Monthly Archives: April 2011

Dust is still swirling in the Southwestern Athletic Conference East Division. Two home runs in the 10th inning enabled Alcorn State to beat Jackson State 4-1 at Braddy Field on Friday and remain in first place. You want clutch? Kenny Rowan, a former Hinds Community College standout, hit a two-run homer and Eduardo Gonzalez a solo shot off JSU’s Cortney Nelson to put the Braves ahead. It was the first homer of the year for both. Steve Easter (5-2) then pitched the bottom of the 10th to wrap up a complete game win. He outdueled JSU ace Quintavious Drains, who left with one down in the top of the 10th. Alcorn (11-4 SWAC) and JSU (10-6) play a doubleheader today. Mississippi Valley State (9-5) plays a pair at last-place Alabama A&M; today and a single game Sunday. This is going to be a fight to the finish.
P.S. Weir’s Roy Oswalt, the ex-Holmes CC and current Philadelphia Phillies star, left his Friday start in the seventh inning with a back problem; he said he’s “hoping to be OK in two days” and not miss a start. He left with a lead, which the Phillies squandered to Florida. … Hattiesburg native and onetime big leaguer Joey Gathright has signed with the independent Shreveport-Bossier Captains. … Former JADAPs (Jackson area Double-A players) are making news all over The Show. Yunel Escobar (.417) leads the American League in hitting, and Bobby Abreu (.357) is sixth. Lance Berkman has hit six homers this week. Jeff Francoeur is on a 10-for-17 tear. Charlie Morton came within one out of a shutout on Friday in earning his second win of the year. And Matt Harrison (3-0) went eight innings to beat the Yankees at Yankee Stadium.

Games go on today, but there is a somber mood in the air. Chase Wroten, a sophomore pitcher at Hinds Community College, died Friday from a stroke he suffered during a game on Wednesday. He was a very good player and, from every indication, a very good person. His sudden passing is a sobering reminder of how unpredictable and fragile life can be and of how relatively insignificant are the games we attach so much meaning to. It’s a sad day, but there is inspiration in these words from Hinds CC coach Sam Temple: “When you think of Chase Wroten you cannot help but smile,” he told The Clarion-Ledger. “That’s the way he made you feel. That’s what we are going to miss.”

You never want to make too much of one regular season series in April in college baseball, but it’s hard to resist hyping the Arkansas Tech-Delta State matchup coming this weekend in Cleveland. First of all, Tech is in first place in the Gulf South Conference West Division with a 10-2 record. DSU is 9-3, tied with Harding. This series — doubleheader Saturday, single game Sunday at Ferriss Field — won’t make or break the season for either club. And yet, in the chase for NCAA Division II regional berths, every game really does count. DSU, a perennial postseason team, has missed out the last two years. Also on the minds of the Statesmen is the fact that Tech swept them in Cleveland last season, marking the first time in coach Mike Kinnison’s now 15-year tenure that his team was swept at home in a GSC series. And this Tech club appears every bit as strong as that one, at least on the offensive side. The Wonderboys lead the GSC with 50 home runs and 348 runs and are second in hitting at .347. Matt Johnson is batting .440 with eight homers, 58 runs and 40 RBIs, Nick Makris .383 with nine bombs and 45 RBIs. DSU counters with some good arms: Josh Branstetter is 5-1 with a 2.16 ERA; Brandon Hardin is 5-2, 4.42; and Aaron Newcomb has five wins despite a 5.02 ERA. Tech’s pitching isn’t so hot. The Wonderboys are 10th in the 14-member conference with a 5.73 ERA. DSU hitters Kellen Bozeman (.361), Michael Niemann (.341, five homers, 39 RBIs), Patrick Taylor (.386) and Cameron Robulak (seven homers) may be licking their chops. The Statesmen are fourth in the league in scoring. This series could turn into a knock-down, drag-out slugfest. At any rate, it’s worthy of some hype — and of our attention.

