FULTON, Miss. (WTVA/ICC Athletics) - Itawamba Community College head baseball coach Rick Collier announced Mississippi State associate head baseball coach and former Indian pitcher Butch Thompson will headline the 2013 Leadoff Banquet.
Thompson, who is in his fourth season in Starkville, was recently named one of college baseball's top assistant coaches by Perfect Game USA, a leading national baseball scouting service.
The Amory native directed the Mississippi State pitching staff that lead the SEC with an 2.58 earned run average (ERA), the second-best ERA in all of college baseball last spring, to help send the Bulldogs to the 2012 SEC Baseball Tournament Championship and the program's 32nd trip to the NCAA Tournament.
Thompson is in his 12th season coaching pitchers and recruiting in the SEC with stops in Auburn (2006-08) and Georiga (2002-05) with seven of his last nine recruiting classes being ranked in the Top 25.
The banquet is set for February 7th at 6:00 pm at the Student Service Building on the Fulton campus.
