Monthly Archives: March 2013

Alcorn State tends to move under the radar, but the Braves have at least one player worth tracking this season. Shortstop Angel Rosa was picked as the Southwestern Athletic Conference preseason player of the year by Baseball America and also is rated the league’s second-best MLB draft prospect. Through his first 11 games this season, Rosa was hitting .452 with three doubles and five RBIs. And the Braves, off to a 2-12 start, have played some good competition, including Southern Miss, Wake Forest, Oklahoma State and Louisiana-Monroe. This weekend Alcorn is at Tennessee for a three-game set. Rosa is a 6-foot-2, 182-pound native of Puerto Rico and is in his third season with the Braves. He hit .292 with four homers and 30 RBIs in 2012. P.S. Belhaven, at 13-11, has had a rather uneven start, but the Blazers have notched some quality wins of late. They beat NAIA No. 1 Tennessee Wesleyan on Wednesday and also have beaten nationally ranked Freed-Hardeman and Lee University in the last two weeks. … Props to Southwest Mississippi Community College coach Lee Kuyrkendall on recently picking up his 400th career win. He also coached at Mississippi College.

Kudos to Chris Good, the Belhaven University left-hander. The New Mexico transfer threw a 2-hit shutout on Saturday to beat NAIA No. 3 Lee University 1-0 at Smith-Wills Stadium. Good, now 5-2, struck out six and walked just one. It was the first Southern States Athletic Conference win for the Blazers (now 12-10, 1-5) and the first league loss for Lee (19-3, 8-1). Kudos also to Delta State’s Josh Branstetter, who tossed a nine-inning complete game to beat nationally ranked West Florida 5-2. Branstetter is 3-0 in 2013 and has 20 career wins for the Statesmen. Saturday’s game was the Gulf South Conference opener for NCAA Division II top-ranked DSU (12-1). P.S. Preview of things to come: Taylorsville’s Billy Hamilton stole a bag for Cincinnati on Saturday, giving him three for the spring, all in his last two games. He’s ticketed for Triple-A to start the season but might not be there long. … Former Ole Miss standout Chris Coghlan, the former rookie of the year who spent most of 2012 in the minors, is 6-for-15 this spring in his bid to regain a job in Miami.

That noise you hear coming from Starkville — sounds kinda like a train — is the Bulldog Express, which has roared to a 12-0 start with remarkable efficiency. Highly ranked Mississippi State has outscored its opposition 134-65. Eight of its 12 wins are by five runs or more; the Bulldogs have played just three one-run games. They are hitting .338 as team. The staff ERA is 1.42. The team’s fielding percentage is .981 (just nine errors). The expected stars are shining: Adam Frazier is hitting .468, Hunter Renfroe .393 with two homers. Jacob Lindgren is 2-0 with a 0.98 ERA in three starts, and closer Jonathan Holder has three saves and a win in four appearances. A newcomer, California junior college transfer Alex Detz, has jumped into the lineup and hit .429 with 14 RBIs. Granted, State has played only home games and the schedule hasn’t been terribly challenging. But 12-0 is impressive just the same. And the Dogs’ next seven games are also at Dudy Noble Field. It wouldn’t be a big surprise to see them sporting a 19-0 record when they come to Trustmark Park in Pearl to play Southern Miss. Can you imagine what the atmosphere will be like at the TeePee if that is indeed the case? P.S. Former Mississippi Braves shortstop Andrelton Simmons went 3-for-5 with two runs to help the Netherlands win its World Baseball Classic opener over Korea. M-Braves alumnus Matt Kennelly caught for Australia in its loss to Chinese Taipei. Former M-Braves pitchers Craig Kimbrel and Tim Collins are on Team USA, which doesn’t play until Friday.

Lance Berkman, one of the last Jackson Generals still standing, made his spring debut for Texas on Thursday. Leading off as the DH, Berkman went 1-for-2 with a walk and scored twice. If he can stay on the field, he’ll really help the Rangers. … Ex-Gens ace Freddy Garcia, with San Diego on a minor league deal, was roughed up (five runs in one inning) in his Padres debut last weekend. Bobby Abreu remains unsigned, though Baltimore has been rumored to have an interest. Julio Lugo officially retired after the recent Caribbean Series. … Former Mississippi State standout Mitch Moreland hit his first home run of the spring on Thursday for Texas. … Ex-Bulldogs star Tyler Moore had two hits for Washington and is batting .313 in his quest to stick with the big league club as a backup outfielder/first baseman. … On Wednesday, a day after his 4-RBI performance for the Los Angeles Angels, Nettleton’s Bill Hall injured his right quad making a play at third base and is listed day-to-day. That’s a setback. … Ole Miss product Alex Presley, battling for job with Pittsburgh, is 3-for-9 thus far. … Former South Panola High star David Renfroe, who has dropped off the prospect charts with Boston, had a hit and an RBI for the Red Sox on Thursday. … Meridian CC alumnus Corey Dickerson, in camp with Colorado, is 1-for-5 with a homer. … Ex-UM star Zack Cozart hit into a triple play for Cincinnati on Thursday. … MSU alum Paul Maholm had a rough start for Atlanta, yielding five runs in 2 2/3 innings. … Evan Gattis, a 2012 Mississippi Braves catcher/outfielder, is batting .462 for the big club as a non-roster invitee.