this because of Newton County’s success. For her to say that, I thought, was a compliment to her.”

“We are a team,” Buckley said. “If we hadn’t done well, nobody would have seen me.”

The award caught her off-guard as her thoughts had been focused on winning the Class 3A state championship in fastpitch.

“I had never heard of it until coach Chaney told me about it after the fastpitch season,” Buckley said. “I didn’t really think anything of it until I got there and saw all the athletes there. It was a big honor just to be nominated for it, but to win it was a very big honor. I was really surprised. I didn’t think I had a chance.”

“She’s a joy to coach,” Chaney said. “She’s been with us since the seventh grade. Starting as a seventh grader is a big honor, especially at a big 3A school.”

Their relationship actually goes back further than that.

“He’s been coaching me since I was eight years old on a tournament team,” Buckley said of Chaney. “I know he expects a lot out of me... to step up and

be a leader.”

While Buckley, who stands 6-feet tall, was definitely a threat at the plate, her defensive skills at shortstop merited a lot of attention as well.

“I like getting people out, but I also like scoring runs,” Buckley said.

“You look at her out there at shortstop and she’s a big, tall girl and you think she can’t move, but she gets to balls and once she releases it... wow!

What an arm,” Chaney said.

“It seemed like every time we needed a big hit, she came up with it. To be a big girl, she’s not slow. She had five triples and three home runs. That means you’re hitting the ball in the gap and you’re running pretty hard out of the box.

“I’m just extremely proud for her to even be mentioned with those other two girls. It’s a nice honor.”

“When you have players like Kasie Buckley, it makes your job as a coach a whole lot easier,” said Newton County assistant coach Dustin McGee.

“She’s the type player that when she comes to practice every day, she comes to work. By doing that, she makes herself a leader by example and she also makes herself a leader vocally. She’s the type person that the kids love her so much because she’s such a good person, they’ll follow her wherever she wants to go.

“She’s rightly deserving of winning that award. It makes it a lot of fun to come to practice every day when you have a player like her.”

Buckley doesn’t plan on resting on her laurels.

“I’m looking to get back to our goal of playing in the state championship,” Buckley said of her plans for her senior year.

Chaney led the Lady Cougar fastpitch team to a successful defense of its 2007 state championship. This spring, Newton County went 24-8 and swept Nettleton in the Class 3A state finals.

Three of Newton County’s five fastpitch state championships have come under his leadership.

In four years as fastpitch head coach, Chaney has compiled a 92-34 record with state championships in 2005, 2007, and 2008. The Lady Cougars tied for third place in 2006.

“People tell you all the time that you need to enjoy success while you’re on top,” Chaney said. “I don’t ever want to become the type person where I think I’m better than somebody else. At the same time though, what our young ladies have been able to do in this program over my first four years and to get Coach of the Year is a big honor because people in other parts of the state appreciate the success we’ve had.

“I always tell our girls that I and coach McGee aren’t going to receive any awards if it wasn’t for how far in the playoffs our team goes. I tell them, ‘Thank you.’

“But it is a nice honor and very rewarding along with the success we’ve had over the last four years.”

Cochran, who has signed to continue her career at East Central Community College, batted cleanup in the lineup. She has been selected to play in the Mississippi Association of Coaches Fastpitch All-Star Games in June.

“Brittney is really deserving,” Chaney said. “I’m kinda biased, but I think she should have been first-team all-state.

“It’s great for her to be recognized. She’s been like a security blanket over there at first base. When the ball was hit over there, you never once doubted it. If it was near her, she was going to catch it.

“And she’s an even better person. That’s what makes it so deserving for her.

“I’m extremely proud of her.”

Cochran was Newton County’s Salutatorian for 2008.

        

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