Itawamba Brings In New Baseball Head Coach

Itawamba begins a new era of baseball after legendary and longtime head coach Rick Collier retired with over 700 wins. The new coach in charge? Pearl River’s Slater Lott.

In five years as hitting coach at Pearl River, Lott helped guide the Wildcats to a nationally prominent position. Pearl River would claim the 2022 NJCAA Division II National Championship as well as the runners-up in the 2025 Championship.

His offensive philosophy stood out to all of Junior College baseball, consistently posting outstanding numbers. In Pearl River’s championship season, the Wildcats put up a .336 team batting average, scored 519 total runs and crushed 85 homers. Lott also guided standout players Tate Parker to winning NJCAA Division II Player of the Year and Hollis Porter to claiming MACCC Player of the Year.

Not only did the Wildcats produce excellent stats under Lott, his success also went beyond the stats. From the 2022 season to 2025, he assisted in the recruitment of Perfect Game’s top-ranked classes all four years in a row. He was also the recipient of the NJCAA Division II Assistant Coach of the Year in 2022.

Prior to Pearl River, Lott was the hitting coach for Delta State where he helped guide the Statesmen to the NCAA DII South II Regional Championship. However, he began at Meridian Community College in 2018 after graduating with degrees from Meridian Community College, Mississippi State University and Delta State University.

Coach Lott has huge shoes to fill after the retirement of Rick Collier, and he will carry the responsibility of Itawamba baseball which carries a deep winning culture. The fans will have a lot to be excited about going into next season in Fulton!

Author administrator Kellen Walker