August 2014 - Page 3 of 3 - All Mississippi Baseball

06 Aug

tracking trophy winners

The Ferriss Trophy, awarded annually to the state’s best college player, has been around since 2004, and of the 11 winners to date, only one — Ole Miss product Drew Pomeranz (the 2010 winner) — has reached the major leagues and six of them are out of the game. Odd, isn’t it? Among those no longer playing is Southern Miss alumnus Tyler Koelling, the 2011 winner who played only 34 pro games. But note, too, that former Mississippi State standouts Chris Stratton (2012) and Hunter Renfroe (2013) have reached Double-A and appear on track to make The Show in the next couple of years. And this year’s Ferriss winner, ex-UM star Auston Bousfield, is off to a promising start in pro ball. A fifth-round pick by San Diego, Bousfield is batting .267 with two homers, five RBIs and eight stolen bases in 25 games for Eugene in the short season Northwest League. He played in Tuesday night’s NWL All-Star Game (along with ex-Hinds Community College standout Travious Relaford, now a third-year pro). Bousfield batted .336 with six homers, 50 RBIs, 61 runs and 19 steals in 69 games for the Rebels this year, helping them make a deep run in the College World Series.

05 Aug

full speed ahead

It’s a small sample size but impressive nonetheless. In 13 1/3 professional innings, Mississippi State product Jacob Lindgren has racked up 30 strikeouts with a 0.68 ERA. New York Yankees officials reportedly are calling the 5-foot-11 left-hander “the Strikeout Factory.” Lindgren was an All-America pick this year at State after moving from the rotation to the bullpen and fanning 100 batters in 55 1/3 innings. He was selected by the Yankees in the second round of the June draft, 55th overall, and has quickly moved through three levels. He is currently pitching at high Class A Tampa, where he posted a four-strikeout inning on Sunday. Speculation is that a promotion to Double-A, the real proving ground, may come soon. P.S. We are back to zero former Jackson Generals in the big leagues after the New York Mets designated Bobby Abreu for assignment on Monday. It seems unclear whether the 40-year-old Abreu will go back to the minors.

04 Aug

like old times

This time a year ago, Chris Coghlan was on the disabled list with one of the many injuries that have dogged his career (see previous posts). The former Ole Miss star had to be wondering about his future with the Miami Marlins, if not his future in baseball. Flash forward to Sunday. Coghlan, playing left field for the Chicago Cubs, produced his fifth straight two-hit game, including a home run, to help the Cubs beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 7-3. Coghlan, a lefty hitter, batted .376 in July and is 6-for-14 so far in August. For the year, he is at .292 with six home runs, 19 RBIs and 31 runs in 73 games since the Cubs brought him to the majors in early May. Coghlan, the 2009 National League rookie of the year who is only 29, may well have played his way into the Cubs’ plans for 2015. “He really plays the game with a lot of heart,” Cubs manager Rick Renteria told mlb.com. Heart, or something like it, has carried Coghlan a long way in a year’s time. Miami let him walk after last season; he batted .215 in September and wound up at .256 with one homer in 70 games for the year. The Cubs signed him to a minor league deal in December and invited him to spring training, but Coghlan didn’t make their 25-man roster. (Considering the state of the Cubs that had to be a letdown.) An opportunity arose when Ryan Sweeney went on the disabled list a month into the season. Summoned from Triple-A Iowa, Coghlan started slowly but gradually took off, looking more and more like his 2009 self. Now if he can just stay healthy.

04 Aug

a golden arm

If you had a time machine, wouldn’t it be fun to go back to the early 1970s and watch Ray Guy pitch for Southern Miss? Yes, pitch. As good as the newly minted Pro Football Hall of Famer was on the football field as both a punter and defensive back, you can probably find some old-timers around Hattiesburg who would swear that Guy is also the best pitcher the school ever had. Baseball didn’t get much emphasis or hype at USM when Guy was there — the team never played more than 28 games during any of his three seasons (1970-72) and went 39-39 overall — but scouts made it a point to know when Guy was pitching. He was drafted three times by MLB clubs (including Atlanta) while at USM, in addition to being picked after his senior year of high school at Thomson, Ga. Guy posted a 2.94 ERA for his career with the Golden Eagles, struck out 266 batters in 220 2/3 innings, registered a 16-strikeout game and tossed a no-hitter against William Carey. If you had that time machine, it sure would be fun to watch the athlete known for the thunder in his foot put on a show with the lightning in his arm.

