March 22, 2019 - All Mississippi Baseball

hot spots

Keep an eye on Fulton on Saturday, and keep the other on Perkinston. Those are the hottest spots in MACJC play. Fourth-ranked Pearl River Community (17-2, 4-0 in the league) visits No. 13 Itawamba CC (16-3, 3-1) for a doubleheader, and Holmes CC (17-3, 2-2) travels to Mississippi Gulf Coast CC (12-4, 4-0) for a battle of Bulldogs teams that aren’t ranked but could be next week. Pearl River, which got one first-place vote in the latest NJCAA Division II poll, is coming off a monster performance against Copiah-Lincoln on Tuesday. Led by Dexter Jordan, among others, the Wildcats put up eight homers and 29 runs in a twinbill sweep. In one of Saturday’s games, PRCC is likely to face ICC ace Houston Harding, a sophomore lefty who is 5-0 with a 0.98 ERA. Holmes is coming off a Tuesday split against No. 2-ranked Jones County; in their win, the Goodman Bulldogs got a three-hit shutout from Nate Oswalt (apparently no relation to Holmes alum and ex-big leaguer Roy). They’ll run into a Gulf Coast club that has won 11 in a row. Perkinston’s Bulldogs feature reigning D-II player of the year Brandon Parker, who’s batting .347 with five homers and has yet to really heat up. (For the record, Meridian’s Kace Garner leads the state with eight homers.)

on prep scene

George County High is getting a lot of love in the national polls, especially from Collegiate Baseball Magazine. CB has the Rebels at No. 5 in its most recent rankings (March 11); Brandon Davis’ team has won three times since that poll was released to improve to 12-0. MaxPreps’ Xcellent 25 poll puts George County at No. 7, and Perfect Game has the Rebels ninth in the nation. Catcher/pitcher Logan Tanner, a Mississippi State commit, is the team’s star attraction. He is batting .448 with two homers and 18 RBIs and is 4-0 with a 0.81 ERA on the bump. But Tanner is hardly a lone star: Senior Ethan Coleman is batting .529 with 20 runs, and senior Trevor McDonald is 5-0, 0.29. DeSoto Central (13-2) also shows up in the Perfect Game Top 50 poll at No. 29. MaxPreps produces a computer ranking, and on that chart, Brandon is the top team in the state and 38th in the nation. The Bulldogs (11-4) are led by Kellum Clark, a junior who’s raking at .500 with seven home runs, and Trey McCormick, 3-0 with a 1.31. No. 2 in the state per MaxPreps’ computer is Biloxi (13-2). The Indians feature Cade Mohan (.351) and Matthew Delano (4-0, 0.78). … Jerrion Ealy, generally regarded as the state’s top prep pro prospect, is off to a great start in his senior season at Jackson Prep, batting .425 with nine doubles, 12 RBIs, 16 runs and eight steals in 13 games. The two-sport star has signed with Ole Miss.