Northeast Mississippi Community College head softball coach Jody Long will enter the fall 2013 semester in uncharted territory as the veteran softball coach has announced the hiring of a pair of assistants.

Former Lady Tiger standout Jaisa Fox-Emerson and former Northwest Mississippi Community College infielder Haylei Plummer will join the Lady Tigers on the sidelines for the upcoming season.

“This is a great day in Northeast softball as we continue to grow and move this program forward,” Long said. “The demand of the collegiate athlete has become more demanding and almost impossible for me to continue the success of this program alone however, the platform that our program has been built on during my tenure will not change.”

With the hiring of Plummer and Fox-Emerson, Long will have two part-time assistant coaches for the first time in his tenure as head coach that started in 2006.

“Haylei will bring excitement, compassion, commitment, knowledge of the game,” Long said. “I feel she will primarily grow into a role but not limited to the daily routine of our infielders, assist with hitting instruction and assist in the in-state recruiting.”

Plummer was a starter at South Panola High School in Batesville for four years and carried the Lady Tigers to a pair of Mississippi High School Activities Association Class 6A North Half championships and a pair of Class 6A MHSAA state championships.

Plummer parlayed her varsity career into two years at Northwest Mississippi Community College under Lady Ranger head coach Mike Rowan.

While at Northwest Mississippi, Plummer, a second baseman, was named to the Mississippi Association of Community and Junior Colleges (MACJC) All-State quad in both her freshman and sophomore years and was named to the National Junior Colleges Athletic Association (NJCAA) Region XXIII team at the culmination of her second year in Senatobia.

While at Northwest Mississippi, Plummer started 40 of 76 games – all starts coming her sophomore season – and registered a .425 batting average during her two years in Senatobia.

Plummer came on strong during her sophomore year where the Batesville-native collected 57 hits in 131 at bats for a .435 batting average and chased home 31 runs while scoring 38.

Plummer was also named the Most Offensive Player for the MACJC North Division during her sophomore year at Northwest Mississippi.

Plummer left her mark on the Lady Ranger record book during her two years in Senatobia. Plummer still holds school-records for hits (57), stolen bases (11-for-11) and assists (88) in a season and is second on the list in batting average (.435), on base percentage (.497), at bats (131) and hit by pitches (15).

During her two years at Northwest Mississippi, Plummer was able to set career marks in on base percentage (.523) and stolen bases (14-for-14) while registering second in school history in slugging percentage (.575), runs scores (71), total bases (126) and being hit by a pitch (23).
A lifelong softball player, Plummer’s playing days did not end after her two-year stint in Senatobia as the Batesville-native made the short trek to Blue Mountain College to finish her undergraduate degree and softball career as part of the college’s first softball team.

Plummer clocked two years at Blue Mountain College under Northeast alumni Kevin Barefield while pursuing a secondary education degree in history and psychology.

Under Barefield, Plummer, who made the transition to shortstop for the Lady Toppers, was named to the All-TranSouth Athletic Conferences’ second team.

In two years at Blue Mountain, Plummer was apart of 94 contests seeing the field 44 times during her junior year and reaching the 50-game plateau her senior season. Plummer pieced together a .284 batting average during her two years at the Tippah County-based college and came away with a .355 slugging percentage.

Plummer collected two home runs in her two seasons with the Lady Toppers – both coming in her junior year and tallied 37 runs, 29 runs batted in and struck out just 20 times in 282 at bats.
In the field, Plummer posted a .909 fielding percentage while becoming the anchor of the Lady Topper middle infield. Plummer converted on 371 chances of 308 during her 94 games including 131 assists her senior year.

During the 2012 season, Plummer was ranked in the Top 25 in the nation in the NAIA’s Division I in total assists for the Lady Toppers (131) and assists per game (2.62).

“I very excited about the possibilities this gives our program,” Long said. “Both of these young ladies I have watched grow up the past few years and both desire to become coaches and give back to a game they love.”