PBR Expands Presence in Mississippi

From James “Cool Papa” Bell, “Boo” Ferriss and “Oil Can” Boyd to Jay Powell and Roy Oswalt, with more than 200 players making it to the big leagues, Mississippi has a deep baseball tradition that continues with almost two dozen players active in the Major Leagues today. Prep Baseball Report, one of the nation’s leading baseball scouting services, has moved to strengthen that tradition as it expands its presence in Mississippi to reach every baseball player that dreams of playing beyond high school.

The nation’s largest high school baseball scouting service has expanded its boots-on-the-ground scouting presence in Mississippi to provide coverage across the state, with the opportunity for every high school baseball player to be seen.

Meet the team in Mississippi:

Bob Dunhurst has been named the State Director, and will also serve as the South Mississippi Director. He is a graduate of Pearl River Central High School in Carriere, where he played baseball, basketball and football. He attended Baptist Christian University to play baseball, winning a National Championship in 1992. Coaching for P360 and East Coast Sox for the last 8 years, his teams have won 2 National Championships back-to-back, and was also runner up in 3 year run. As a coach at Pearl River Central High School, the team has reached South State twice, and finished as the State Champions in 2017. Bob and Gwen, his wife of 22 years, have two children. Emma, his 12 year old daughter who loves art and archery and Hayden, a catcher that is committed to Ole Miss in 2019. Reach Bob at [email protected] .

Neill Bartling has been named the Central Mississippi Co-Director. A graduate of Jackson Prep in 1994 where he earned All-Conference, All Star and MVP honors, Neill signed to play for coach Jim Wells at the University of Alabama. He redshirted his first season in Tuscaloosa before deciding to return to his home state, where he signed to play for coach Mike Kinnison at Delta State University. He was a 3-year starter and named to the ALL-GSC team as a catcher at DSU, and upon graduation was named the head baseball coach at Simpson Academy. In six years coaching at SA, his teams won three state championships. After the 2005 season, Neill was named the head baseball coach at Brandon High School. His Bulldogs teams made the playoffs in all of this 7 seasons as head coach. In 13 years of coaching, Neill’s teams won 289 games and 3 state championships before he decided to leave coaching and go into business after the 2012 season. Today he is the Mississippi Sales Manager for SOPA, Inc. and continues to stay close to the game by coaching his 14 year old son Doby. Neill and his wife Jessica also have an 11 year old daughter, Fran. Reach Neill at [email protected] .

Blaise King has been named the Central Mississippi Co-Director. Blaise is a product of Cleveland High School, graduating in 2004 before pursuing his college career by playing with legendary Hall of Fame coach Hill Denson at Belhaven University. His teams won two conference championships at Belhaven. Blaise went straight into coaching upon graduation, with a stop at Nicholls State University before returning to his alma mater as an assistant to Coach Denson. As a coach, Belhaven won another conference championship and earned its first trip to the NAIA College World Series. Blaise has made stops at Brandon High School, Hartfield Academy and Northwest Rankin High School, with many trips to the playoffs, winning district championships and several trips to South State. His passion for baseball in his home state is well known as he continues to make an impact on young baseball players. Reach Blaise at [email protected] .

Shaune Holiday has been named the North Mississippi Director. A 1992 graduate of Tishomingo County High School, Shaune excelled as a 2-time All State player and named to the Daily Journal Area Team twice. He played in the Crossroads All Star Game and NEMCABB All Star Game as a senior. Accepting a scholarship to play baseball at Ole Miss, Shaune became just the third African American to play for the Rebels in Oxford. He transferred to Itawamba Community College after his freshman year, where he earned a First Team spot on the JUCO All State Team. Coaching high school over the last 15 years at Itawamba High School and Tishomingo County High School, Shaune currently coaches at Tupelo Christian Preparatory School, winning a state championship in 2016. He is also the head football coach at TCPS. Holiday is well known as an inspirational speaker and mentor to athletes such as Pernell McPhee of the Chicago Bears; Darius Slay of the Detroit Lions and Malcolm Johnson of the Cleveland Browns. A graduate of Ole Miss, Shaune and his wife of  24 years Chenelle have mentored many children over the years, and have two children Khi and Layth.

Chris Snopek will serve as an Advisor to the Directors,aiding the development of prospect identification. Chris was an All-American and All-SEC baseball player at Ole Miss and played professionally for the Chicago White Sox and Boston Red Sox. Currently, Chris is the owner of P360 Performance Sports in Jackson, a baseball academy with a developing campus for all things baseball and hosts 17 teams under the EC Sox brand from the ages of 9 to 14. Chris also coaches a team for the East Coast Sox, winning 2 national championships and one runner up.

Prep Baseball Report will be hosting scouts and recruiters on July 16 in Jackson for our INVITE ONLY Top Prospect Games. There are two ways to receive an invitation: Request an invitation or attend one of our OPEN Showcases: May 22 in Jackson; June 12 in Biloxi and June 24 in Tupelo. All high school players are encouraged to create their FREE PROFILE, where over 800 college coaches go to learn about players. For more information, please email [email protected], or send an email to a director in your area.

Coaches, please stop by to see us at our exhibit at the Mississippi Association of Coaches Multi-Sport Clinic at the Jackson Hilton & Convention Center in July.