By Robert Wilson
Former Major League Baseball All-Star Corey Dickerson and the rest of his new coaching staff at Jackson Academy have attracted two of the best underclassmen baseball players in Mississippi.
Sophomore first baseman-outfielder Deuce Jenkins -rated as the No. 7 best player in Mississippi in the Class of 2027 by Perfect Game – and junior shortstop-pitcher Justin Word – rated as the No. 8 best player in Mississippi in the Class of 2026 by Perfect Game – have enrolled at JA.
Jenkins transferred from 2024 MHSAA Class 7A state semifinalist Northwest Rankin and Word transferred from 2024 MHSAA Class 2A state champion St. Andrew’s.
Dickerson – who played 11 seasons in the MLB and retired in 2023 – was named head coach this summer. Also, JA hired five assistants with outstanding playing and coaching credentials.
The 6-foot, 210-pound Jenkins – the son of former All-State Pearl High, All-SEC Mississippi State and NFL wide receiver Justin Jenkins – became the first freshman to start for the Northwest Rankin baseball team since 1990 last season when coach KK Aldridge called him up from the junior varsity about a third of the way into the season. He had a .389 batting average with 12 runs scored, 15 runs batted in, 5 doubles, 1 triple, 3 home runs and led the Cougars with a .685 on base percentage in 20 games last season.
One of the top highlights of Jenkins’ season was when he hit two home runs, a triple, and a double with six RBIs against Germantown.
Jenkins participated in the prestigious Area Code Games, put together by Major League Baseball, in Los Angeles last week. It is an invite only event for the best high school baseball players in the country. He is already on the MLB scouts’ radar.
Justin Jenkins was one of best athletes in Pearl High sports history, excelling in football and basketball. He was inducted into the Pearl High School Hall of Fame in 2019, the first year to have inductees. Jenkins became one of the top wide receivers in MSU history in the early 2000s and still remains in the Top 10 in school history for receptions in a single season (tied for ninth), receptions for a career (tied for ninth), receiving yards in a career (sixth), receiving touchdowns in a single season (tied for fourth) and receiving TDs in a career (tied for fourth) and holds the school record with five consecutive games with a receiving TD. He played three years with the Buffalo Bills in the NFL and helped Hamburg to the NFL Europe World Bowl Championship.
The 5-10, 165-pound Word had a .397 batting average and led St. Andrew’s with 51 runs scored, 48 RBIs, 5 triples, 4 home runs, and a .636 slugging percentage and helped the Saints to a 23-7 record and the MHSAA Class 2A state championship last season as a sophomore. He had a 5-0 pitching record and 34 strikeouts in 21 2/3 innings. Word pitched in 10 games, nine in relief.
He was the designated hitter on the second team on the PriorityOne Bank/Mississippi Scoreboard Metro Jackson Team last season. Word was one of four sophomores on the 28-player team.
Word was instrumental in St. Andrew’s playoff run to its first state championship since 2018 and the team’s 32-7 record, one short of the school record for wins.
He has offers from Southern Miss, Louisiana Tech, Memphis, Jacksonville State, Troy, South Alabama, Hinds Community College and Meridian CC.
Word’s mother, Melissa Word, is the athletic director and girls basketball coach at Canton High. She led Canton to the MHSAA Class 4A state championship this past season.
“Deuce and Word are both impact players on and off the field,” Dickerson said. “Their work ethic and talent will elevate anyone around them. The staff and I look forward to helping them develop into good men and maximizing their baseball talent.”
Dickerson, a Brookhaven Academy and Meridian Community College alumnus, and his assistants should attract even more talent with their background and expertise in baseball.
Dickerson, 35, played in the major leagues for 11 seasons for eight teams. He last played for the Washington Nationals during the 2023 season. He was an eighth-round draft pick by the Colorado Rockies in 2010. Dickerson made his major league debut in 2013 (he hit two doubles in his first game), was an MLB All-Star in 2017 and won a Gold Glove in 2018.
Dickerson ranked No. 10 in the American League with a career-high 36 doubles with the Tampa Bay Rays in 2016. Voted as an all-star as a designated hitter, Dickerson had a career-high 27 home runs for the Rays in 2017. In 2018 with the Pittsburgh Pirates, Dickerson had the highest fielding percentage among major league leftfielders and won a Gold Glove award.
He finished with .280 batting average in his MLB career – a high of .312 in 2014 with the Rockies in his second MLB season – and hit 136 home runs during his MLB career.
Dickerson set school records with a .591 batting average, 15 home runs and 55 runs batted in as a senior at Brookhaven Academy and hit 45 home runs in his four-year high school career.
He was a volunteer assistant coach for Madison-Ridgeland Academy this past season.
In addition to Dickerson, five assistants have been hired with a mix of former pro baseball players, state high school and state junior college championship players, Division I and College World Series players.
Josh Rogers, who will be an assistant coach in charge of pitching and catching, won three state championships at Hillcrest Christian School, and played at Southern Miss and Belhaven University. Rogers is well known in the Metro Jackson area as the owner and founder of the Mississippi Yankees, a travel ball organization based out of Madison County and the former director of baseball operations of the Madison County Sports Zone in Gluckstadt.
Rogers holds school records at Hillcrest – which has produced many Division I players, including former MLB standout Seth Smith – with single season strikeouts, career strikeouts and pitching victories.
Justin Reed, who will be a hitting coach, won a state championship and was the Mississippi Gatorade Player of the Year in 2006 as a senior at Hillcrest Christian. He was a fourth round MLB draft pick by the Cincinnati Reds, played five seasons in the minor leagues and has 15 years of coaching experience. Reed, who also an All-State player at Callaway High before transferring to Hillcrest, has been head coach at Hillcrest for three seasons, and assistant at Callaway for six seasons and Madison St. Joseph for seven seasons. Reed also works with Rogers with the Mississippi Yankees.
AJ Downs, who will a variety of roles both on and off the field, won a state championship at Clarksdale Lee Academy and was an all-conference outfielder at Mississippi Delta Community College and Delta State and coached at Manchester Academy for 10 years.
Central Hinds Academy alumnus and Mississippi State infielder Tanner Leggett is another assistant coach. Leggett is best remembered for his game-winning hit in the bottom of the ninth inning for a 4-3 victory over Texas to send MSU to the national championship series against Vanderbilt in 2021.
Josh DeMoney, an All-State outfielder at Madison Central, helped Meridian CC to a state championship, and played at Arkansas State, is another assistant who will work with the hitters. He is well known around Metro Jackson for his knowledge of hitting and has worked with Jackson Prep All-American and first-round Major League Baseball draft pick Konnor Griffin.
Brian Pettway, a former Ole Miss All-American and All-State outfielder from Warren Central High, returns for his third season as the head coach for the junior high program and will help with the high school program. He was a third-round draft pick by the Toronto Blue Jays and played three seasons in the minor leagues. Pettway also coaches and trains with the Mississippi Yankees.
The Raiders return six starters, including seniors, second baseman-shortstop Joshua Dockins and pitcher-right fielder Foster Meachum. Dockins led JA with a .355 batting average, 33 hits, a .508 on base percentage and 36 runs scored. Meachum had a team-high 11 doubles and three triples. Other returning starters are senior catcher Tripp Mosal, sophomore designated hitter-first baseman Whit Davis, senior pitcher Mason Brantley – son of former MLB pitcher Jeff Brantley – and senior pitcher-left fielder Sherrod Cauthen.