Whether Chris Coghlan was ready to handle center field for the Florida Marlins was called into question by Sports Illustrated in its baseball preview issue. Citing the former Ole Miss standout’s limited time there in spring training because of a shoulder injury, the magazine suggested he be moved back to second base, where he played in the minors. Well, never mind. Coghlan, who played left field for the Marlins the last two years, has looked just fine in center. He made a diving catch on Thursday night in Atlanta that might have saved three runs and the game in Florida’s 6-5 victory. After a slow start at the plate, Coghlan found his stroke at Turner Field, as well, going 7-for-12 in the series to boost his average to .288. He is 19-for-47 lifetime at the Ted. … One word for Cliff Lee’s performance on Thursday: wow. The Meridian Community College alumnus threw a three-hit shutout with 12 strikeouts as Philadelphia beat Washington. … Seth Smith, the Hillcrest Christian and Ole Miss product, is hitting .308 for red-hot Colorado, which has the majors’ best record at 10-2. If Smith can figure out how to hit lefties, he might be a regular All-Star. … Another ex-Rebels star, Matt Tolbert, is hitting .384 in limited time with Minnesota. … Former Mississippi State star Paul Maholm has a 2.33 ERA but an 0-2 record in three starts for sad-sack Pittsburgh. … Former Mississippi Braves standout Jeff Francoeur is hitting .292 for surprising Kansas City, off to a 7-5 start under ex-Jackson Mets catcher Ned Yost. … Buck Showalter’s Baltimore Orioles have cooled off, dropping four straight and tumbling out of first place in the American League East for the first time since opening day.

Holmes Community College flexed its muscle on Wednesday to sweep a doubleheader from Northwest and move into first place in the MACJC North Division. The Bulldogs (21-12, 12-4 North) hit five home runs on the day, winning 7-1 and 4-3 at Senatobia. Reggie O’Briant went deep in both games. Holmes also got strong pitching efforts from Chris Hutchinson and Taylor Burrell. Northwest slipped into second place at 11-5, just ahead of Itawamba and East Mississippi, both 10-6. In the South, Jones County JC swept rival Pearl River 11-2 and 6-3 to maintain its grip on the top spot with a 12-4 mark. The Bobcats (25-11 overall) used four RBIs from former Taylorsville High star Darion Hamilton and a complete game performance from ace Andrew Pierce (6-1) to take the opener. Ladd Rhodes scored a run and drove in one in the Game 2 win. Gulf Coast is running second in the South at 9-5. The juco regular season runs through the end of the month, with the best-of-3 playoffs beginning the first weekend in May. The top four teams in each division make the postseason.
P.S. Belhaven got some revenge on Michael Langston, the soft-tossing little lefty from Tougaloo who beat them 2-1 with a two-hitter on March 3. On Wednesday, the Blazers got to Langston for four hits, three walks and five runs in 5 1/3 innings of a 6-3 win. BU had two hits and two runs in the first inning, and Jordan Brewer blasted a key, two-run homer off Langston in the sixth.

Kenny Roberts, a sophomore second baseman at Meridian Community College, is having as good a season as any college player at any level in the state. The Alabama signee, a Meridian High product, is hitting .438 with 16 doubles, three triples, 11 home runs, 45 RBIs and 10 steals for the Eagles. He also has a 22-game hit streak to his credit. The Eagles, traditionally a powerhouse in NJCAA Division I, are off to a rather slow start at 2-4 in the Miss-Lou Conference. MCC is 25-17 overall in its first year under coach Chris Curry, who has taken the reins at the school where Corky Palmer, Scott Berry and Mike Federico previously called the shots. Don’t be surprised if this team surges toward the finish.

Minnesota reliever Dusty Hughes, the former Delta State standout from Tupelo, was credited with the defensive play of the day by MLB Network for a catch he made off the mound on Tuesday night. Hughes also got the win, his first of 2011, as the Twins beat Kansas City, his former team. Other homeboy heroics from the big leagues on Tuesday included: Mitch Moreland (Mississippi State) boosting his average to .333 with a pair of hits for Texas; Marcus Thames (East Central Community College) belting his first home run of the year for the Los Angeles Dodgers; slow-starting Chris Coghlan (Ole Miss) notching a pair of infield hits for Florida; and Bill Hall (Nettleton) making a nice catch at second base and a nifty baserunning move (plus a hit and an RBI) in Houston’s win over the Chicago Cubs. Former Mississippi Braves Brian McCann and Jason Heyward homered to back ex-M-Braves hurler Tommy Hanson’s seven shutout innings in Atlanta’s win over the Marlins; and ex-Jackson General Lance Berkman hit his third homer in two days for St. Louis.

