BOONEVILLE, Miss. – Northeast Mississippi Community College head baseball coach Kent Farris bypassed a coaching milestone during the Tigers 10-0 win over East Central Community College on Saturday, March 9.
With the 10-0 win, Farris recorded his 150th collegiate win at Northeast.
Currently, Farris' overall record stands at 153-148 and 72-59 in North Division play in seven seasons as the Tigers' head coach.
After a 14-32 season to start his tenure at Northeast, Farris has morphed the Tiger baseball team into playoff contenders – reaching the Mississippi Association of Community/Junior Colleges (MACJC) State Baseball Playoffs in four of the last five years.
During the 2008 season, the Tigers turned in a 32-20 overall mark and finished fourth in the state tournament and qualified for the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Region XXIII Tournament and just a season later, Northeast bested its win total.
Farris led the Tigers to a 33-14 mark in 2009 including a 17-7 showing in the North Division where Northeast finished as the North Division's runner-up and hosted Jones County in the first round of the MACJC State Baseball Playoffs.
A third consecutive playoff appearance awaited the Tigers in 2010 as Northeast advanced to play Hinds Community College as the third seed from the North Division after posting a 25-27 overall and a 15-9 mark in the North Division.
A 22-20, 12-12 season followed in 2011 but the Tigers reached the playoffs once again in 2012 as Northeast rallied to finish third in the North Division with a 13-10 mark and played Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College in a marathon first game of the best-of-three series at Biloxi High School after inclement weather forced the game to be moved from Perkinston.
Farris picked up his milestone win against East Central and the Tigers have won six of their last seven games leading into a non-division doubleheader with Southwest Tennessee on Tuesday, March 19 at Christian Brothers High School in Memphis.
Prior to coming to Northeast, Farris coached at Columbus High School where he spent the final two years with the Falcons as the head baseball coach.
Under Farris, the Falcons finished with an 18-11 record, won the 2006 Division 2-5A championship and hosted a first round playoff series for the first time in school history.
Farris' 2005 team went 14-16, which was a 12-win improvement over its 2004 total.
During his tenure at Columbus, five players signed community/junior college scholarships and two players participated in the Crossroads Diamond Club State All-Star Game and Farris was named Commercial Dispatch (Columbus) Area Coach of the Year in 2006.
Before taking over the Columbus program Farris was head baseball coach at Caledonia High School from 2002-2004. He worked as an assistant baseball coach at New Hope High School and head junior high baseball coach from 1996-2002, where he was also an assistant football coach and head soccer coach and ninth grade football coach.
Farris' most extensive head coaching experience came at Alcorn Central High School where he served as head baseball coach for both the junior high and high school from 1984 to 1995.
While at Central, Farris led the Golden Bears to a 265-162-7 record.
Farris' teams qualified for the Mississippi High School Activities Association (MHSAA) Class 3A State Playoffs in 1984, 1986, 1988 and 1990.
Alcorn Central won the Class 3A State championship in 1988; the 3A North Half in 1988 and 1990; and the division title in 1988. Farris was selected Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal Coach of the Year in 1988. Nineteen of his players from this era signed college scholarships and two signed professional contracts.
Farris was on the staff as an assistant baseball coach at the University of North Alabama (UNA) from 1983-84 and helped lead the Lions to the 1984 Gulf South Conference title for the first time in school history. That team also finished second in the NCAA Division II South Central Region and featured five players that signed professional contracts.
An active coach in American Legion Baseball during his career, Farris also began working as an associate scout for the Pittsburgh Pirates Professional Baseball Club in 1998.
Farris earned a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of North Alabama in 1981 and a Master of Arts in secondary education in 1983. Farris also completed teaching certification requirements in health from the Mississippi Department of Education in 1994 and in driver's education from Mississippi State University in 2001.
Professionally, Farris is a member of the American Baseball Coaches Association, the Crossroads Diamond Club, the Baseball Coaches Association (national high school), the Mississippi Association of Coaches, the Mississippi Association of Professional Educators and is a founding member and board member of the Northeast Mississippi Coaches Association for Better Baseball (NEMCABB).
Farris' other professional honors and awards include his being named a Crossroads Diamond Club All-Star Game coach in 1989, a MEMCABB All-Star coach in 1992 and 2002, and a Junior Sunbelt Classic coach in 1979-99 and in 2001.
CUTLINE
Northeast Mississippi Community College head baseball coach Kent Farris (center) talks with Tiger first baseman Chris Aichinger (33) and outfielder Justin Neal (36) during a game against Holmes Community College on Tuesday, March 12. Farris recently picked up his 150th collegiate coaching win.