Monthly Archives: May 2016

15 May

moving on

Buckle up. Big week ahead on many fronts. East Central Community College, continuing its ’27 Yankees impression, beat Jones County Junior College 13-12 on Saturday to win the MACJC title and will host the NJCAA Region 23 Tournament in Decatur. No. 2-ranked Jones will be there, as well as No. 1 LSU-Eunice (50-4) and Northwest Mississippi. … William Carey University is off to Santa Barbara, Calif., for NAIA regional play. The 25th-ranked Crusaders (37-19), led by All-SSAC first-team picks Adrian Brown and Tyler Odom, take on College of Idaho on Tuesday in the five-team opening round tournament. The top seed there is Westmont (Calif.). … Jackson State and Alcorn State, the Nos. 2 and 3 seeds from the SWAC East, start play on Wednesday in the conference tournament at Barrow Stadium in New Orleans. Alabama State dominated the league with a 24-0 mark, but JSU (32-24 overall) certainly has the hitters (see Cornelius Copeland, Carlos Diaz, Jesus Santana) to make a run. … Delta State will learn tonight where it is heading for NCAA Division II regional play. The Statesmen (38-15) earned an automatic bid by winning their 13th Gulf South Conference championship last week. … And the MHSAA finals matchups are set: Madison Central-George County in Class 6A, Oxford-Hattiesburg in 5A, Houston-Newton County in 4A, Kossuth-St. Andrews in 3A, East Union-Loyd Star in 2A and Tupelo Christian Prep-Ethel in 1A. The games in the best-of-3 series begin Tuesday at Trustmark Park in Pearl.

14 May

going batty

First of all, no, East Central Community College has not snuck former big league slugger Marcus Thames back into the lineup. But the amazing numbers the Warriors have been putting up in the MACJC postseason had to make you wonder. ECCC beat No. 2-ranked Jones County Junior College 14-13 in Ellisville on Friday to advance to the championship round of the state tournament. The Warriors, ranked 14th in NJCAA Division II, have now scored 71 runs – yes, 71! — in their last four games, including 19 in their first-round win over Meridian and 27 in their best-of-3 series clincher against Gulf Coast last week. Neal Holliman’s club was down 13-8 after seven innings against Jones on Friday, tied it with a five-run eighth and won it in the bottom of the ninth. Matt Mitchell led the Warriors’ attack with three hits that included a home run. Dylan Snypes, Billy Cameron and Nathan Roseberry all had two hits apiece. Cole Prestegard, the team’s best hitter (.367, eight homers, 38 RBIs in the regular season), had a quiet night, as did T.J. Lockett, who drove in four runs against Meridian on Thursday. The Warriors (35-16) won the state title in 2013, fueled by current Chicago White Sox prospect Tim Anderson. With a new cast of stars, they’ve got another clearly in their sights. Jones (44-6) and Northwest (29-18) play an elimination game today, with the winner then having to beat ECCC twice to claim the championship. They best be prepared to score some runs.

13 May

so close …

With the best record in the American League, the Chicago White Sox don’t appear to need a lot of help at the moment. But when they do, Tim Anderson may be ready. The former East Central Community College standout, now playing at Triple-A Charlotte, had a four-hit game on Thursday that included his first home run of the season. He is batting .333 over his last 10 games to boost his average to .278, and he has 10 RBIs, 20 runs and seven steals over 30 games in his first taste of Triple-A ball. Anderson, 22, a shortstop, started slow this year but is beginning to play like the highly rated prospect that he is. “I’ve been a believer in myself, and I’m just glad the results are showing,” he told milb.com. P.S. Also toiling in Triple-A and looking for that first big league call-up, ex-Mississippi State star Hunter Renfroe is batting .285 with five homers and 20 RBIs at El Paso in the San Diego system. He is close. So, too, is Northwest Mississippi CC product Cody Reed, 2-1 with a 1.88 ERA in five starts at Triple-A Louisville in Cincinnati’s system. And State alum Adam Frazier, playing mostly outfield this year, is hitting .292 for Pittsburgh’s Indianapolis club. Meanwhile, Tyler Moore and Joey Butler are lodged in Triple-A and trying to get back to the The Show. Moore, a State product, is hitting .242 with a homer and 10 RBIs at Gwinnett in Atlanta’s system, while Gulf Coast CC alum Butler, playing for Cleveland’s Columbus team, is at .238 with two homers and 11 RBIs.

