The first Natchez Democrat All-Metro Baseball Team of the millennium possesses power, quickness, strong arms and versatility.

The 2000 team is led by Vidalia junior shortstop Jarrett Hoffpauir, who batted .519 for the Vikings, with 22 doubles, nine home runs, 44 RBI and 15 stolen bases. Hoffpauir was also 5-0 on the mound for Vidalia, which won District 3-2A and advanced to the second round of the Class 2A playoffs.

Lipscomb took over for Ryan Porter as head coach early in the season after school officials removed Porter as head coach. He led AC to a 19-12 record, finishing second to eventual state champion Parklane in South AAAA.

The All-Metro team was selected by The Democrat staff from teams which regularly called in their games.

The top 20 players were selected, regardless of position.

Lipscomb had four players selected to the team. Senior third baseman Ryan Davis, senior pitcher Jason Wimberly, junior outfielder Robby Powell and junior catcher Lee Watts were named to the team.

Davis batted .343 with 32 RBI and six home runs. Watts led the Rebels with a .351 average with 17 RBI&160;and five home runs. Powell batted .333 with six homers and 22 RBI. Wimberly was 10-1 on the mound with a 3.15 ERA.

Joining Hoffpauir from Vidalia High is senior second baseman Adam Probst, junior catcher Ryan Boles and senior pitcher Rod Donald.

Probst hit .375 with four home runs and had a .903 fielding percentage.

Boles batted .362 and and threw out 14 batters.

Donald was 3-5 on the mound, but had a 2.05 ERA. He hit .400 with 12 home runs, setting a career school record with 19 homers.

Representing Natchez High are Bulldog junior catcher Brock Barlow and junior shortstop Brian Kossum.

Barlow batted .424 with eight doubles and a home run.

Kossum hit .340 and added a home run. He was also 5-3 on the mound with a 3.32 earned run average.

Named from Cathedral are junior third baseman Key Smith, senior catcher Stephen Edwards, junior pitcher Charlie Norris and senior pitcher Stephen Bush. Smith batted .385 with a home run. Edwards batted .381 with three home runs and had 23 RBI. Bush batted .371 with three home runs and 18 RBI. Norris was 5-1 on the mound, with one save. He finished with a 3.49 ERA.

Representing Trinity are senior William McGehee, eighth-grader Walt Ketchings and senior Hunter Dale. McGehee batted .487 with 16 RBI and a home run.

Ketchings batted .481 with a home run. Dale finished with a 7-2 record on the mound and 1.72 ERA. He also batted .407.

Huntington High is represented by junior catcher Luke Davis and senior pitcher Barrett Kiser.

Davis batted .396 with three home runs. Kiser hit .326 and was 3-3 on the mound with a 1.54 ERA.

Monterey landed senior outfielder Sandon Kemp, who batted .606 with 12 home runs.

Honorable mentions are Leon Stewart and Noland Coward of Natchez High; Hayden Wadsworth, Russ Marks and Trey Mardis of ACCS; Kevin Laird and Bryan Bennett of Vidalia; Ben Eidt and Jeremy Hardie of Cathedral; Elliot Meng of Trinity; John Mark Bonnette of Huntington and A.J.Smith, Jeremy Bryan and Chris Gatlin of Monterey.