Rodney Batts, who was officially named Delta State University's 10th head baseball coach by Director of Athletics and coaching mentor Mike Kinnison on Tuesday, July 2, 2019. 

In Batts 2023 season, the Statesmen went 27-26 and 14-15 in conference play. The Statesmen were led by Brett Burrell and Kirkland Trahan whose batting averages were .310 and .309. Kirkland Trahan and Carson Clowers dominated the diamond with a combined 81 runs for the Statesmen. Offensively, Batts had the bases hot with 45 stolen bases on the season and 174 scored runs.

Batts coached the Statesmen to 2 consecutive successful seasons. In the 2021 and 2022 seasons, the Statesmen went 60-37 and 41-21 in conference play. The Statesmen dominated with a strong batting performance in the 2021 season. The team's batting average was .298, with a total of 377 hits, 68 doubles, 5 triples, and 56 home runs. The team's slugging percentage was .493, which is a testament to their ability to hit for power. In the 2022 season the Statesmen were led on the mound by Harrison Haley, Hammer Franks, and Landon Zizzman who had a combined 181 strikeouts. The 3 pitchers only allowed 24 home runs in the 2022 season.

In Batts 2020 season, the Statesmen went 13-10 and 6-6 in conference play. The Statements were led in the batters box by Chad Ragland, Wyatt Pratt, and Hayden White. Defensively, the Statesmen were rolling it up with 47 double plays on the season.

Before his tenure started, Batts was inducted into the 2019 East Mississippi Community College Sports Hall of Fame where he played two seasons and was a two-time MACJC All-State selection under Coach Bill Balchner. Batts batted .340 with 10 home runs and 53 RBIs as a sophomore and hit .345 with 10 home runs and 44 RBIs during his freshman campaign before singing with the Statesmen.

Batts, who is just the third head baseball coach in the last 57 years of the program, joins a distinguished list of former Statesmen who were given the opportunity to lead the program, including Don Ward, Bill Marchant, and Mike Kinnison, who Batts is replaced in the dugout. All three previous alumni head coaches led the program to at least one appearance in the NCAA College World Series.

Batts returned to his alma mater after five seasons as the head coach at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College. During his five seasons in Perkiston, Miss., the Bulldogs won 119 games, including 75 in the last two seasons, and made back-to-back appearances in the NJCAA Region 23 Tournament in 2018 and 2019. In 2019, MGCCC went 29-18 on the diamond, including a 16-12 record in MACJC play. The Bulldogs swept Meridian Community College 10-8 and 10-8 to advance to the Region 23 Tournament.

Batts, a former All-Gulf South Conference second baseman, played for former skipper Bill Marchant during the 1995 and 1996 seasons at Delta State. He hit .334 with 24 doubles, eight triples, 10 home runs, 86 RBIs and 39 stolen bases during his DSU career.

Batts etched his name in the Statesmen history books when he hit one of the most dramatic home runs in Delta State and Gulf South Conference history - a three-run home run with two outs in the ninth inning to defeat Alabama-Huntsville and deliver DSU the 1996 GSC championship. The Statesmen went on to win the NCAA South Central Regional and finish fourth at the NCAA Division II Baseball Championship Tournament in Montgomery, Ala.

After being drafted in the 22nd round by Philadelphia and spending three years in the Phillies organization, the Columbus, Miss., native returned to the Statesmen as a graduate assistant coach in 1999.

In 2001, Kinnison named Batts a full-time assistant coach and for the next 13 seasons helped guide the Statesmen to a remarkable 583-171-2 record while capturing four GSC titles and the 2004 NCAA Division II National Championship. The Statesmen made nine NCAA postseason appearances during his time as an assistant, including five trips to the College World Series.  

Fifteen Statesmen were selected in the Major League Baseball Draft from 2001-2014, including 6th round selections Eli Whiteside (2001 | Orioles) and Brent Leach (2005 | Dodgers), and 11th round selections Dusty Hughes (2003 | Royals) and Brett Durand (2007 | Marlins).

Batts graduated from Delta State in 1998 with a degree in Health, Physical Education and Recreation and later earned a master's degree in health, physical education and recreation in 2000. 

He is married to former Lady Statesmen basketball standout Scottie (Moore) Batts of Senatobia, Miss. The couple has two sons, Austin and Reed.     

THE BATTS FILE

• MGCCC head baseball coach from 2015-2019

• Coached four players who played in Major League Baseball

• Coached 19 players drafted in the MLB Draft, including NJCAA All-American 

• outfielder Brandon Parker, who was drafted in the 10thround this year by the Atlanta Braves

• In 2012, Batts helped lead Delta State to a national runner-up finish at the NCAA Division II College World Series

• In 2004, Batts assisted the Statesmen to the NCAA Division II National Championship with a 13-8 victory over Grand Valley State in Montgomery, Ala.

• Spent 13 seasons as an assistant coach at Delta State (2001-2014)

• Served as a graduate assistant coach at Delta State from 1999-2000

• Played three seasons in the Philadelphia Phillies organization from 1996-1998

• Selected in the 22nd round of the 1996 MLB Draft by Philadelphia Phillies

• Played second base for coach Bill Marchant and the Statesmen during the 1995 and 1996 seasons, posting a 93-22 record and advancing the 1996 NCAA Division II College World Series

• B.S. in Health, Physical Education and Recreation (Delta State, 1998)

• Master's degree in HPER (Delta State, 2000)