02 Aug

hard knock life

It has been a season of hard knocks for many Mississippi-connected pitchers in the big leagues. Former Mississippi State standout Paul Maholm is the latest to suffer misfortune; he tore an ACL trying to make a play at first base for the Los Angeles Dodgers on Friday night and has landed on the disabled list, possibly done for the year. He wasn’t having a very good year, either: 4.84 ERA in 30 games. Cliff Lee, the Meridian Community College product with Philadelphia, also may be done for the year with his latest elbow problem. On Friday, Washington sent Ole Miss alum Aaron Barrett to the minors. Barrett has a 3.21 ERA overall but an ugly 9.45 over his last 10 appearances since being called for a controversial balk and altering his mechanics (see previous post). Ex-UM star Drew Pomeranz of Oakland broke his right (non-throwing) hand punching a chair on June 16 and is now in the minors despite his 2.91 ERA. Former Picayune High standout T.J. House has been up and down a dizzying number of times for Cleveland. The lefty (4.50 ERA) is back on the Indians’ roster today to start against Texas. Louis Coleman, the Pillow Academy product, has put up a 7.48 ERA in a couple of stints with Kansas City and is now back in the minors. And Ole Miss alum Phil Irwin got one start for Texas last month, yielded three runs in four innings and was shipped out again.

01 Aug

summer stock

Keith Shumaker, a rising senior at Millsaps, is having a good summer in the Prospect League. The Brandon native is batting .294 with a homer, 29 RBIs and 20 runs in 50 games for Danville (Ill.) and made the collegiate summer league’s all-star game as a third baseman. He has also made four pitching appearances, posting an uncharacteristic 6.96 ERA in 10 1/3 innings. Shumaker batted .354 with three homers and 33 RBIs and went 6-1 with a 2.82 ERA on the mound for the 2014 Majors, who finished 23-19. He’ll again be the team’s centerpiece next spring. … Congratulations to the Tallahatchie Rascals, who won the New Albany-based Cotton States Baseball League title with a 14-6 record. The Rascals were coached by former Delta State All-American Andy Dillard, son of former big leaguer Steve Dillard. … Cooper Farris’ Wareham Gatemen will miss the Cape Cod League postseason for the second straight year after winning the title in 2012. Farris, the former Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College coach, is in his 14th season in the Cape and has won three pennants. … DeSoto Central High star Austin Riley, a third baseman/pitcher, is slated to play in the Perfect Game All-American Classic on Aug. 10 in San Diego and in the Under Armour All-American Game in Chicago on Aug. 16. Riley, a Mississippi State commit, batted .465 with nine homers and went 8-3, 1.51 as a pitcher for DoSoto Central this past season.

01 Aug

home cooking

The Mississippi Braves are surging. Sorta. Having limped in last Saturday after a rough road trip, the M-Braves have won five of six during the current homestand. But … they’ve gained no ground in the Southern League South during this stretch. At 23-18, the M-Braves are 3 games behind Jacksonville, which has displaced Mobile at the top of the standings. Still, Thursday’s 7-4 win over Mobile was significant. The BayBears, first-half champs in the division, took a series at Trustmark Park in mid-July, winning three straight after dropping the first two. In the opener of the new series on Thursday, the M-Braves got home runs — a rarity at the TeePee — from Cedric Hunter and Rich Poythress and some nice pitching — a regular occurrence — from J.R. Graham and Jason Hursh. Hunter, a one-time big leaguer, leads the M-Braves with 12 bombs. Poythress, the big first baseman signed recently to replace injured slugger Seth Loman, hit his first homer with the club. Graham, still on the mend from arm issues, threw two scoreless innings before giving way to Hursh, who worked six strong to get the win. The 2013 first-round pick by Atlanta out of Oklahoma State is now 10-6 with a 3.56 ERA. His future looks bright. P.S. Philadelphia did make a move on Thursday with ex-Meridian Community College star Cliff Lee. The Phillies put the veteran left-hander back on the disabled list after he experienced elbow discomfort during his start against Washington. Lee only recently returned from a two-month stint on the DL with the same problem. The chances he might be traded now look rather slim. In fact, his season may be over.