Terry High School Baseball
Home of the Bulldogs
2008 Post-Season Recognition
2008 Honors
Rashun Dixon, Class of 2008, Catcher -
Mississippi Gatorade Player of the Year
Mississippi's Mr. Baseball 2008
10th Round Selection of the Oakland A's
Dixon batted .511 with 14 HRs, four 2Bs, two 3Bs and 59 RBIs to earn The Clarion-Ledger's Metro Player of the Year honors. He also threw out 10 of 11 baserunners to help Terry reach the Class 5A semifinals. "I don't know anything else Rashun could have done for us," said Terry coach Jerry Gibson. "He had four or five game-winning hits and was the leader of our team. Rashun was our bread and butter." Dixon is just the second player from Terry to be named Metro Player of the Year, joining current Mississippi Braves third baseman Van Pope, who won it in 2002. "One of the big likenesses is that they are both game players," Gibson said. "Both hate to lose and are fierce competitors."
Clarion Ledger All Metro First Team IF, Jonathan Pace, Class of 2008
Sure-handed shortstop hit .413 with 8 doubles, 3 triples and 2 home runs for the Bulldogs. Scored 53 runs with 26 RBIs and struck out just four times all season. "Jonathan is one of those old-school players who loves to work hard and wants to be perfect," says Bulldogs coach Jerry Gibson.
All Metro Second Team OF, Morris Grant, Class of 2009
All Metro Second Team Utility, Conner Butts, Class of 2008
2008 MISSISSIPPI GATORADE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
| MISSISSIPPI - RASHUN DIXON | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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In its third decade of honoring the nation's best high school athletes, Gatorade has joined with RISE Magazine to name senior catcher RASHUN DIXON of TERRY HIGH as its 2007-08 Mississippi Baseball Player of the Year. The 6-foot-4, 255-pound senior catcher produced a .530 batting average, 57 RBI, 53 runs scored and 13 home runs this season, leading the Bulldogs (26-6) to the Class 5A state semifinals. A “Dandy Dozen” selection as named by the Clarion-Ledger, Dixon produced a 1.096 slugging percentage and a .643 on-base percentage this spring. Dixon has maintained a B average in the classroom. He volunteers as part of multiple community-service initiatives, having traveled with a group of fellow students to Mississippi's Gulf Coast to help clean and rebuild schools after Hurricane Katrina in addition to donating his time as a coach for a local youth soccer team.
“Rashun has pretty much been our rock for the past four years,” said Terry head coach Jerry Gibson. “We really built our whole program around him. Other kids have just followed him and flocked around him, even when he was a ninth grader.”Dixon has signed a National Letter of Intent to play football at the Mississippi State University this fall. --from RISE Magazine, www.risemag.com
Rashun's final official statistics:
*7Avg.= Batting Average During Terry's 7 Playoff Games.
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2008 Awards
2008 Bulldog Baseball Banquet Awards
Team Award: 2008 MHSAA Academic Scholarship Team
Academic Award - Clark Shearer
Dog Awards - Jonathan Pace, Conner Butts
Offensive Award - Rashun Dixon
Defensive Award - Wes Price
Knight Courage Award - Derek Harding
Hustle Award - Conner Butts
Most Improved Players - Michael Manley, Tyler Catchot
2008 5A All-State
Player of the Year - Rashun Dixon
2nd Team Outfield - Morris Grant
2nd Team Utility - Conner Butts
Honorable Mention - Michael Manley
2008 Recognition
TERRY BASEBALL
No. 10 Terry moved to 15-3 Wednesday with a 15-0 victory in three innings over Division 6-5A foe Wingfield. It was the 13th straight win for the Bulldogs, who moved up to 5A this season after finishing as the 4A runner-up to top-ranked West Lauderdale last season.
Terry is led by the senior quartet of Dandy Dozen catcher Rashun Dixon (approximately .525, 9 homers, 40 RBIs), shortstop Jonathan Pace (.475), pitcher/first baseman Conner Butts (5-1, 1.08 ERA, .400 batting average) and second baseman Wes Price (.400).
- Todd Kelly & Rod Walker
-from www.clarionledger.com
MHSAA Pre-Season Top 15 Rankings, Clarion-Ledger
#5. Terry High School, 2007 Record: 27 - 12, "Rashun Dixon leads 4A runner-up Bulldogs' new bid in 5A."
2008 Clarion-Ledger Dandy Dozen
Rashun Dixon
Catcher, Class of 2008
Why he's Dandy Dozen: Gifted with rifle arm and athleticism, Dixon helped lead Bulldogs (27-12) to a Class 4A runner-up finish last season, earning All-state honors... Batted .396 with 8 doubles, 10 home runs, 49 RBIs, 24 stolen bases... Named 1st team All-American by Louisville Slugger.
In other words: "Rashun is cat-quick behind the plate and nothing gets by him," says Terry coach Jerry Gibson. "Plus he has such a quick release, just a gun."
College: Signed with Miss.State (football).
Favorite player: Manny Ramirez; Favorite team: Boston Red Sox
Tough to hit: Jake Russell (Lawrence Co.)
My 1st team: Coca Cola
Walk up tune: Burn This City by Lil Wayne
Did you know?: Dixon, also a Dandy Dozen pick in football, is the first 2-sport Dandy Dozen selection since 1999 when Taylorsville's Jason Campbell earned the honor in basketball and football.
