Last week, William Carey’s Bobby Halford became Mississippi’s winningest college baseball coach.
Halford eclipsed 1,374 victories to surpass Mississippi State’s Ron Polk.
“As coaches, you take it one game at a time,” Halford said. “You don’t ever look ahead. You have to do all you can to win this game. Confidence is everything and momentum is everything in this game. I’ve always taken it that way”.
Since hitting that milestone, Halford has picked up another victory and will have a chance for more as the Crusaders are set to host their third straight NAIA regional next week.
Halford’s long list of victories features no shortage of notable wins including conference championships, three trips to the NAIA World Series, and against many Division I schools, from Ohio State to Mississippi State, which came against Polk.
“I coached against him for a long time,” Halford said. “It was a great experience. Ron Polk was the most meticulous guy that I ever coached against. His teams were probably the best-coached team that I ever played against. Every detail was taken care of, and you never heard any bench jockeying. It was a professional way of doing things.”
Back in 1986 when Halford became the head coach of the program, William Carey was coming off its second-ever losing season, which has had only one other since in 2019.
The Crusaders had just experienced the end of longtime coach John Stevenson. The school decided to make head basketball coach Steve Knight also the head baseball coach, as it was standard practice for a head coach to lead more than one sport. Halford spent 10 years as the school’s women’s basketball coach and as an assistant baseball coach and later athletic director.
Larry Knight, who later won multiple state titles at Hattiesburg High and Sumrall High, was a junior pitcher on Halford’s first team. His brother is Steve, who has since gone on to have a successful career as the Crusaders’ basketball coach.
“Steve was coaching basketball and baseball, and it was a rough year,” Larry said. “I remember him coaching in the national tournament, and we are starting our games, and he’s not there. We went through a rough year. I think the administration and everyone involved realized that was not the best answer for being a head basketball coach and a head baseball coach, so they split roles.
“Bobby had been there as an assistant, and we all knew him, and it was like not having to get used to a new coach. It was an interesting time because you could never imagine somebody doing that now. Bobby took it and ran with it.”
Halford, who was the athletic director, both played for and coached under Stevenson and was determined to return the school to its winning ways.
“I was really ready to get it back,” Halford said. “You are following a guy that won a national championship. You are following a guy that played 10 years in the major leagues and put together a great record. I was scared to death that I didn’t want to let it down. I didn’t want to let that tradition fall.”
Craig Fletcher, who is now William Carey’s softball coach, was also on the 1986 team and explained how easy it was to play for Halford right away.
“Expectations were high that year with him coming in and wanting us to get back on track and do well,” Fletcher said. “It was the type of guy that you wanted to play for, and he was a coach that had your back. His expectations were high.
“He never turned away from who he was at the beginning. He’s still a very humble guy that wants the best for his kids. He still loves the game and has the heart for it.”
The first loss of Halford’s career is perhaps more memorable than his first victory. William Carey scheduled 13 Division I programs in 1986 and opened the season against Vanderbilt on Hattiesburg High’s campus at Smokey Harrington Park, which used to host a minor league baseball team. The Crusaders held their own but fell 6-4.
“For us to get to the World Series, you have got to be able to play against those types of teams, and it’s the same thing today,” Halford said. “If I feel like we can’t go and play against Southern Miss or Mississippi State or somebody like that and hold our own, then we are not going to win a national championship.”
It was only a few days later that Halford earned his first win against West Florida.
“I tell the guys every year to look at the sign that says 1969 national champs,” Halford said. “That bar was set a long time ago, and I’ve said that’s your goal whether we are good enough or not that’s what you are shooting for.”
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