Little did he know when he left Mineola High school he would end up being honored in a college athletic Hall of Fame, but former Yellowjacket baseball star Kyle Slayton has accomplished that honor. 

Slayton left Wood County with great memories of a solid high school career and many hours of hard work on the fields at Mineola Youth Foundation Park from T-ball through the American Legion Mineola Bombers.   

“Some of my best times growing up in Mineola was playing for Danny Freeman. Coach Freeman was my biggest mentor in my baseball and coaching careers,” Slayton said. “I can remember him taking me to baseball camp at SAU (Southern Arkansas University) when I was 13 years old and I left there thinking it would be a great place to play one day.”

Slayton also played American Legion ball for Bobby Dan Speights.

“I played with and against some of the great players from all over East Texas in those summers,” Slayton said.

He arrived at Southern Arkansas University from Mineola and began a baseball journey which took him throughout southwest Arkansas. Slayton pitched four seasons for Hall of Fame head coach Steve Goodheart’s Muleriders, before embarking on a prolific high school baseball coaching career in Arkansas. 

According to the SAU sports department, from 1991 to 1994, Slayton appeared in 68 games, notched 25 wins, tossed 16 complete games – tied for the third-most all-time – and recorded 13 saves while his final three seasons saw the right-hander produce a sub-2.60 ERA each year. He struck out 175 batters in 258.2 career innings pitched.

Slayton’s junior and senior campaigns were two of the best the program had ever seen. The Texan appeared in 46 games across the 1993 and 1994 seasons. He compiled a 17-6 record, went the distance in ten contests and collected 11 of his 13 career saves, which at the time of his graduation were a program record and rank third in program history. In 159 innings pitched, he struck out 128 batters.

He was named an All-AIC and NAIA All-District 17 performer at the conclusion of both seasons and in ‘94 Slayton earned NAIA All-Southwest Region on his way to becoming an NAIA Honorable Mention All-America selection.

His 25 wins were the second-most all-time and tied for sixth in program history. A career ERA of 2.71 ranks fifth at SAU.

From playing in college at Magnolia, Slayton began living another dream, to coach high school baseball. He had one of the most dominant high school baseball coaching careers Arkansas has seen. He coached for five seasons at Fouke where he led the Panthers to the 1999 Class 3A state championship and moved on to Nashville where he guided the Scrappers for 20 seasons and won Class 4A state titles in 2007, 2017, 2018 and 2019.

He compiled 544 career wins which ranks third-most all-time in the state regardless of classification, and his five career state titles are second. Four times he was named conference coach of the year, he garnered consecutive ABCA Regional Coach of the Year honors in 2017 and 2018 and he was named the ABCA National High School Coach of the Year in 2018. While at Nashville, his duties included assisting the Nashville Scrapper football program and was a part of state title-winning teams in 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2015. 

To Slayton, his family support got him where he is today.“I had great family support. They very seldom missed a ball game. I sure wish Mom, Dad, Kenny Jack, Tank (Blaylock) and Coach Freeman could be there at the induction ceremonies Sept. 30, but I know they will all be watching from heaven and I know they are proud of the accomplishments that little kid from Mineola, Texas has made over the past 50 years.”