It surely was a hot time in the city — or, rather, in the Jackson metro — on Tuesday night. At Millsaps’ Twenty Field, the Majors and Belhaven split a Maloney Trophy Series doubleheader. At Clinton, Mississippi College topped Tougaloo 5-3. And in Pearl, Southern Miss outlasted Ole Miss 8-6 in a wacky 12-inning affair. Some observations: Forget the eight errors and the zero home runs at Trustmark Park. The show-stealing performance was put on by USM’s Adam Doleac, who went 4-for-6 with three RBIs, including the game-winning runs in the top of the 12th. Let it be said that the Golden Eagles (24-8 and nationally ranked) have no shortage of hitters — or Ferriss Trophy candidates. … MC is heating up. The Choctaws (19-12) have won 10 of their last 11, mostly with stout pitching. Stephen Byrd and Terrell Prescott combined to allow just two earned runs with 10 strikeouts against Tougaloo. The Bulldogs are 2-33, but they’ve never been more competitive. With no Gulf Coast Athletic Conference baseball this season, Tougaloo has had scheduling difficulties that have hurt its record. … Belhaven (33-13) rode the pitching of Alan McHenry (5-1 with a complete game) to a 9-1 win over Millsaps in their opener, then watched as Will Hawkins drove in seven runs for the Majors (22-16) in the nightcap. Hammerin’ Hawk is hitting .376 with six homers and 43 RBIs. The Majors lead the Maloney Series with a 3-1 mark. Belhaven is 2-1 and MC 0-3 with a game to play.

Five games into the Southern League season, the Mississippi Braves’ pitching has certainly lived up to its billing as a strength of the club. The M-Braves lead the league with a staff ERA of 2.87. Four of the five starters allowed a run or less in their first outing; only major league castoff Kenshin Kawakami had a tough time, allowing two home runs in the sixth inning after five scoreless. The M-Braves are hitting .272 as a team, led by Tyler Pastornicky at .526 and Jordan Kreke at .368. The defense has been solid, with only two errors. And yet the club is just 2-3 as it heads into a 10-game road trip that begins Wednesday night at Mobile. The problem? Not enough runs. They’ve scored only 18, nine of those in the opener. In the last two games of the homestand, the M-Braves put up just one run over 19 innings. It could be a challenge to play .500 ball on the road trip, especially if the clutch hitting doesn’t improve. But there is blue sky ahead. The team returns to Trustmark Park on April 23 and will play 20 of its next 25 games at home, where pitching rules. That could be a telling stretch as to how the 2011 M-Braves will fare in the first half.

There are three anniversaries worthy of recognition here as the Mississippi Braves, the Jackson area’s latest in a long line of minor league clubs, launch their 2011 season. It’s been 10 years since the lost summer of 2001, when there was no professional baseball in the metro area for the first time since 1974. The ill-fated Jackson Diamond Kats were done after their one season, 2000, and Smith-Wills Stadium was left to hosting collegiate level Cotton State League games and the state semi-pro tournament. The Jackson Senators arrived in 2002. This is also the 20th anniversary of the first season of the Jackson Generals, the Houston Astros’ Double-A club that moved into Smith-Wills the year after the Mets left. The old Generals (not to be confused with the club that the M-Braves are currently playing) left after the 1999 season. Most deserving of celebration is the 30th anniversary of the 1981 Jackson Mets season. They won the Texas League championship, the city’s first pro pennant since the days of the original Senators in the 1940s. (The old Senators actually were affiliated with the Milwaukee Braves for many years, but that’s getting off on a tangent.) The ’81 OJMs (“Our Jackson Mets”) highlighted a magical era during which the club won three titles in five years and made the playoffs eight straight years. The ’81 team wasn’t prospect-loaded but featured future big leaguers Marvell Wynne, Mike Fitzgerald and Al Pedrique. It was managed by Davey Johnson, who would win a World Series with the 1986 New York Mets. He actually predicted his Jackson team would win the league title in 1981. Then they started 8-0 and never spent a day out of first place en route to a first-half crown in the TL East. They beat Tulsa and San Antonio for the championship. “Davey pushed all the right buttons that year,” former JaxMets GM Mike Feder said in a 1984 interview. “He had the club playing the way he wanted them to, and it seemed like he outmanaged the other clubs a lot.” Thirty years later, it’s worth remembering.
P.S. He had 779 of them in the minor leagues, and now Matt Young finally has a big league hit on his ledger. The former Mississippi Braves standout got his first knock Thursday night in Atlanta’s loss to Milwaukee.