Monthly Archives: February 2017

16 Feb

spring flings

Mississippi State product Chad Girodo was outrighted off Toronto’s 40-man roster on Wednesday but reportedly will remain in spring camp as a non-roster invitee. The Blue Jays were clearing roster space for veteran relievers J.P. Howell and Joe Smith. Lefty Girodo made his big league debut in 2016 and worked in 14 games with a 4.35 ERA. He put up a 3.79 at Triple-A Buffalo, where he’ll likely begin this season. … Former Holmes Community College star Roy Oswalt, who led Houston to the 2005 World Series, will serve as a guest instructor in the Astros’ camp. “The ability to match quantity and quality during his time as an Astro was incredible,” Houston manager A.J. Hinch told mlb.com. Oswalt won 163 games in the big leagues. … Former Mississippi Braves catcher Christian Bethancourt is going to get work as a pitcher while continuing to catch in San Diego’s camp. Bethancourt, known for his strong arm, made a couple of mop-up appearances for the Padres last season and then pitched seven relief innings in the Panamanian Winter League. … Atlanta has endured three straight losing seasons, but ex-M-Braves star Freddie Freeman offered some encouraging words for fans as camp began for the Braves, telling mlb.com, “A lot of people aren’t picking us, but I think we’ll be right there in September, playing meaningful baseball.” Braves manager Brian Snitker, the former M-Braves skipper, called the optimism “legit.”

14 Feb

on the radar

There likely will be a lot of eyes on Tony Sipp as he goes to work in West Palm Beach, Fla., over the next few weeks. The Pascagoula native and former Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College standout is coming off a rough year and is the only seasoned left-hander in Houston’s bullpen. Sipp’s ERA jumped to 4.95 over 60 appearances in 2016. He had a 1.99 in 2015, and his career ERA over eight MLB seasons is 3.65. Batters hit .297 against Sipp in 2016, and he yielded 12 homers in 43 2/3 innings. The beefed-up Astros, picked by some as the favorite in the American League West, surely want a reliable lefty in their pen. If Sipp, 33, doesn’t look sharp, they may have to go shopping. Astros pitchers and catchers formally reported to camp today and will work out at their new spring facility on Wednesday. P.S. Joey Butler, another Pascagoula native and MGCCC alumnus, signed a minor league contract last week with Washington. Butler, a right-handed hitting outfielder, spent all of 2016 in the minors with Cleveland’s Triple-A Columbus club. He batted .276 with eight homers in 88 games for Tampa Bay in 2015 and is a career .282 hitter with 104 homers over nine pro seasons, including a stint in Japan. … Ole Miss product Aaron Barrett may be close to re-signing with Washington as a minor league free agent. He missed the 2016 season recovering from Tommy John surgery. While rehabbing last season, Barrett suffered a fractured right elbow and had another surgery. He ultimately was waived by the Nationals and elected free agency in the off-season. As a rookie in 2014, Barrett had a 2.66 ERA in 50 games for the Nats. In 2015, his ERA jumped to 4.60 in 40 games before he was injured late in the season.

13 Feb

boys of spring

Here’s the list of Mississippians who’ll be in big league camps in Florida and Arizona this spring:

40-man roster members:
Position players
Anthony Alford (Petal), Toronto; Tim Anderson (East Central CC), Chicago White Sox; Zack Cozart (Ole Miss), Cincinnati; Brian Dozier (Southern Miss), Minnesota; Corey Dickerson (Meridian CC), Tampa Bay; Jarrod Dyson (Southwest CC), Seattle; Adam Frazier (Mississippi State), Pittsburgh; Billy Hamilton (Taylorsville), Cincinnati; JaCoby Jones (Richton), Detroit; Mitch Moreland (MSU), Boston; Hunter Renfroe (MSU), San Diego; Seth Smith (Ole Miss), Baltimore; Stuart Turner (Ole Miss), Cincinnati

Pitchers
Chad Girodo (MSU), Toronto; Kendall Graveman (MSU), Oakland; Jonathan Holder (MSU), New York Yankees; Jacob Lindgren (MSU), Atlanta/injured; Lance Lynn (Ole Miss), St. Louis; Mike Mayers (Ole Miss), St. Louis; Drew Pomeranz (Ole Miss), Boston; Cody Reed (Northwest CC), Cincinnati; Tony Sipp (Gulf Coast CC), Houston; Chris Stratton (MSU), San Francisco; Bobby Wahl (Ole Miss), Oakland

