The Official Site of Hinds Community College Athletics

Sam Temple enters his 16th season as head coach of the Hinds Community College baseball program in 2021.

His Eagles ended the shortened 2020 season ranked No. 2 in the country according to the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA). That team featured 10 players who moved on to the four-year level during the fall of 2020, with eight of them being NCAA Division-1 signees.

During the 2019 season, Temple earned his 400^th win as the Eagles Skipper, and currently has 421 career wins entering the 2021 season.

In his tenure at Hinds, Temple has led the Eagles to three State Championships (2010, 2012, 2015), two Region 23 Regional Championships (2014 & 2017) and two NJCAA College World Series appearances (2014 & 2017). Additionally, he has been awarded the MACJC Coach of the Year three times (2010, 2012, 2017), along with South Region Coach of the Year (2014) and Mississippi Association of Coaches Coach of the Year (2015).

In the summer of 2018, Temple was named one of the coaches to lead the NJCAA National team in the NBC World Series held in Wichita, Kansas. With Temple on staff a record six players from the state of Mississippi who played in the MACJC this past season (2018) were selected to compete for the National team which ended up as finalist in the NBC World Series.

Prior to NJCAA National Team, his 2017 Hinds Eagle team won 34 games and defeated the #1 and #2 ranked teams in the nation to win the Region 23 Championship and advance to the NJCAA CWS. 

In 2014 and 2015, his Eagles advanced all the way to the national championship game at the 2014 National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) World Series in Enid, Okla., and fell in the title game, 9-7, in 11 innings to Mesa (Ariz.) Community College.

In the process, the 2014 Eagles tied a then-school record for wins (40) after starting the year on a 4-8 note. Hinds also had one All-Region selection, four All-State first team recipients and eight All-State second team recipients.

His Eagles followed up on the national runner-up season of 2014 with a 43-7 record in 2015, shattering the school record for wins and claiming the Mississippi Association of Community and Junior Colleges (MACJC) state championship, the third in his tenure, as well as competing in the Region XXIII title game.


The Eagles won 36 games in 2012 to pick up their second state title in three seasons, and had two National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) All-Americans, Tyler Akins and Beau Wallace, lead the charge.

The Vicksburg native claimed his first Mississippi Association of Community and Junior Colleges (MACJC) state championship in 2010. Hinds ended the season with a 32-21 record and finished as the runner-up in the Region 23 tournament, which was hosted by Hinds. 


The Eagles also had a highly-successful 2009 campaign, one in which Hinds finished with a 35-19 record. Hinds hosted the Mississippi Association of Community and Junior Colleges (MACJC) state tournament and competed in the Region 23 tournament. 

The second and third seasons were a remarkable improvement from the first, when the Eagles finished with a 13-28 record. In 2007 and 2008, Hinds finished with a 27-15 record and 29-20 record, respectively, making the state playoffs in the process.

Temple has also seen success in other areas as he has helped over 130 players move on to four–year universities to continue their playing careers. Over 70 of those players have gone on to play at NCAA Division I schools during his time at Hinds.

Temple is an alumnus of Porter's Chapel Academy in Vicksburg, where he was a two-year letterman, all conference honoree and a Mississippi Private School Association All-Star (MPSA) as a catcher. 

After completing his associate of arts degree at Hinds, he then went on to Delta State University and served two seasons as a catcher for the Statesmen. After earning his bachelor's degree in health and physical education, Temple served as a graduate assistant at DSU for two years while completing his master's degree in the same field. 

He began his career in coaching as head baseball coach at Warren Central High School in Vicksburg from 1996 to 2001. By his second season there, Temple had the Vikings on the upswing to a district title and took them to the state playoffs. 

The following season, it was the district title, state playoffs, school record for wins, and that summer, American Legion State Champions. In 2000, the Vikings earned a district title, state playoff trip, USA Today's Top 20 in the nation, and, that summer, won the Amateur Athletic Union state championship. 

In his final season at Warren Central, 2001, the Vikings ended with a 36-3 record, 5A state championship, USA Today's Top 20 in the Nation (No. 4 in the nation and No. 2 in the south), Baseball America's High School Top 20 and a new school record for wins.

He next served Clinton High School's baseball program as head coach for one year, ending the 2002 season with a 25-8 record, a co-district championship and a berth in the state playoffs. Temple then moved on to nearby Mississippi College, where he became assistant baseball coach and recruiting coordinator in July 2002. 

In his three seasons at the Clinton school, the Choctaws finished 90-43 overall, winning the American Southwest Conference (ASC) championship in 2003. Temple received three Coach of the Year awards in 2001, was named the coach of the North team in the Mississippi All-Star game in 2001, and received the Doug Shanks Leadership Award in 2003. 

Temple has contributed to the game of baseball in a number of ways during his career. He has served as head coach of the semipro Mississippi Stars baseball team, been an instructor and camp director for Jim Page's Champions Baseball Camps, and from 1998-2000 served as commissioner of American Legion Baseball in Mississippi, coordinating games in central Mississippi. 

He resides in Clinton with his wife Kristen and their three children, sons Garren and Gage, and daughter Grayson. 
 

Year	W - L	%	Notes/Honors
2006	13 - 28	.317
2007	27 - 15	.642
2008	29 - 20	.591	MACJC Playoffs
2009	35 - 19	.648	MACJC Playoffs, NJCAA Regional
2010	32 - 21	.603	MACJC State Championship, NJCAA Regional, MACJC Coach of the Year
2011	23 - 18	.561	MACJC Playoffs, NJCAA Regional
2012	36 - 18	.703	MACJC State Championship, NJCAA Regional, MACJC Coach of the Year, Ranked 4th in Nation
2013	18 - 25	.418
2014	40 - 21	.656	MACJC Playoffs, NJCAA Regional Championship, NJCAA World Series, South Region Coach of the Year, Ranked 7th in the Nation
2015	43 - 7	.860	MACJC State Championship, NJCAA Regional, MAC Coach of the Year, Ranked 1st in the Nation
2016	25 - 22	.532	MACJC Playoffs
2017	34 - 18	.654	MACJC Playoffs, NJCAA Regional Championship, NJCAA World Series, MACJC Coach of the Year, Ranked 18th in the Nation
2018	28 - 21	.571	MACJC Playoffs, NJCAA Regionals, Ranked 8th in the Nation
2019	26 - 21	.553	MACJC Playoffs, Ranked 8th in the Nation
2020	12 - 2	.857	Ranked 2th in the Nation