Clarion-Ledger Top Seniors
Jonathan Pace, SS, Class of 2008
2007: Batted .431 with 12 Doubles and a .546 Slugging Percentage as a junior. Scored 50 Runs and stole 27 bases. Reached base 52% of the time and batted .468 with runners in scoring position. Meridian Community College signee.
Clarion-Ledger Top Underclassmen
Deshun Dixon, P/OF, Class of 2010
2007: Batted .294 as a freshman with 1 Home Run and a .529 Slugging Percentage. Reached base 43% of the time and batted .400 with runners in scoring position.
Class of 2008
Congratulations to Rashun Dixon on signing a football scholarship with Mississippi State University.
Congratulations to Conner Butts for signing a baseball scholarship with Hinds Community College.
Congratulations to Jonathan Pace for signing a baseball scholarship with Meridian Community College.
Congratulations to Wes Price for signing a soccer scholarship to Holmes Community College.
Terry Assistant Coach Nason Lollar and Senior Pitcher Conner Butts
Conner Butts represented Terry High School along with Assistant Coach Nason Lollar on the 2007 District VI team in the State Games of Mississippi. They are pictured above after winning the Gold Medal game at Meridian Community College on Sunday, June 24th.
Conner was the starting pitcher in the championship game against District VIII from the Hattiesburg/Gulf Coast region of the state. He pitched 5 and 1/3 innings in that game, allowing only 1 run on 4 hits, while striking out 8 batters. Butts also played first base for District VI. In his 4 plate appearances he reached base 3 times and was officially 1 for 2 with a single and 2 RBI's.
2007 Season - 4A South State Champions
1st Team All - Jackson Metro Area
CHARLIE SHEARER
Terry, Senior Class of 2007
Bulldogs ace finished 12-3 with a 2.28 ERA with 93 strikeouts in 86 innings. ... Also played first base. ... Won 30 games in his 3-year career. ... "Charlie has been our No. 1 for 3 years and he never missed a start," says Terry coach Jerry Gibson. "We could count on him to go seven innings."
JONATHAN PACE
Terry, Junior Class of 2008
Leadoff batter hit .431 to help Bulldogs (27-12) to a 4A runner-up finish. ... Belted 12 doubles and a home run to go with his 29 RBIs and 27 stolen bases. ... "Jonathan is just an old-school throwback baseball player who is always hustling, always focused and never lets up," says Terry coach Jerry Gibson.
RASHUN DIXON
Terry, Junior Class of 2008
Dixon, also a 1st team All-Metro football pick, batted .396, with 8 doubles, 4 triples and a team-high 10 HRs. Also led the team with 49 RBIs. ... Stole 24 bases and threw out 9 of 18 baserunners. ... "Rashun was our man all year," says Terry coach Jerry Gibson. "As Rashun went, the team went."
2nd Team All - Metro
ANTWON DIXON
Senior Outfielder Class of 2007
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Gibson goes forward by pulling back 2007 Jackson Metro Area Coach of the Year
TERRY — Jerry Gibson admits he's more mellow than he was when he broke into the coaching ranks three decades ago. The Terry coach no longer requires his players to keep their hair cut short like he did back in the day. Nor does he paddle his players when they aren't making their grades - "three licks for every 'F,' " Gibson recalls. And for those who are into stats, try this number: Zero. The number of times Gibson was ejected this season. "I used to get tossed probably eight or nine times a year on average when I first started," Gibson said with a laugh. "As I have gotten older, I have gotten more calm." But one thing that hasn't changed for the Terry coach is his passion for the game that he grew up playing in Caledonia. "Ever since I was in junior high, coaching is basically all I wanted to do," said Gibson, 55. "I guess I'd be in a nursing home if I wasn't coaching. I still get fired up and I still get butterflies before games just like when I played. I've just always lived and breathed baseball." Gibson just completed his most successful season, earning him Coach of the Year honors on The Clarion-Ledger's All-Metro team. He guided Terry (27-12) to the Class 4A state championship series, where it lost to nationally ranked powerhouse West Lauderdale. It was the Bulldogs' first trip to the state championships in school history. It was a long time coming for Gibson, who had come oh-so-close to reaching the finals in his 31-year career that began in the late 1970s at Jim Hill. "Through the years we have been competitive and made runs, but there was always that one dominating team that would eliminate us," said Gibson, who has a 565-275 career record. "I had some really good teams at Jim Hill in the '70s and '80s, but back then you had to win your division to advance and we always ended up meeting those good Wingfield and Callaway teams." And then there was his 2002 team at Terry - led by Mr. Baseball Van Pope - that lost a heartbreaker to powerhouse Picayune on an eighth- inning walk-off home run in Game 3 of the 4A semifinals. "It took me a long time to get over that one," said Gibson. "I really thought we had a chance to win it that year. But baseball is cruel like that and it chops you down to size sometime." And it also has a way of softening a coach over time. Just ask Steve Price, a 1979 Jim Hill graduate who played for Gibson and whose son Wes was the starting second baseman on this year's Terry squad. "He was pretty mean back then, but I guess that was to get our respect," said Price. "He's mellowed out a lot. He can still get after it, though. Sometimes you'll still see him putting them hands on his hips or throwing that hat or shaking that finger." And once that finger gets to shaking? "You just don't want it to be pointing at you," said pitcher Charlie Shearer. "You'd rather it be pointing at the umpire. ... He's a good player's coach, though. He's not too tough on us, and he makes sure we do everything right and is fun to play for." |