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Raiders Progress(Editor’s Note: This is the second in a three part series on the history of semipto baseball in l aurel, from the early 1930s Black Cats to the K. C. Raiders who have been organized for 10 years.)By BOBBY HARRLSONLeader-Call Sports KdltorCompared to their rivals, the K.C. Raiders are considered the new kids on the blockWhile the Laurel Black Cats have been around since the early 1930s, the K.C. Raidersstarted playing semipro baseball about 10 years ago.But in those 10 years, the Raiders have made some giant strides. Last year K.C. defeated the famed-Black Cats to take the unofficial citychampionship with an impressive 31-8 record“We hurt a lot of folks’ feelings when we beat them last year,’’ said Jake Hosey, who started the team along with help from Johnny Scott, who is now involved with the Laurel Boxing Club. “They (Black Cats) have a lot of oldfans.“When we beat them, that really hurt some of those people,’’ Hosey added. “A lot of the older people really depend on them. But some said they were coming over tous now.”While beating the Black Cats was a big thrill for Hosey and his Raiders, the truck driver said that was not the reason the team was formed.K. C. is a section of Laurel’s black community along Cooks Avenue. When the team was formed, it was composedmostly of youngsters from the K.C. area, which Hosey said is where he used to live.“We started across the K.C.,” Hosey explained “I decided to try to get the boys off the street ana give them something to do.”And Hosey was apparently successful since many of the Raiders have been with the team since the very beginning.“All of my ballplayers are single men, Hosey said. “We don’t have one married man. Everybody wants to know how we keep that many single boysand—w — - — — fsomething toRaiderstogether We all just get alongreal well.”The Raiders have a mixture of veteran and young players Some of the players are just out of high school while others are competing with the Raiders to stay in shape for college competition “T^at really is the main reason 1 am playing,” said pitcher Kerry Hill, who was a freshman at Jones this past season. “I’m trying to throw to keep in shape since I am too old to play Dixie Majors ’’The same as Hill, Charles Husband was a freshman hurler at Jones last year. Hill said it was Husband who talked him into playing for theRaiders.K.C.’s left-handed pitcher Randy Smith, who graduated from Northeast Jones, was a sophomore at Jones this pastseason.“I was playing down Charles said me about it,” Hill said. Tney (Raiders) had been playing about two weeks before he mentioned it to me.“He told me to come on down and tryout if I didn’t have anything else to do,” Hill continued. “So I started playing with them.”Like the Black Cats, the Raiders are a predominantly black team. Smith, Hill and newly acquired hurler Ronnie Sims are the only whites onthe team.But Hosey said he would gladly welcome other whitebaseball players.“Anybody who wants to come out and play just needs to contact me,” Hosey said. “We will be glad to give anybody a chance. 1 try my best to help all my players...Nobody who plays with me for a pretty good length of time gets into any type of trouble,” Hosey added. “We have good people on thisteam.”While the white players are new additions to the Raiders, some of the blacks have beent fwith the team from the begin ningWhen we got started, we had one ball, one bat and a glove,” said first baseman Alex House, one of the original members of the team I was about 15 when I started playing for the Raiders.” House added “I didn’t have anything else to do. So we just got together and formed abaseball team.“The play is fair,” House commented. I’m not saying it is the best in the world But it is pretty good ”Hill, who played this past year in the Mississippi Junior College League, agreed with House’s assessment.“There is a lot of talent on the team we have,” Hill said “Pitching is really the onlyweakness I started playing, and we picked up Randy Smith That should help It is agood def« ting team The other members of the team are shortstop Larry Spivey, catcher Tom Davis, catcher Billy Moffett, outfielder John Moffett, second baseman George Moffett, third baseman Michael Triplett, first baseman Kenny Harrison, pitcher Andre Bryant, catcher Ronnie Smith, outfielder James Jordan, outfielder Allen Williams, pitcher Gary Hartfield, outfield Victor Hudgies, outfielder Willie Agee, and outfielder RalphTriplett.It is a lot of work and lot of money, Hosey said. “I really have put a whole lot of moneyinto the team.”Like the Black Cats, the Raiders are no longer amoney-making attraction. Theowners actually lose money on the teams.But Hosey said his family enjoys the team, and he plansto continue.So the Black Cats will continue to have a local rivalry.(Tomorrow: The history of the Black Cats.)
Newspaper Details
Laurel Leader Call
Laurel, Mississippi, US
Fri, Jul 01, 1983
Page 9
Full Page
Clipped by
Anonymous
MS, USA 12 Oct 2020
Other Publications Near Laurel, Mississippi
Laurel Leader
Laurel Leader Call
Laurel Daily Argus
Laurel Morning Call
Laurel Ledger