Non-roster invitees:
Position players
Chris Coghlan (Ole Miss), Philadelphia; Desmond Jennings (Itawamba CC), Cincinnati; Jack Kruger (MSU), Los Angeles Angels; Tyler Moore (MSU), Miami; Alex Presley (Ole Miss), Detroit; Kade Scivicque (Southwest CC), Atlanta

Pitchers
Louis Coleman (Greenwood/Pillow Academy), Cincinnati; Scott Copeland (USM), Miami; David Goforth (Ole Miss), Milwaukee

13 Feb

weekend wrap

With a show of power, Belhaven University is off to a 2-0 start, beating Berry College and Trinity at Smith-Wills Stadium this weekend. Stephen Sexton, a transfer from Arkansas-Monticello who played two years at Northwest Mississippi Community College, belted two bombs in a 10-6 win over Berry, and Terrell Hodges, ex-Northwest Rankin High and Holmes CC star, went yard in a 10-6 defeat of Trinity, the defending NCAA Division III national champion. … Trinity beat Millsaps at Twenty Field on Friday, the first of two home losses for the Majors (2-3) over the weekend. … William Carey is 4-3 after taking two of three against Lindsey Wilson in a series played in Ellisville. Adrian Brown is 7-for-14 with six RBIs and six runs for the Crusaders, and Tyler Graves is hitting .455. … Mississippi College (1-6) gave up 35 runs in three games – and lost all three – to Lindenwood at Clinton’s Frierson Field. Hunter Austin – one of the six Hunters on the Choctaws’ roster – is batting .368. … Delta State is now 5-1 after a 2-1 trip to Lakeland, Fla., led by juco transfer Jason Popovich, who is batting .346 with a homer, a triple and five RBIs. … Blue Mountain is 6-3 after splitting four games with Central Methodist, and Tougaloo started with three losses to Loyola-New Orleans.

10 Feb

back at the yard

Smith-Wills Stadium, approaching its 42nd birthday, will crackle to life again today for Belhaven University’s season opener. BU takes on Berry College at 4 p.m. at the Jackson ballpark, which opened in April of 1975 as the home of the Double-A Jackson Mets. The Blazers have called Smith-Wills home since 2006 – after the last pro tenant departed — and the big yard with the artificial surface has been a good fit. They went 12-7 at home in 2016 en route to a disappointing 20-18 overall record. Two key players return from that team: Terrell Hodges, a former Northwest Rankin High and Holmes Community College star, and Tanner Cable, an ex-Delta State pitcher. Both made the American Southwest Conference preseason watch list. Hodges, an outfielder, had a monster year in 2016, batting .397 with seven homers, 26 RBIs, 43 runs and 30 stolen bases in 38 games. Cable, a right-hander, was 5-0 with a 2.70 ERA in an injury-shortened campaign. Also back is third baseman Daniel Ammirati, a .331 hitter last year. Belhaven is still in transition from NAIA to NCAA Division III and is not yet eligible for the ASC Tournament or D-III postseason play. P.S. Jones County Junior College also opens today with a considerable target on its back. The defending NJCAA Division II national champs were ranked No. 1 by the NJCAA and Collegiate Baseball magazine and were pegged as the team to beat in D-II by Baseball America. The Bobcats, 54-9 in 2016, return a wealth of talent, featuring the power of Erick Hoard and Tanner Huddleston, the speed of Shelton Wallace and Fred Franklin and an armada of arms. JCJC starts with a twinbill today against Southwest Tennessee at Community Bank Park in Ellisville.

08 Feb

spotlight on …

In recognition of Black History Month, here’s a tip of the cap to Howard Easterling, one of the state’s unsung stars from the days of segregation. Easterling, born in Mount Olive in 1911, was a switch-hitting third baseman who batted .315 over an eight-year Negro Leagues career, according to baseball-reference.com. He made his Negro Leagues debut in 1936 with the Cincinnati Tigers and in 1937 made the first of his five East-West All-Star Game appearances. Easterling played on the great Homestead Grays teams of the early ’40s, helping them win four Negro National League pennants and the 1943 Negro League World Series. The 1943 Grays, a team that included Josh Gibson, Buck Leonard and a 40-year-old Cool Papa Bell, reportedly won 44 of 59 regular season games. They beat the Birmingham Black Barons in the World Series, winning a decisive eighth game – Game 2 was a 12-inning tie – with a late rally in which Easterling contributed an RBI hit, according to baseball-reference.com. Easterling, who served in the Army in 1944-45, played pro ball for several years after Jackie Robinson broke the color line in 1947 but never got a major league opportunity. He finished his career in the Mexican League in 1954. Easterling died in Collins in 1993.

