Monthly Archives: April 2013

The finish line draws near on the state junior college regular season. Pearl River Community College and Jones County Junior College, who have a rather large showdown looming next week, are running neck-and-neck in the MACJC South, while Northeast Mississippi CC has pulled ahead in North. Northeast swept past East Mississippi and Northwest last week to move to 13-5 in the division and 22-13 overall. The Tigers’ Justin Neal, the MACJC player of the week, went 9-for-18 with four homers and 14 RBIs in a monster five-game stretch. Northeast hosts Coahoma for a pair today. Pearl River (30-10), ranked ninth in the last NJCAA Division II poll, got a grand slam and six RBIs all told from Nathan Pugh in a sweep of Mississippi Gulf Coast on Saturday and stands at 13-5 in the South, tied with No. 17 JCJC. The Bobcats (25-11) whipped Copiah-Lincoln twice on Saturday, fueled by homers from Alex Shermer and Jordan Stark. PRCC hosts Hinds today, and JCJC gets Gulf Coast at home. The South leaders meet next Tuesday in Ellisville. The regular season ends next weekend.

Needing another left-handed hitter, Pittsburgh has recalled Ole Miss alumnus Alex Presley from the minors, but he is not in the lineup for today’s game against St. Louis. The Pirates sent down ex-Rebels righty Phil Irwin, who made his major league debut (4 2/3 innings, four earned runs) on Sunday against Cincinnati. Presley hit .237 with 10 homers and nine steals in 346 at-bats for the Pirates last season after hitting .298 in 215 ABs in 2011. … Former UM star Seth Smith is batting a robust .448 for Oakland, which is humming along at 10-4, the best record in the American League. … Mississippi State product Tyler Moore, whose playing time has been limited with Washington, picked up his first three RBIs of the year in the Nationals’ 10-3 victory over Miami on Monday. … Meridian Community College product Cliff Lee finally walked a batter on Monday. He had a streak of 169 batters faced without issuing a pass (dating to 2012) before walking Jay Bruce in the seventh inning of Philadelphia’s 4-2 loss to Cincinnati. Lee, who also threw a wild pitch that plated a run, did not get a decision.

It took Cliff Lee some three months to get his first win in a hard-luck 2012 season. After two starts this year, the veteran left-hander from Meridian Community College is 2-0, with a 1.08 ERA, for Philadelphia. Lee went 8 2/3 innings to beat the New York Mets on Tuesday. In 16 2/3 innings, he has 14 strikeouts and no walks. … Former Holmes CC star Roy Oswalt, who is unsigned after last year’s rough go (5.80 ERA) in Texas, reportedly tweeted in response to a fan’s question that he would “love to come back to Philly.” The Phillies, even with Roy Halladay scuffling, apparently aren’t interested in Oswalt, who pitched for them in 2010-11. … Ole Miss product Lance Lynn was in fine form for St. Louis on Tuesday. The big (though not as big as last year) right-hander retired the first 10 Cincinnati batters he faced — former Rebels teammate Zack Cozart ended the streak with a single — and wound up fanning 10 in six innings in a 5-1 win. “He’s good. He comes right at you,” Cozart told mlb.com. … Note, also, that former Mississippi State standout Paul Maholm is 2-0 with a 0.00 ERA for red-hot Atlanta. … Remember Matt Maloney? A 2005 third-round pick by the Phillies, the ex-Ole Miss left-hander signed with Boston in the off-season. He is still recovering from Tommy John surgery last July.

Mississippi-connected players reeled in a nice haul of conference honors based on last week’s work. Mississippi State’s Kendall Gravemen, who beat Florida with a complete game effort, was named the SEC pitcher of the week. Southern Miss’ Conor Fisk, who threw a complete game to beat Tulane, was C-USA co-pitcher of the week. Delta State’s Michael Manley, from Raymond by way of Meridian Community College, threw a complete game at Shorter to earn Gulf South pitcher of the week honors. And Darren Farmer, a former West Lauderdale High and MCC star now at Grambling State, took the SWAC hitter of the week award. Worth mentioning here also is Northeast Mississippi CC’s Will Robertson, a sophomore from Falkner who went 9-for-14 with two homers and nine RBIs last week to earn MACJC hitter of the week laurels. Robertson’s 42 RBIs entering this week ranked third in the nation in NJCAA Division II. P.S. A belated congrats to Blue Mountain College. The NAIA school, fielding a team for just the third year, beat Mississippi Valley State last week, its first win over an NCAA Division I program.

Mississippi College and Millsaps College are slated to meet today at the Majors’ Twenty Field in a Maloney Trophy Series game. But pardon the two NCAA Division III rivals if they are a tad distracted. Conference play is winding down, and both have big series coming up. Millsaps, 22-8 with 10 wins in its last 11 games, is 12-3 in the Southern Athletic Association. First-place Birmingham-Southern (14-1) comes to Jackson for a three-game set starting Friday. The SAA doesn’t have an automatic D-III Tournament bid, making this series a possible key to the at-large hopes of both schools. MC, meanwhile, is wobbling along at 14-17 and 4-8 in the American Southwest Conference. The Choctaws are sixth in the ASC East and visit fifth-place East Texas Baptist (6-6) this weekend. Only the top four teams in each division get into the league’s postseason tournament. Time grows short for MC to make a move. P.S. Former Mississippi Braves starter Paul Clemens was called up to the big leagues by Houston on Monday. Clemens, who went 6-5 for the 2011 M-Braves before being dealt away in the Michael Bourn trade, is the 70th alum to reach The Show. … Former M-Braves standout Mauro Gomez was claimed by Toronto on waivers from Boston and sent to Triple-A.

