Tag Archives: Northwest Rankin High

12 May

crunch time (again)

While undefeated Oxford High is the highest ranked Mississippi school in two different national polls, Northwest Rankin definitely rates attention. The Cougars, also ranked in the Top 25 by both MaxPreps and Baseball America, are 29-2 headed into the MHSAA Class 6A North championship series against DeSoto Central. The Cougars, coached by Jeff McClaskey, feature Shelton Wallace (.464, 25 steals), Ian Ladner (.409, five homers, 38 RBIs) and Hunter Smith (9-0, 0.96 ERA). They are 4-0 in the postseason and have won eight straight overall. Both of NWR’s losses were by one run. DeSoto Central (24-9) is led by the highly touted Austin Riley, hitting .456 with 11 homers and 6-2 with a 2.75 ERA as a pitcher. Keegan James hits .336, and Dallas Woolfolk is 7-1, 2.07. In the 6A South finals, defending state champion Oak Grove (24-7) meets Biloxi (21-11) in the best-of-3. The Warriors have the 1-2 pitching punch of Drew Boyd (9-0, 1.04) and J.C. Keys (8-0, 1.01) and a hot hitter in Matthew Guidry (.426). Biloxi counters with the arms of Austin Creel (7-1, 2.01) and Blake Johnson (7-2, 2.00) and the bat of Darrell Montiforte (.296, three homers). In 5A, Oxford puts its unblemished mark (32-0) on the line against New Hope in the North finals. P.S. The SWAC Tournament begins Wednesday in New Orleans. Jackson State, the two-time defending champion, meets Southern University and Alcorn State plays West Division winner Texas Southern in the opening round of the eight-team event. The tourney winner earns an automatic NCAA Tournament bid (though Southern is ineligible). With probable league MVP Melvin Rodriguez (.444, seven homers, 72 RBIs) in its lineup, JSU certainly has a shot at a three-peat. … In Tyler, Texas, on Wednesday, third-seeded Millsaps faces 4-seed Whitworth in the first round of the NCAA Division III West Regional. … At Eunice, La., on Thursday, Hinds Community College meets East Mississippi and Northwest Mississippi plays LSU-Eunice in the first round of the NJCAA Division II Region 23 Tournament. No. 1-ranked Hinds is the defending region champ.

07 Apr

poll position

Northwest Rankin High, which is on a 17-1 roll, has broken into Baseball America’s new Top 25, checking in at No. 20. The Class 6A Cougars, who have a game tonight at Starkville, haven’t lost since March 7, when they fell 2-1 in extra innings to Germantown. They notched two big wins over rival Madison Central on March 31 and April 2. Acy Owen leads NWR in hitting at .500, and Ian Ladner is at .442 with four homers and Damione Granger .333 with 15 RBIs. On the bump, Hunter Smith is 5-0 with a 0.40 ERA and Cannon Gibbs 4-0, 0.33. … Brandon is 25th in BA’s latest poll; DeSoto Central, which lost three of four in the National High School Invitational late last month, dropped out.

07 Oct

it’s a start

The fast track seems to suit Hunter Renfroe. The ex-Mississippi State standout got off to a smooth start today in the highly competitive Arizona Fall League, going 2-for-4 with two doubles and an RBI for the Surprise Saguaros. Renfroe, San Diego’s first-round pick in 2013, was bumped up to Double-A at midseason this year and hit .232 with five home runs and 23 RBIs for San Antonio in the Texas League. He batted .295 with 16 homers and 52 RBIs in high-A ball. The Padres need power hitters, and the 6-foot-1, 200-pound Renfroe, a natural right fielder, might not be far away. P.S. Before he became a highly successful high school coach, Jeff McClaskey was a pretty good player. The current Northwest Rankin High coach still holds a share of the career batting average record of .412 at Hinds Community College, which will honor McClaskey on Oct. 23 as part of its new Hall of Fame class. McClaskey played at Hinds in 1982 and ’83 before going on to Delta State, where he played for Boo Ferriss. About to begin his 25th year as coach at Northwest Rankin, McClaskey has 640 wins, 11 district titles and one state championship. … Also entering the HCC Hall is Rick Trusty, who set the Eagles’ single-season batting mark at .463 in 1975 and also hit .412 career. … Former Delta State star Eli Whiteside is a free agent again. The New Albany native, 34, who has bounced around the big leagues since 2005, spent most of this season at Triple-A Iowa in the Chicago Cubs system. He went 3-for-25 in his brief MLB stint.