06 Feb

by the numbers

0 – Runs yielded in seven innings by Tre Hobbs, whose two-hitter on Saturday capped Delta State’s season-opening three-game sweep at Harding over the weekend.
4 – Home runs by the Statesmen, each by a different player.
4 – Hits by true freshman Grant Barber, who also scored three runs and drove in two as Mississippi College went 1-3 against Florida Tech.
5 – Wins in five games to date for Blue Mountain College, which got a combined 18 hits from Peyton Callahan and Josh Whitaker in those wins.
7 – RBIs by BMC’s Callahan over those five games.
8 – Strikeouts by MC’s Jake Fraze, who allowed two runs in seven innings to get the one W for the Choctaws.
8 – RBIs by Larson Barkurn as William Carey opened with two wins in four games played at three different locations.
9.28 – ERA posted by Carey’s pitching staff in those four games.
24 – Runs scored by Millsaps College in winning two of three at Huntingdon.

03 Feb

something different

This season probably won’t be as much fun as 2016 was for Chris Coghlan. The former Ole Miss standout, who won a World Series ring with the Chicago Cubs, has signed a minor league deal with Philadelphia, which went 71-91 in 2016 and doesn’t figure to be any better this year. Coghlan, 31, who hit .252 for the Cubs (after a .146 start to the season in Oakland), reportedly has a chance to make the Phillies’ roster this spring as a utility player. A left-handed hitter, he started at five different positions last year, though he is primarily an outfielder. … The crowd of Mississippians in the Cincinnati fold got a little bigger with the addition of Desmond Jennings, the Itawamba Community College product. The 30-year-old outfielder, released last summer by Tampa Bay, has signed a minor league contract with a spring invite. He joins Zack Cozart, Billy Hamilton, Cody Reed, Stuart Turner and Louis Coleman on the Reds’ spring roster. Jennings, a .245 hitter in a career spent entirely with the Rays, has battled injuries the last couple of seasons and might have a hard time earning a spot in Cincy’s outfield.

03 Feb

campus notes

Impressive start for William Carey University on Thursday night. Displaced from their storm-damaged home field, the Crusaders took on Cumberland at Southern Miss’ Taylor Park and rolled to a 16-6 win. The Crusaders, ranked 23rd in the NAIA preseason poll, scored in each of the six innings they batted. Larson Barkurn went 3-for-4 with five RBIs, and James Land homered. Carey plays again today at Jones County Junior College’s field in Ellisville. … Mississippi College, starting year two under coach Jeremy Haworth, faces a challenging opening day today in Clinton. The Choctaws, 17-30 in 2016, play a doubleheader against Florida Tech, 32-14 last year. MC returns leading hitter Hunter Bolin (.380) and top pitcher Jake Fraze. … Millsaps, coming off a rare losing season (20-21) under Jim Page, goes on the road to start 2017, playing Huntingdon today in Montgomery, Ala. Having lost all-conference slugger Isaac Glenn to graduation, the Majors now look to Lee Ogletree (.310, three homers, 34 RBIs) to carry their offense. … Blue Mountain, which got the 2017 season started with an 8-3 win at Christian Brothers on Wednesday, is back in action today with a doubleheader against William Woods in New Albany. Peyton Callahan swung the big bat in the Toppers’ opener with three hits and two RBIs. … Name of note on Delta State’s roster: Clay Casey. The former DeSoto Central High and Northwest Mississippi Community College star transferred to DSU from Houston and could be a key figure on a rebuilding team. Casey hit five homers for the Cougars in 2016 and 12 for Northwest the year before. DSU opens Saturday at Harding in Searcy, Ark. … Mississippi State (10th), Ole Miss (18th) and Southern Miss (24th) finished in Baseball America’s final Top 25 in 2016, with all three making the NCAA Tournament. None of the Big 3 made BA’s 2017 preseason Top 25 (though Ole Miss does appear in a couple of other polls). There’s some motivation in there somewhere. D-I opening day is Feb. 17.