Garland Parish— A
Two-Sport Stand-out At Pearl River, Parish Excelled In Basketball And Baseball
Garland Parish
says Pearl River Community College is “the greatest place I’ve ever been,”
but on October 30 he will officially go down in history as one of the greatest
athletes to ever play at Mississippi’s pioneer junior college.
Parish, a Sandy
Hook resident, was a two-sport Standout — basketball and baseball — at
PRCC from 1950 until 1952 and his accomplishments on the hardcourt and
diamond have earned him a place in the college’s Sports Hall of Fame. He,
along with former football and basketball Wildcat Dennis Mitchell and former
quarterback Tony Walker, will be officially inducted into the hall during
1999 homecoming festivities set for Saturday, October 30. on PRCC’s Poplarville
campus.
Parish earned
All-State honors his sophomore season on the basketball court (1951-52)
under Coach Woodrow Daley and his single season with Coach Fred Henley’s
baseball Wildcats saw him accomplish such feats as blasting three home
runs in one game against arch-rival Perkinston.
“I have many
good memories at Pearl River,” Parish says. “It’s the greatest place I’ve
ever been. I even met my wife (former Lady Wildcat basketball star Maude
Warren) there and we’re still together after 46 years.”
Garland and
Maude are the parents of two children — both PRCC grads: William, who played
football for the Wildcats in 1974 and 1975, and Susan, who graduated from
the college’s LPN program. 
Daughter-in-law
Glenda and son-in-law Steve Albritton are also River graduates.
“Pearl River
is just part of our lives,” he said. “We still work with the college in
many areas and attend all home football and most home basketball games.”
Parish was touted
for his consistency by former baseball and basketball teammate Doug Daniels.
“Garland was
a great playmaker on the basketball court and had great leadership qualities,”
said Daniels, who was also an All-State football player and was inducted
into the hall in 1994. “On the baseball diamond, he really did an excellent
job. Very consistent and very versatile. He could pitch or catch and hit
with power.”
During his
basketball tenure, Parish played with such Wildcat notables as Mutt Watts,
Glen Curley, Arab Morris, Sam Clinton, Emerson Ladner, and Daniels.
Baseball didn’t
exist Parish’s freshman year at The River, but he recalled a road match-up
his sophomore year against Perk where five Wildcat homers were blasted
over the fence — three of which came off his bat. Parish refuses to make
a big deal out of it.
“They (Perk)
had a short right and there may have been as many as six or seven hit out
that day...I really can’t remember. It wasn’t that big of a deal,” he said.
He left Pearl
River and headed to Southwestern Louisiana in Lafayette on a basketball
scholarship, but became disillusioned and dropped out of school following
his inaugural Ragun’ Cajun roundball season.
Big time baseball
appeared to be heading his way when he moved to Jackson.
“When I moved,
I signed with the Jackson Senators, which was then a farm club with the
Detroit Tigers,” Parish recalled. “It was a foot in the door, but it wasn’t
no time at all that all that came to a halt.”
But it wasn’t
no time until Garland was drafted...not in the pro baseball sense, but
by Uncle Sam and began a stint with the U.S. Army’s 82nd Airborne Division.
“When they
call you, you go,” he said. “But my playing days weren’t over. We had a
basketball team in the military and I played on it.”
After his discharge
from the service, he returned to Sandy Hook and has resided there ever
since. He’s remained active in sports, coaching Little League and Pony
League baseball, in addition to serving as scoutmaster for the local Boy
Scout Troop.
He and his
family are long-time members of Sandy Hook United Methodist Church and
he serves as a trustee for the Marion County General Hospital and on the
Board of Directors for Pearl River Valley Electric Power Association. Parish
is also involved in lots of volunteer work, including the Marion County
Food Pantry.