12 May

fear the bobcats

On paper, Jones County Junior College looks tough to beat. The second-ranked Bobcats, who are hosting the MACJC Tournament in Ellisville, are the third-best hitting team in the nation at .366. They can also pitch: Their 3.54 ERA ranks 11th among NJCAA Division II schools. And their defense? Well, they just happen to lead the nation with a .975 fielding percentage, having made just 37 errors in 48 games. Mason Irby, Tanner Huddleston, Erick Hoard, Clint Sasser, Ben Stiglets, Mason Strickland — the list goes on – all have taken star turns during a 43-5 romp through the 2016 campaign. JCJC won the MACJC regular season title in a walk and pounded Mississippi Delta 8-1 and 15-2 in the best-of-3 round. The other three teams, Meridian, East Central and Northwest, in the double-elimination state tourney are nationally ranked and sport some impressive stats, as well. And, of course, anything can happen between the white lines. But JCJC certainly looms as the tourney favorite – and wouldn’t be a bad bet in the Region 23 Tournament, which will feature No. 1-ranked LSU-Eunice and three MACJC clubs. (The 0-2 team from the state tournament goes home.)

12 May

good stuff

As the fifth overall draft pick in 2010 out of Ole Miss, Drew Pomeranz entered pro ball with some hefty expectations. The big left-hander is starting to live up to them. Pomeranz, now with San Diego, blanked the mighty Chicago Cubs over six innings at Wrigley Field on Wednesday night, striking out 10 and propelling the Padres to a 1-0 win. It was just the second time this season the Cubs have been blanked. Pomeranz, now 4-3 with a 1.80 ERA, threw five shutout innings at the New York Mets in his previous start and has allowed just one run over his last 18 innings. “In pro ball, this is the best I’ve ever felt in a stretch,” he told mlb.com. While people in the game rave about his stuff, the 6-foot-6 Pomeranz has been traded three times in six years. His career MLB numbers are 18-27, 3.80 as he has bounced between starting and relieving. He may finally have found his place. P.S. The Padres’ lone run in the game – the second in their sweep on Wednesday – came on a monstrous homer by former Mississippi Braves standout Christian Bethancourt, his third of the year.

11 May

now you see him

He is listed at 6 feet 1, 190 pounds but looks smaller out on the field. Dansby Swanson is batting .292 with a homer, seven RBIs and six runs – and two errors at shortstop — in his first 11 Double-A games. Nice numbers but nothing to drop your jaw. Then again, there is more to Swanson than what personal stats can tell you. The No. 1 overall draft pick from 2015, who is now the top prospect in Atlanta’s system, is said to be dripping in intangibles. His coach at Vanderbilt, Tim Corbin, described him this way: “Dansby is a rare talent … he affects the game in so many different ways, whether it’s physically on the field or in the clubhouse. Plain and simple, he’s a winning baseball player.” Mississippi Braves hitting coach Garey Ingram recently echoed that sentiment. “He’s a ballplayer, man,” Ingram told milb.com. “You haven’t seen the depth of this guy.” Alas, Swanson may not stay with the M-Braves long enough for fans at Trustmark Park to see an impact on the club. He is only 22 and has played just 54 professional games, but the woeful big Braves need help — and something to get Atlanta fans jazzed about 2017 when the team moves to the new ballpark. The M-Braves (14-19) do have some talent around Swanson, who replaced Ozzie Albies on the roster on April 30. Johan Camargo is batting .272 with 16 runs in 31 games, and Dustin Peterson is at .262 with four homers and 19 RBIs. Starters Chris Ellis, the ex-Ole Miss star, and Brandon Barker are a combined 8-1 with a sub-1.70 ERA. It’s a team that could make a move in the standings if Swanson sticks around.

11 May

dsu still climbing

Delta State coach Mike Kinnison often refers to the season as a mountain. His Statesmen have reached what might be called Level 2 on the annual climb. Qualifying for the Gulf South Conference Tournament would be Level 1. By winning its 13th GSC tournament championship on Tuesday, DSU has clinched a bid to the NCAA Division II South Region Tournament. Call that Level 2. “That’s what you play for all year long,” Kinnison said in a taped postgame interview. Now the mountain gets steeper. The South Region, which could well be set at Ferriss Field in Cleveland, will be stacked, as usual. But this Statesmen team (38-15) appears to have the ingredients to climb another level, claim a 12th regional crown and reach the D-II College World Series. It’s a team with three .400 hitters, led by Will Robertson (.433), Erick Santiago (.402) and Trent Giambrone (.401), who batted .650 in the GSC tourney and won MOP honors. DSU also has five players with seven or more home runs. The aces of the staff are lefties Tre Hobbs (12-1, 3.07 ERA) and Dalton Moats (10-3, 2.97), but there is no shortage of quality arms behind them. See, for example, Corey Beard, who threw 5 2/3 shutout innings to beat Alabama-Huntsville in the tournament clincher. “This tournament was good for us,” Kinnison said. “It seasoned our team a little bit.” The previous three years, DSU lost in the championship round and, as Kinnison noted, watched another team celebrate. In 2015, DSU’s season ended there. Today, the Statesmen are packing for another climb. At the summit of this mountain, still out of view, there’s a national championship.

