Chad Lipscomb never figured on being The Natchez Democrat 2000 All-Metro Baseball Coach of the Year at the beginning of the season. Then again, Lipscomb never figured on being a head coach. Lipscomb took over the position head coach at Adams County Christian School after Ryan Porter was relieved of his duties for personnel reasons.

Lipscomb, an assistant at AC at the time, took over the squad. His first job was to bring normalcy back to the team.

&uot;I didn’t know how to go about handling the situation at first,&uot; Lipscomb said. &uot;I just knew we had to go on. I knew I couldn’t change a lot and do what I wanted to do, but at the same time I didn’t want to be too lenient. I had to find a happy medium.&uot;

Lipscomb and his team just missed having a happy ending, advancing to the MPSA AAAA semifinals before falling to Pillow in two of three games.

The Rebels finished 19-12, finishing second to eventual state champion Parklane in South AAAA.

&uot;I knew we had a chance to go far and&160;I thought we would play for it,&uot; Lipscomb said.

The Rebels lost the next two games at Pillow by one run, the final game going eight innings.

&uot;I don’t know if there will ever be another three-game series as good as that one,&uot; Lipscomb said. &uot;It came down to who made the breaks.&uot;

Lipscomb credited assistant coaches Clark Jackson and Mike Harrigill with helping him through a tough time.

&uot;Without them I can’t imagine what it would have been like,&uot; he said. &uot;There were times I would be running late because of being on the phone or talking about schedules and if they wouldn’t have been there it would have really been bad.&uot;

Lipscomb accepted a job as an assistant coach at Manchester Academy after the baseball season. He and Karen Diffie were married earlier this year.

Karen is attending the University of Mississippi Medical School in Jackson. She is studying to become a pharmacist.

&uot;It would have been too hard staying at AC,&uot; Lipscomb said. &uot;I didn’t want to leave and still don’t, but that’s part of life and the choices you have to make. Karen loves Natchez and she knows if I ever had the chance to come back here I’ll want to come back.&uot;

Lipscomb, 24, said he enjoyed his brief stint as a head coach and would welcome the opportunity again.

&uot;Some people may think I’m kind of young to be a head coach, but you are always learning,&uot; he said. &uot;I definitely like being in control. I like being able to call the shots. I may make the wrong call, but I’ll live by it and learn from it. I’ve always thrived on pressure.&uot;