We all know the old saying: It’s not how you start, it’s how you finish. True, and yet, there was something special about the way the 1993 Jackson Generals started their season — and it seemed to pave the way for a special finish. Twenty years ago this month, the Generals, Double-A affiliate of the Houston Astros, won their first five games. That had not been done in the franchise’s previous 18 seasons. The 1981 JaxMets — Davey Johnson’s club — had started 4-0 and went on to win the franchise’s first Texas League title. The ’93 Gens would pull off the same feat, winning the city’s first championship since 1985. It was also the first championship for Houston’s Double-A club since Columbus (Ga.) won the Southern League title in 1986; the franchise moved to Jackson in 1991. All five wins in the season-opening streak came at Smith-Wills Stadium, against Tulsa, which was managed by Jackson native Stan Cliburn. The Gens outscored the Drillers 41-5. It was impressive stuff. Managed by Sal Butera, the ’93 Generals roster included a wealth of good talent: Roberto Petagine won league MVP honors and the batting title; Brian Hunter led the league in steals; Jim Dougherty led in saves. Other memorable standouts included Lance “Bam-Bam” Madsen, Chris Hatcher, Dave Hajek, former Jackson Murrah star Fletcher Thompson, Jim Bruske, Mike Groppuso, Scott Makarewicz, Alvin Morman and Ray Montgomery, whose dramatic ninth-inning home run at Smith-Wills clinched the TL East first-half championship. The Gens also captured the league title at the old ballpark on Lakeland Drive.

The Mississippi Braves’ rotation has lived up to expectations so far. Through three games, M-Braves starters have not allowed a run in 13 innings. Today, Gus Schlosser, the 2012 Carolina League pitcher of the year, gets the call, following Aaron Northcraft, J.R. Graham (KO’d after two innings Friday by a line drive off his leg) and Alex Wood. Gary Moran, the Southern League ERA champ from last year, will start on Monday in the series final against Mobile. M-Braves manager Aaron Holbert said he can’t imagine that there’s a better starting five in the SL than his group. Now if the hitters can just provide some run support … . P.S. In an MLB matchup of former M-Braves aces on Saturday, Tommy Hanson of the Los Angeles Angels beat Matt Harrison of Texas. Harrison, who got a fat contract after a stellar 2012 campaign, has allowed 10 runs in his two starts this season, both losses.

Zack Cozart didn’t want to dwell on his 0-for-11 start to this season. “But you’re going to think about it,” the former Ole Miss standout and current Cincinnati Reds shortstop told mlb.com. Cozart has something else to think about now – he hit two home runs and picked up a career-best five RBIs on Friday as the Reds crushed Washington 15-0. … Southern Miss product Brian Dozier, also off to a sluggish start, went 2-for-4 for Minnesota and drove in three runs, his first RBIs of the year. … Still looking for a hit is ex-Mississippi State star Mitch Moreland, who is 0-for-13 for Texas. Moreland won the Rangers’ first-base job with a great spring, but he might be feeling some heat now. P.S. There can’t be a player in Mississippi having a better year than Tim Anderson of East Central Community College. The sophomore shortstop, a UAB signee, was named NJCAA player of the week on Thursday and is batting .495 with 20 RBIs and 25 steals in 31 games. The Warriors, tied for first in MACJC South with Jones County (both 9-3), play big doubleheaders today at Pearl River (8-4 South) and at home against JCJC next Tuesday.

Remember the good old days? Way back on March 15, Ole Miss was 18-1 and Mississippi State was 18-2. Sizzling was the word. Then Southeastern Conference play began – and the sizzling starts were doused. Gut checks are now in order. Both the Rebels and Bulldogs host conference series this weekend, and it’s time to get busy. UM is 23-6 overall and 4-5 in the SEC, fifth in the West, with East leader Vanderbilt coming to Oxford-University Stadium. State is 24-8 and 3-6, sixth in the West, with ever-dangerous Florida up next at Dudy Noble Field. Yes, the going gets tougher in the SEC, and it shows in the numbers. Ole Miss, batting .285 overall, is at .220 in SEC games. The Rebels’ staff ERA is 3.94 in SEC play, 2.77 overall. State has had similar struggles. The Dogs are batting .298 overall, .244 vs. the SEC. Overall staff ERA: .255. Against the SEC: 3.91. P.S. Tyler Aldridge’s Delta State-record 28-game hit streak ended last Friday, but he hasn’t had a chance to start a new one. Weather has kept the Statesmen, 24-4-1 and ranked No. 1 in one NCAA Division II poll, off the field ever since. They’ll play — they hope — Gulf South Conference newcomer Shorter this weekend in Cleveland. Aldridge — they hope — will get a shot at improving his .426 average.

Evan Gattis’ home run for Atlanta on Wednesday night wasn’t as jaw-dropping as the bomb he hit at Trustmark Park on Saturday, but it was more significant, of course. Wednesday’s game counted, and it was Gattis’ first in the big leagues, completing his improbable oddysey. From out of the game to homering off Roy Halladay in four short years. Gattis, who hit nine homers in a partial season with the Mississippi Braves last season, is the 69th M-Braves alumnus to make the majors – and not the only one to make magic happen right off the bat. Brian McCann was the first, back in 2005. Called up straight from Double-A, McCann debuted on June 10 and got a hit in his first at-bat. He homered in his second big league game. Jeff Francoeur joined McCann in The Show later that summer and homered in his first big league game. Jordan Schafer and Jason Heyward did Francoeur one better, homering in their first MLB at-bats, Schafer in 2009, Heyward in 2010.