Jax State announces 2022-23 Hall of Fame Class
6/17/2023 10:59:00 AM | Baseball, Football, General, Softball, Rifle
JACKSONVILLE - Jacksonville State announced the 2022-23 Class of its Athletics Hall of Fame on Saturday, honoring four former standouts from on the field and one that also served the Gamecocks from the sideline.
The class includes Charlie Maniscalco, former baseball player that eventually became a heralded offensive coordinator for the Gamecock football team during their dominant run through the Gulf South Conference. Also in the class are All-American and US Olympian shooter James Hall - who led the Gamecock rifle team to national prominence, softball ace Karla Pittman – the top arm on Jax State's 2009 Super Regional team and Bert Smith – one of the best infielders and consistent hitters to put on a Jax State baseball uniform.
The class will be formally inducted in the biennial Athletics Hall of Fame Banquet on Friday, Aug. 25 and will also be honored during the Aug. 26 football game vs. UTEP.
A two-sport letterman in high school, Maniscalco accepted a baseball scholarship to JSU under first-year head coach Rudy Abbott in 1970. He lettered all fours seasons in baseball, including a sophomore campaign that saw him finished ninth nationally for sophomores with nine home runs. The centerfielder served as captain his senior season for the JSU team that finished 25-10 overall and 11-2 in conference to win the Gulf South title and earn JSU's first trip to the NCAA Division II Tournament.
Upon graduation, Maniscalco was hired by Bill Burgess to teach and help coach football, basketball and baseball at Oxford High where he served from 1973 to 1985. In 1978 he was named the head baseball coach where he led Oxford to the AHSAA state championship game in his first year. Maniscalco also served as offensive coordinator under Burgess from 1978-84, eventually following Burgess to JSU when the Gamecocks hired the head coach in 1985. With Maniscalco directing a modified wishbone offense, the Gamecocks were national runner-ups in 1989 and 1991, before winning the Division II national championship in 1992. His JSU tenure from 1985-96 helped guide the Gamecocks into the Division I era. In 2019, he was inducted into the Calhoun County Sports Hall of Fame after retiring from a 12-year stint as principle of Sacred Heart Catholic School.
Hall becomes the first member of Jax State's rifle program to enter the Hall of Fame, after laying the foundation to begin JSU's reign of six Ohio Valley Conference titles in a seven-year span from 2003-09. His 2005 squad finished runner-up at the NCAA national championship to Army by a single point (4,659-4,658). The Gamecocks won the national smallbore team title that year. Hall earned All-OVC honors for smallbore competiton in 2004 and 2005, before making first team all-conference in both smallbore and air rifle in 2006. A four-time NRA All-American, Hall received elite honors all four years and second team smallbore honors his first two years, before first team smallbore and second team air rifle honors as a junior and senior. After collegiate competiton, Hall began competing nationally for Team USA Shooting, earning bronze in the 2016 U.S. national championships. Among his many accomplishments, Hall etched his name in history becoming the first Jax State athlete to represent the United States in the Olympics when his 10-meter air pistol team finished 10th at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. His team secured their spot in the Oympics by taking Gold at the 2018 Championship of the Americas in Guadalajara, Mexico, ensuring the USA a spot in the Olympic event.
Pittman joins an esteemed list of players from the tradition-rich softball program to grace the Hall of Fame. The 2009 OVC Pitcher of the Year and a First Team NFCA All-Region honoree guided Jax State to its most decorated season in history. Her Gamecocks earned the OVC's and JSU's first-ever at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament, where they won the NCAA Knoxville Regional to advance to the Tuscaloosa Super Regional, which remains the only Super Regional for an OVC team in its softball history. Pittman led JSU to its first Top 25 finish at the end of the season, when the Gamecocks were 21st in the ESPN.com and 24th in the NFCA Poll. Her career featured First-Team All-OVC performer in 2007 and 2009, after missing 2008 due to injury. She finished in the Top 50 in ERA in both her junior and senior seasons, threw 25 complete games in 31 starts in 2007, which still ranks as fourth-most complete games in a season in school history. She also still owns the 10th most career wins in the circle for JSU with 38, including a 17-4 mark in 2007. During the 2009 Knoxville Regional, she held Tennessee to one run in the Championship Game to force the if-necessary game after also throwing a three-hit shutout of James Madison in an elimination game earlier in the regional.
A native of Helena, Ala., Bert Smith was a four-time All-Ohio Valley Conference selection at second base during his tenure from 2006-10. A second-team honoree as a freshman, Smith was then named first-team in 2007, 2008 and as a senior in 2010 after missing most of 2009 with injury. Once back, he led the 2010 team back to the NCAA Tournament with a .362 average, 52 runs scored and breaking his own stolen bases record with 32 in 36 attempts. Smith was the first JSU and OVC player to reach 300 career hits. He currently ranks second in school history and fourth in OVC history with 323 hits. His 241 runs scored remain atop both the JSU and OVC record books, while he also remains the school's career leader in stolen bases with 107. Smith finished with 111 RBI and 48 doubles, the ninth-most by a Gamecock. With Smith in the lineup, Jax State enjoyed frequent success on the diamond as his teams won three OVC titles and advanced to two NCAA regional appearances.
