Three generations of Kinslows would love to deliver state crown for DWS

ALBANY — Melvin Kinslow knows championships. So if the Knights needed any advice for their GISA Class AAA baseball title series against Westfield this weekend, they’ve got a walking encyclopedia on winning titles right in their dugout.

Kinslow’s fame grew in Americus, where he won 13 combined state titles as head coach at Americus High (five baseball titles, one girls basketball title) and Southland Academy (six golf titles, one boys basketball title). He also won a state title in baseball as a senior at Americus High School and went on to star at Georgia Southwestern State and Mercer University in baseball and basketball. He was inducted into the athletic hall of fame at both universities.

But, DWS head coach Rod Murray says, Kinslow’s greatest attribute on and off the field is something else.

“The biggest thing I can say about him is his character is just everything you want to be,” said Murray, a near scratch golfer who played under Kinslow at GSW. “I’ve just been so fortunate and blessed for him to have an impact on my life, so much more than any sport he could have taught me how to coach.”

Kinslow hired Murray right out of college to coach at Southland Academy. He’s been an assistant for the Knights the last four years and has gotten to coach with his son, baseball assistant Ty, and his grandson, DWS star slugger Banks.

“Everything he says you’ve got to take into consideration because he’s right,” Banks said. “He knows his stuff.”

The Knights feel like they have an unfair advantage because of Melvin’s years of knowledge on the diamond and in state championship games.

“He’s there after every game to shake my hand,” senior Davis Moore said. “It’s a good thing having him there.”

Both Melvin, now 76 years old, and Ty, the head girls basketball coach at DWS, work each year with the Knights hitters and have been instrumental in getting them deep into the playoffs each year.

“I’m lucky to be around these two guys,” Murray said. “I’m the one that’s lucky. Him and Ty both do a great job of paying attention to the things that win and lose a game.”

Ty Kinslow said that’s where having a father that played and coached the game has helped him the most in his coaching career.

“You’re always talking about (the game),” said Ty, who won a state basketball title at Southland in 1983 while playing for his father. “You’re always thinking, and hopefully you’re one step in front of the other guy. That’s the biggest advantage.”

The elder Kinslow hopes some of that knowledge he’s imparted on the Knights during the season will help in this weekend’s state championship series. Melvin said this senior-laden DWS team has the ingredients to win the school’s first baseball title since 2003 — a team he also helped coach.

“They’ve got a lot of good things going for them,” Melvin said. “They’ve got what it takes, but, of course, a lot of things have to happen for you to win. You’ve got to get some breaks. You can have a good team and still not win a championship. The little things make the big difference.”