By Gerald Powell
The great American pastime of baseball has certainly seen changes over the years but some things that never change are the tales of games and eras gone by.
Those tales hold memories of special games, memorable plays, but most of all players of legend. And that certainly applies to local legends in our own area. In our modern day world filled with other distractions, baseball seems to have lost some of its glamour and appeal.
Dillon County holds a treasure trove of old time baseball. Especially at the high school level. There was a time before advanced technology invaded our society that high school baseball was very special. Stadiums were usually filled to overflow capacity when local high school games were played. Especially during playoffs and state championships. One school that holds numerous championships and players of legend is the old Latta Red Raiders. Back in the day, they were notorious and teams to be revered.
Sports fans still talk about the “Red Raider” long ball hitters of old such as Johnny Barfield, Carlton Caulder, Bud Ellerbe and others that could launch home runs of historic proportions. Players such as Bobby Cook that possessed such speed to first base that he could easily beat out routine grounders to short stop. And there are others that are still talked about today that are too many to mention.
But pitching has always been stellar at Latta. The most talked about pitcher in Latta Red Raider history, without a doubt, is the legendary J.W. “Snout” Hyatt of the early 1950s. There are more stories about him than we are allowed to put in print. Simply put, in the early 1950s, you just couldn’t hit him. His pitching feats brought fans from towns across the state to watch this legend shut down batter after batter. His centerfielder once said, “Sometimes I would sit on my glove in the outfield and just watch him pitch.”
In the Red Raiders 1960s era, Willie Snipes’s fastball carried Latta to a state title. It was a given, when Willie pitched, Latta won. His team was called the “Hitless Wonders,” but Willie took them to the top. One Red Raider pitcher in particular can boast of a special and rare accomplishment—pitching for two consecutive state championships in the late 1950s.
Latta standout, James Strom (Jimmy) Berry. He was a legend back in the 1950s and after “Snout” Hyatt, he could probably rank as Latta’s number 2 pitcher of all time.
In those days pitchers were not restricted to the number of pitches thrown over a certain time period. They could pitch in every game which is not allowed in today’s rules. Jimmy was Latta’s “Iron Man.” Jimmy was a short, crew cut, left hander who really mastered the art of high school pitching. He did not possess great speed but he could bring the heat when needed. He knew how to mix pitches that kept batters guessing and most times, baffled. His unique pickoff style kept runners on first base from taking chances.
His teams were loaded with great hitters but baseball fans know that great pitching is the stopper. Jimmy went up against and battled with other great high school pitchers but always seemed to come out on top and his record is evidence.
One true story about Jimmy is that in one particular game, Latta coach Leon Maxwell couldn’t find his pitcher, Jimmy. As it turned out, one of the fans from the opposing team was holding a gun on Jimmy to keep him from entering the game.
True story. I guess he had heard about Latta’s ace southpaw. Jimmy Berry is still with us and still resides in Latta. He spends much of his time on his old tractor. He doesn’t brag, he knows what he did. His home is filled with his gloves, bat, old baseballs, clippings and other memorabilia. If you want a good ole baseball story, look him up. It would be well worth your time. Most of those old timers are no longer with us but their legend goes on and their stories treasured and well kept.
There is a host of great “Red Raider” players of old that are too many to be mentioned in this article but they know and we know who they are and us old Latta Red Raider fans will always remember those good old “Red Raider” baseballers. Their championship trophies speak for themselves.
Wouldn’t it be nice to have a Field of Dreams in the county so those legends could once again do what they did best, play baseball?