The class includes Charlie Maniscalco, former baseball player that eventually became a heralded offensive coordinator for the Gamecock football team during their dominant run through the Gulf South Conference. Also in the class are All-American and US Olympian shooter James Hall - who led the Gamecock rifle team to national prominence, softball ace Karla Pittman – the top arm on Jax State's 2009 Super Regional team and Bert Smith – one of the best infielders and consistent hitters to put on a Jax State baseball uniform.
The class will be formally inducted in the biennial Athletics Hall of Fame Banquet on Friday, Aug. 25 and will also be honored during the Aug. 26 football game vs. UTEP.
A two-sport letterman in high school, Maniscalco accepted a baseball scholarship to JSU under first-year head coach Rudy Abbott in 1970. He lettered all fours seasons in baseball, including a sophomore campaign that saw him finished ninth nationally for sophomores with nine home runs. The centerfielder served as captain his senior season for the JSU team that finished 25-10 overall and 11-2 in conference to win the Gulf South title and earn JSU's first trip to the NCAA Division II Tournament.
Upon graduation, Maniscalco was hired by Bill Burgess to teach and help coach football, basketball and baseball at Oxford High where he served from 1973 to 1985. In 1978 he was named the head baseball coach where he led Oxford to the AHSAA state championship game in his first year. Maniscalco also served as offensive coordinator under Burgess from 1978-84, eventually following Burgess to JSU when the Gamecocks hired the head coach in 1985. With Maniscalco directing a modified wishbone offense, the Gamecocks were national runner-ups in 1989 and 1991, before winning the Division II national championship in 1992. His JSU tenure from 1985-96 helped guide the Gamecocks into the Division I era. In 2019, he was inducted into the Calhoun County Sports Hall of Fame after retiring from a 12-year stint as principle of Sacred Heart Catholic School.
Hall becomes the first member of Jax State's rifle program to enter the Hall of Fame, after laying the foundation to begin JSU's reign of six Ohio Valley Conference titles in a seven-year span from 2003-09. His 2005 squad finished runner-up at the NCAA national championship to Army by a single point (4,659-4,658). The Gamecocks won the national smallbore team title that year. Hall earned All-OVC honors for smallbore competiton in 2004 and 2005, before making first team all-conference in both smallbore and air rifle in 2006. A four-time NRA All-American, Hall received elite honors all four years and second team smallbore honors his first two years, before first team smallbore and second team air rifle honors as a junior and senior. After collegiate competiton, Hall began competing nationally for Team USA Shooting, earning bronze in the 2016 U.S. national championships. Among his many accomplishments, Hall etched his name in history becoming the first Jax State athlete to represent the United States in the Olympics when his 10-meter air pistol team finished 10th at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. His team secured their spot in the Oympics by taking Gold at the 2018 Championship of the Americas in Guadalajara, Mexico, ensuring the USA a spot in the Olympic event.
Pittman joins an esteemed list of players from the tradition-rich softball program to grace the Hall of Fame. The 2009 OVC Pitcher of the Year and a First Team NFCA All-Region honoree guided Jax State to its most decorated season in history. Her Gamecocks earned the OVC's and JSU's first-ever at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament, where they won the NCAA Knoxville Regional to advance to the Tuscaloosa Super Regional, which remains the only Super Regional for an OVC team in its softball history. Pittman led JSU to its first Top 25 finish at the end of the season, when the Gamecocks were 21st in the ESPN.com and 24th in the NFCA Poll. Her career featured First-Team All-OVC performer in 2007 and 2009, after missing 2008 due to injury. She finished in the Top 50 in ERA in both her junior and senior seasons, threw 25 complete games in 31 starts in 2007, which still ranks as fourth-most complete games in a season in school history. She also still owns the 10th most career wins in the circle for JSU with 38, including a 17-4 mark in 2007. During the 2009 Knoxville Regional, she held Tennessee to one run in the Championship Game to force the if-necessary game after also throwing a three-hit shutout of James Madison in an elimination game earlier in the regional.
A native of Helena, Ala., Bert Smith was a four-time All-Ohio Valley Conference selection at second base during his tenure from 2006-10. A second-team honoree as a freshman, Smith was then named first-team in 2007, 2008 and as a senior in 2010 after missing most of 2009 with injury. Once back, he led the 2010 team back to the NCAA Tournament with a .362 average, 52 runs scored and breaking his own stolen bases record with 32 in 36 attempts. Smith was the first JSU and OVC player to reach 300 career hits. He currently ranks second in school history and fourth in OVC history with 323 hits. His 241 runs scored remain atop both the JSU and OVC record books, while he also remains the school's career leader in stolen bases with 107. Smith finished with 111 RBI and 48 doubles, the ninth-most by a Gamecock. With Smith in the lineup, Jax State enjoyed frequent success on the diamond as his teams won three OVC titles and advanced to two NCAA regional appearances.
Players Mentioned
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