Ryan Porter may have to look for a new baseball statistician. If not, he may be able to ask for a sizable loan. Porter, who is leaving Adams County Christian School to be head baseball coach at Rossville Christian Academy in Rossville, Tenn., watched Rossville teacher and baseball statistician Kim Hunt win a million dollars on TV’s &uot;Who Wants to Be a Millionaire&uot; Thursday night.

Porter began his second year as baseball coach at ACCS in February when he was replaced by assistant coach Chad Lipscomb for personal reasons.

Porter continued teaching at the school, and received a lead on the Rossville job from Kim Hunt’s brother, Dr. Rodney Hunt of Jackson.

&uot;When I coached summer league ball in Jackson I coached a boy whose dad was a doctor and whose brother taught at Rossville,&uot; Porter said. &uot;Rodney heard I was looking to find a coaching job and gave his brother my name. Then&160;I got a call from Rossville and went up there to meet with the principal.&uot;

Porter was offered the job and had his first meeting with America’s newest future millionaire.

&uot;He was hanging around at the end of school and the principal introduced me and told me if I needed to know anything about sports, Kim was like a walking almanac. He asked him a couple of obscure questions like who was the center on the 1960 Mississippi State football team and he blurted out the answers. This guy has two doctorates, so I was wondering why he was teaching.&uot;

Hunt was actually on Wednesday’s show and it was continued to Thursday.

&uot;They told me shortly after I was hired that Kim qualified,&uot; Porter said. &uot;Time ran out on him in the first show.&uot;

Porter actually missed the first show because he was coming back from Sweden where he was coaching a baseball team as part of a mission trip.

&uot;I didn’t see the first segment, but I was watching (Thursday) because I heard it was continued,&uot; Porter said. &uot;We (Ryan and wife Emily) turned it on and then I called my parents to tell them this guy from Rossville was on &uot;Who Wants to be a Millionaire.&uot; It was cool to watch somebody you know win a million dollars.&uot;

Porter said Hunt is a typical teacher.

&uot;He’s a normal guy and you really wouldn’t know he’s so brilliant,&uot; Porter said.

As for his two-week trip to Sweden, Porter said a friend from Birmingham, Ala., who recruited him out of high school for Belhaven asked him to go along.

&uot;They were using baseball as a way to witness to people,&uot; Porter said. &uot;We went over there with 10 players, mostly from the South, and played 10 games. It was a good trip and they have a pretty competitive league over there. We played against mediocre high schools to lower level college-type teams. It’s an up-and-coming sport there.&uot;

Now that he’s back, Porter will have to find out if he needs to find a new statistician.

&uot;I talked to the principal and he said he hasn’t heard if he is quitting,&uot; Porter said.

Porter will also serve as assistant football coach at Rossville Christian.

Porter said he hopes to schedule a game against ACCS in the future.

&uot;I made a lot of good friends here and I’m going to miss them,&uot; he said. &uot;But this is the Lord’s will and we’re going with it.&uot;

Joey Martin is sports editor of The Democrat. He can be reached by calling 446-5172 exit. 232 or at joey.martin@natchezdemocrat.com.