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Former SHS star Puckett to lead Bulls
SIKESTON - The Sikeston Bulls of the Kitty League will have a familiar face taking over the reigns of the team this upcoming season.
Jamie Puckett, a 2002 graduate of Sikeston High School, has been named the manager of the Bulls for the 2007 college wood bat season.
Puckett was a key component of a couple of highly successful Bulldog baseball teams. In 2001, Puckett hit .355 on a Sikeston team that went 22-6 and finished second in Class 3. The Bulldogs went 21-4 in Puckett's senior year and finished in fourth place. Puckett, an all-state player, was second on the team in batting that season at .431, behind Blake DeWitt's .458 average.
After graduating from Sikeston, Puckett played four years at Blackburn College. Graduating this summer, Puckett is currently an assistant coach with the Charleston Bluejays.
According to Puckett, the job was his at the end of the season last year.
"I spoke with the owner of the Bulls at the end of last year," said Puckett. "We talked about the direction we wanted the Bulls to go and that the last two years we had finished in last place. I believe I can turn us into winners and it doesn't hurt that I can help out in recruiting. I am from Sikeston and I know what kind of local players are out there. I believe I can get some high quality local players out on the field this year which should help out with attendance."
The Bulls struggled last year going 16-33 and finished in last place. Decent at home with a 13-12 record, the Bulls were abysmal on the road going 3-21.
"I really believe we can win the league this year," said Puckett. "The fans can look for a complete turnaround this year. We have a lot of talent coming in and we should compete at a high level. Last year even though we struggled, I bet we lost 15-20 games by three runs or less."
Sikeston will return the services of leading hitter and Cape Central product Sean Bard. Last year, Bard hit .331 with five home runs and 25 runs driven in. Bard will complete his first year at Mississippi Valley State after two season with Mineral Area Junior College.
According to Puckett, a priority of the Bulls was to get more local talent on the club.
"We want kids that want to be here," said Puckett. "We have got a good number of local kids who want to play and they will give 110 percent. Besides Bard, we have a couple more kids from Cape Central and two or three kids each from Kennett and Sikeston."
Puckett believes the Bulls' biggest catch is former Sikeston product and 2005 graduate, J.R. Bizzell. As a senior with the Bulldogs, Bizzell hit .490 and tied DeWitt for the school record in hits with 51.
Bizzell's 39 singles as a senior ties the state record for singles in a season. Currently, Bizzell is playing for Rhodes College in Memphis.
The Bulls will need some more pop in the lineup from last year. As a team, Sikeston batted .244 while the league average was .275. The biggest concern for Puckett this upcoming season is the pitching staff.
Last year, the Bulls team earned run average was a bloated 5.70. Compare that to the league average of 3.50 and pitching has to be the team's main priority.
"With the team we have assembled," said Puckett, "our defense and offense will be there. The one worry is our pitching. We have got to get our pitching to the same level as our defense and offense."
Fans can expect Puckett to manage very aggressively. Look for the Bulls to be aggressive on the bases with a lot of hit and run plays to be called.
"It is going to be a very fan-friendly way of playing baseball," said Puckett. "We are going to be aggressive because that is the style I like to play. I learned it from my dad (Phil Puckett), my legion coach Charlie Dye and my college coach at Blackburn, Mike Neal."