14 Jun

heat check

After a sluggish start at the Triple-A level, Mason Robbins has kicked into gear the last couple of weeks. The former George County High and Southern Miss star is batting .385 over his last 10 games for Charlotte, the Chicago White Sox’s top minor league affiliate. Robbins was hitting just .227 through 18 games for the Knights when he hit his first homer on May 29. Something may have clicked. In his next game, the lefty-hitting corner outfielder went 3-for-4, and he’s been rolling ever since, lifting his average to .284. He has two homers, 17 RBIs, 14 runs, four doubles and three triples. Robbins, 25 and in his fifth pro season, has hit at every level, sporting a .285 career average. He has acknowledged that he needs to hit for more power. For some, that’s the last tool to develop, and it might be the key for Robbins to reach the big leagues. P.S. Robbins’ brother Walker, a fifth-round pick out of George County by St. Louis in 2016, is on the roster of the rookie-level Johnson City club, which opens next week. Walker Robbins, also a lefty-hitting outfielder, has hit .179 over his first two seasons. Expect him to pick it up in 2018. … A third Robbins brother, Logan, went 7-1 with a 4.66 ERA this season as a redshirt junior at Louisiana Tech. The left-hander was not drafted. Logan Robbins was undefeated (18-0) as a starter at Jones County Junior College and his only loss at LaTech came in a C-USA contest against USM.

31 May

the other bulldogs

The other Bulldogs in the Starkville Regional, the ones not wearing maroon, will have their fair share of fans around the state this weekend. Louisiana Tech, which came from out of nowhere this season to earn an NCAA Tournament at-large bid, is loaded with Mississippi connections. The third-seeded Bulldogs are coached by Greg Goff, a former Delta State player and assistant coach. Their pitching coach is Christian Ostrander, another ex-DSU player and coach who just last year was the head man at Jones County Junior College. There are seven Mississippi juco products on the LaTech roster, including former Clinton High and Hinds CC star Chase Lunceford, the team’s best hitter. Lunceford is batting .325 with 11 homers and 49 RBIs. Cody Daigle, an East Central CC alum, has 10 homers and 37 RBIs. Hinds CC product Casey Sutton is 7-1 with a 1.63 ERA. LaTech went 40-18 this year and reached the semifinal round of the C-USA Tournament in Hattiesburg last week. This is the school’s first NCAA appearance in 29 years. “We were picked 11th out of 12 teams in our league,” Goff said in a school release. “No one believed this would ever happen except for our guys.” LaTech, the 3-seed in the regional, plays Cal State Fullerton on Friday at Dudy Noble Field. Mississippi State, the No. 6 national seed, takes on Southeast Missouri State. P.S. Southern Miss’ opening round foe in the Tallahassee Regional is South Alabama, which counts five Mississippi jucos on its roster, including 2015 NJCAA Division II pitcher of the year Randy Bell. The right-hander is 6-1, 2.38 for the Jaguars.