Sports

1983 Zebras began string of four straight state titles under Bock.

By Jay Lupo/Of The Commercial Staff
Thursday, March 20, 2008 8:43 AM CDT

In the minds of many, the 1983 baseball team at Pine Bluff High School was one of the best clubs to ever grace a diamond in the state of Arkansas.

Whether they actually were or not is up for debate. But if you ask Pine Bluff head coach Mark Jelks, the late legend Billy Bock’s longtime assistant at PBHS, then it’s clear the ’83 bunch stood out along with the 1987 and 1992 teams.

The ’83 Zebras beat Jacksonville that year to claim one of the school’s 10 state baseball championships — the most of any program in the state — in Bock’s first season at PBHS.

Pine Bluff finished the year ranked ninth nationally by USA Today. The Zebras went 19-1 and closed the season on a 12-game winning streak.

About the only thing they couldn’t do in 1983 was win the 8-AAA Conference championship. They had to share that honor with Dumas, who knocked off Pine Bluff 6-5 in the Zebras’ eighth game of the season.

“It’s a little bit ironic that we accomplished all those things — state title, being ranked nationally by USA Today and all that stuff — and didn’t even win our conference outright,” said Jeff Gross, who was a junior first baseman on Bock’s first title team in Pine Bluff. “We had to share that with Dumas.

“Let’s just say that was unfortunate.”

Gross, and several other members of the ’83 Z’s, said the Bobcats were the beneficiaries of some “home-cooking” that day in Dumas.

“We get down there and they don’t have any umpires,” Gross said. “So their football, basketball and track coaches did the officiating that day. We didn’t care. But by the end we did.

“I think we had nine guys strike out looking that day. We had the bases loaded with no outs in the last two innings and didn’t score a single run. They were bouncing the balls up there, throwing them over our heads, and they ended up being strikes. It was home-cooking at its best.”

The loss aside, Bock’s first Zebra team at Pine Bluff is considered by many to be his best and is unquestionably the one that kick-started the greatest run ever seen by a high school program in Arkansas. After their title run in 1983, the Zebras won three more state championships in a row from 1984-1986, the longest stretch in Arkansas history. Bock’s Zebras added two more state crowns in 1992 and 1995, giving the legendary coach nine state title teams for his career.

Still, the ’83 bunch stood out.

John Barfield, who spent three full seasons in the majors as a pitcher with the Texas Rangers after being taken in the 11th round of the 1986 MLB Draft, is the most famous alumnus of the 1983 team. But Bock, who passed away in 2003, clearly had an impact on all of his players that year. Almost all 23 members of the 1983 team at least had a chance to continue their baseball careers in college. Many, like Bock’s son Kirk Bock (Harrison) and Scott Baugh (Enid, Okla.) went on to become coaches themselves. Arkansas, Central Arkansas, Harding, Ouachita Baptist, Northeast Louisiana, Oklahoma City University and Southern Miss all got contributions from members of Bock’s first Pine Bluff team.

“First, we had talent,” said Tyler Thomason, a sophomore third baseman on the 1983 team. “Every starter on our team plus two pitchers were offered baseball scholarships or played in college. We had great chemistry and loved playing together. We had great senior and junior leadership and the greatest baseball coach in Arkansas high school history.

“You put all those things together, plus the most competitive group of guys I ever played with, and you’ve got a once-in-a-lifetime team.”

Pine Bluff’s run to the 1983 state championship actually started in January of that year. Bock, whose Razorbacks had won a state title in 1982 at Texarkana, replaced Steve Edwards as the baseball coach at the beginning of the school year. And his arrival immediately brought a new enthusiasm.

“There were 75 kids that went out for baseball that year,” Gross said. “Over two or three weeks, the players just kind of weeded themselves out. Bock didn’t cut anybody.

“We’d never really done any offseason stuff before. And all of the sudden, we were lifting weights and running like crazy. I mean when you came home at night, you were just dragging your feet. You didn’t even want to eat. All you wanted was your bed.”

Bock’s strict regimen of physical fitness and mental toughness took a toll on his players. Yet it’s also the reason Gross and other members of the team said they won it all in 1983.

“When we went onto the baseball field, we knew we were going to win,” Gross said. “And that all goes back to the offseason. We were put to the test and found out a lot about ourselves before that season ever began.

“Playing and winning the games was the easy part.”

Today, the 2008 Billy Bock Classic baseball tournament gets underway at Taylor Memorial Field, and the 1983 team will be honored at the event on Friday and Saturday.

There will be a cookout at Taylor Field in their on honor on Friday. The next day, the team will be honored on the field and given a special commendation by Pine Bluff Mayor Carl Redus.

Gross said he expects 70 percent of the team to attend this weekend’s festivities. About the only thing missing will be Bock himself.

And while he won’t be there in body, Bock’s always at Taylor Field in spirit.

“I can tell you that he’d be really proud,” Jelks said. “He’d have some wisecrack for them, probably tell them to go get their hamburger somewhere else or something. He talked about the ’83 team some. He’d mention them here and there like he did with the 1987 and 1992 groups. I think you could tell those were all special teams to him.

“So he’d be tickled to death to see these guys come back. He’d want to talk to them for hours.”

Because of what Bock did for them, there’s little doubt they’d reciprocate.

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