10 May

there’s a catch

The recently released watch list for Ferriss Trophy candidates is an impressive one. The pool of players having big years at schools across the state may be as deep as it has ever been. By no coincidence, five Magnolia State colleges are currently ranked in national polls, including the Big 3 NCAA Division I schools. It’s hard not to notice that none of the players on the Ferriss Trophy watch list is a catcher from the Big 3 — but don’t get the impression that this is a position of weakness among state schools. Far from it, actually. The Big 3 wouldn’t be where they are today without the play of the men in the mask. At Mississippi State, that’s Elih Morrero. At Southern Miss, it’s Chuckie Robinson. And at Ole Miss, Henri Lartigue. Lartigue and Marrero are on the watch list for the Johnny Bench Award, which goes to the nation’s top catcher, and Robinson certainly ought to be. Lartigue leads the Rebels and ranks among the SEC’s best in hitting at .344. The former Southaven High star also has two homers and 20 RBIs. Robinson, from Illinois, is the reigning C-USA hitter of the week. He is batting .305 with five homers and 37 RBIs, seven of which came in one game against Western Kentucky over the weekend. Robinson’s father played minor league baseball, and Marrero’s father, Eli, played 10 years in the majors, including a stint with Atlanta. The younger Marrero, a true freshman from Florida, is batting .252. Behind the plate, each has been solid. Robinson has thrown out 20 base stealers at a rate of 43.4 percent. Marrero is at 28 percent, Lartigue 26. There are four pitchers on the Ferriss Trophy watch list, plus another two-way player. If one of those five should win the award on May 23, you can bet he’ll give a nod of appreciation to his catcher.

09 May

here and there

Dansby Swanson, Atlanta’s No. 1 prospect, is expected to make his home debut tonight when the Mississippi Braves host Mobile. Interested to see what kind of crowd they get at Trustmark Park. Swanson, hitless in his last three games, is batting .310 over his nine Double-A games. The shortstop out of Vanderbilt homered in his M-Braves debut on April 30 and had a four-hit game May 4. … Brett Phillips, Milwaukee’s No. 2 prospect, had a three-homer game for Biloxi on Saturday and is batting .260 with five bombs for the season. The Shuckers also open a homestand tonight. … Mississippi State is No. 3, Ole Miss No. 6 and Southern Miss No. 19 in the new Baseball America poll. State’s Dakota Hudson is listed as the No. 19 draft prospect in BA’s latest rankings. … After rallying to beat West Georgia 8-7 on Sunday, Delta State is 2-0 in the Gulf South Conference Tournament. Ace Tre Hobbs had an off day, but DSU got three RBIs from Trent Giambroni, a three-run homer from Ethan Gill and a clutch sac fly by Will Robertson to secure the W, its 36th of the year. … Jackson State, looking to gather some momentum for the SWAC Tournament, swept Mississippi Valley State in a three-game set at Braddy Field over the weekend. The Tigers are 14-10 in the league and 6-0 against MVSU. The tournament is slated to start May 18. … The MACJC final four is set. Jones County Junior College, the regular season champ, will host the double-elimination tournament starting Thursday. Also in are 3-seed East Central, which beat Gulf Coast 27-21 on Saturday to advance from the best-of-3 round; Meridian, the second seed; and 4-seed Northwest. … The Houston Astros optioned former M-Braves star Evan Gattis to Double-A? Reportedly, he was sent down just to brush up on his catching skills; he hasn’t caught in an MLB game since 2014.

08 May

fast times

Do we ever get tired of hearing about how fast Billy Hamilton can run? Of course not. So here’s a new one: The former Taylorsville High star, now playing for the Cincinnati Reds, scored from first base on a single on Saturday, which is impressive in its own right. But he made the trip from first to home in 8.2 seconds, according to Statcast. That’s the fastest time on such a run in the two seasons Statcast has been in service. Hamilton reached 21.8 mph. Alas, his team is sinking just as fast. Cincinnati lost Saturday’s game to Milwaukee 13-7 and fell to 13-18, already 11 games behind the Chicago Cubs in the National League Central. Hamilton, batting .208 with seven steals, has scored 14 runs in his 27 games.