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JACKSON -- Former Winona High standout West Hammond is playing a major role in this year's success of the Millsaps Majors. After the Majors defeated the Salisbury University Seagulls, a Maryland school, 7-6 in the South Regional Championship, Millsaps clinched their first-ever NCAA Division III World Series berth. The Majors got a terrific outing from Hammond, who came in for relief in the second inning. The redshirt freshman shut down the Seagulls in the second and allowed the Majors to gain momentum. This season Hammond has posted an ERA of 1.34 in 33.2 innings pitched. He has appeared in 15 games this season for the Majors and has 23 strikeouts for the 38-12 record. Hammond said the experience of playing in an NCAA World Series is overwhelming. "It's very exciting," the 19-year old Biology major said. "I started playing baseball at four-years-old, and this is what you dream about." The Majors will take on Southern Maine Friday at 10 a.m. in Appleton, Wis. Hammond said the experience is something that everyone is excited about. The team will even stop in Chicago en route to Wisconsin to visit the historic U.S. Cellular Field to watch a White Sox ball game. "At Millsaps, this hasn't happened before, and everyone is excited," Hammond said. Still Hammond said everyone is focused on the World Series, but having fun is something everyone is doing. As a go-to middle relief man for the Majors, Hammond said he has learned a lot since his days in Winona. "Of course it's a maturing process," he said. "I've put in a lot of hard work in the fall, and I've found a routine. As a result of that and a great coaching staff, my velocity's up." Hammond said he has multiple pitches as well, something that has played a major role in his collegiate career. "In college, you have to have three pitches," Hammond said. Voice of the Winona Tigers and father Eddie Hammond agrees that West has learned a lot on the mound. "He's learned how to pitch, that's the biggest thing," Eddie Hammond said. "His control is better, and he can locate the ball a lot better now." Last season, Hammond appeared in 14 games for the Majors and struck out 20 batters as a freshman. At Winona High School, it was his bat that did the talking for Hammond as he posted a .430 average. Hammond thanked his family, Winona coach Cole Surrell and other former coaches for their support.

JACKSON -- The Winona High School Tennis Team had an impressive 2013 and finished their season at the MHSAA finals in Ridgeland. Leading this year's Tigers was senior Laura Leigh VanHorn, whose title run continued to the state finals. Vanhorn defeated Leland in the 3A girls' singles. -- 6-0,6-1. In the second round, VanHorn defeated Raleigh 6-1, 6-4 and in the semi finals, she edged past Alcorn Central 6-0, 6-0. VanHorn came up just short of winning the 3A individual crown, as she fell to St. Andrew's Peryn Reeves-Darby 6-3, 6-4. In boys' doubles action, the team of Reed Rushing and Jonah Mims defeated West Marion 6-1, 6-1 in the first round of the finals, but fell to St. Patrick 6-1, 6-1 in round two. Lori Nesbitt and Sara Glenn Stevenson also fell to powerhouse St. Patrick 6-0, 6-1 in the first round of the girls doubles finals. The girls' doubles team of Lauren Pearson and VanHorn could not edge out Forest in a first round matchup and were knocked off 5-7, 7-3, 6-3. In mixed doubles action, Will Hargrove and Brittany Hardin fell to St. Patrick in the first round 6-4, 6-0. In the 3A boys' singles finals, senior Lawrence Strickland fell to Booneville 6-2, 6-3.

During Mississippi's municipal elections this year, which is the most grassroots campaigning that this state has to offer, we see candidates using websites and social networking with Facebook and Twitter. I was reminded of how much the internet along with social networking has changed the way political campaigns are conducted in this state. That is a long way from the campaign of 1947, when John C. Stennis was elected to the U.S. Senate by using classified ads in the newspaper and old fashioned political rallies to get his message out to voters. The internet is without a doubt a valuable tool to a point in political campaigns, but it's value declines when we look at one on one retail politics; that is where we as voters really find out about a candidate. I took a trip recently to 803 Congress Street, the headquarters of the Mississippi Democratic Party, where the attic of this old house is home to one of the best kept secrets of political memorabilia in Mississippi that included many articles from campaigns long ago before we had the technology we do today. Chairman Rickey L. Cole knew when he told me of the contents that I would like to have a sample of them, because a lot of them are soon to be moved over to the Mississippi Department of Archives and History. When I ran across a yard sign for veteran U.S. Senator John Stennis, literature from the first campaign of Mike Espy for Congress and literature from William Winter's 1984 U.S. Senate race against Thad Cochran, I knew there were a lot of treasures in that old house from years past. This was material that was used for one on one contact with voters -- whether it be door to door or at a political rally. Campaigns depending on literature and political ads offered direct communication that has been used by both Democrats and Republicans successfully for many years. There was no mention of a website on any campaign material back then, internet was not even on the horizon. Today, there are not as many of these old-fashioned political rallies as they used to be, and the ones still going on are not drawing the crowds they used to. I believe the internet contributed to this, and that is a shame. The Mike Sturdivant, Evelyn Gandy, Mike Espy, William Winter, Ray Mabus, Brad Dye and John Stennis memorabilia along with their political ads that were published regularly in local newspapers across this state reminded me a lot of the information covered in Andy Taggart and Jerry Nash's Book, Mississippi Politics: The Struggle For Power. These were the tools of campaigning that depended on getting information out to the voters. Sure the instant technology we live in today has helped make communication easier. However, getting a clear understanding of a candidate to make a decision on who should be elected whether it is to the Board of Alderman to U.S Senate, the grassroots politics from long ago hands down tops what can come out of a Tweet or the result of a "like" on Facebook. The value of eye contact from meeting a person or the value of a print ad in a local newspaper in my opinion is a lot more creditable than some post on a social network. These old pieces from campaigns from years ago reaffirmed what I already knew: the best communication then still stands true today as far as grassroots politics goes. These past decades push cards, signs, bumper stickers and buttons were used at places across this state on many hot summer days to convey a message with a speech and a handshake. That message was backed up by newspaper ads conveying these messages. As I dusted off these old artifacts, I thought about how these are tangible and are still the best tools today for a more personal and direct campaign approach that should never be replaced regardless of how far we as a society advance in technology. Ken Strachan is a former mayor of North Carrollton and serves as Carroll County Coroner.