Monthly Archives: May 2017

19 May

debut alert

Ex-Petal High star Anthony Alford, promoted to the big leagues today by Toronto, is in the starting lineup for tonight’s game at Baltimore, according to mlb.com. He’s batting eighth and playing left field. It might be a one-day visit, but still, it’s The Show. The former Mr. Baseball (and Mr. Football) at Petal is batting .325 with three homers and nine steals at Double-A New Hampshire. He has hit .382 over his last 10 games. Alford, 6 feet 1, 215 pounds, was a third-round pick by the Blue Jays in 2012. After playing football at Southern Miss and then Ole Miss, he turned to baseball full-time in 2015. In 257 minor league games, Alford is batting .273 with 19 homers, 98 RBIs and 65 steals.

19 May

pick one

Brent Rooker will probably take home the Ferriss Trophy on Monday. He has received national attention while putting up monster numbers for a nationally ranked Mississippi State team that has battled through its share of adversity. Delta State’s Zack Shannon has big numbers, too, for a conference champion – and he would be the first Statesman to win the award named for former DSU coach Boo Ferriss. All three of the Southern Miss finalists have been outstanding for a nationally ranked conference title team: Taylor Braley, Dylan Burdeaux and freshman sensation Matt Wallner. There really isn’t a wrong choice here, but in some ways, there is more to like about Braley than any of the other finalists. The junior is the only true two-way player. A third baseman/DH, he is batting .330 with a .478 on-base percentage, 12 home runs and 50 RBIs. As a pitcher, he is 5-2 with a 3.48 ERA and 64 strikeouts over 11 starts. And the Oak Grove High alum is the only Mississippi native among the finalists. That ought to count for something.

19 May

have a day

The numbers are good, very good: .367, six home runs, 15 RBIs, 12 runs. The numbers were posted by a collection of Mississippians in the majors – 12 of them – on Thursday night. Collectively, the 12 who played went 18-for-49. Adam Frazier (Mississippi State) and Tim Anderson (East Central Community College) had three-hit games. Frazier drove in four runs. He and Anderson homered, as did Seth Smith (Ole Miss), Hunter Renfroe (State), Mitch Moreland (State) and Jarrod Dyson (Southwest CC). Dyson scored three times and stole two bases. Frazier, Anderson, Billy Hamilton (Taylorsville) and Chris Coghlan (Ole Miss) rapped doubles. Zack Cozart (Ole Miss) had two hits and an RBI. Tyler Moore (State) and Stuart Turner (Ole Miss) struck out in pinch-hit appearances, but every Mississippian who started got at least one knock, save for Brian Dozier (Southern Miss). He had a tough day, going 0-for-9 in a doubleheader, though he did contribute a sac fly. All in all, a very good day for the Magnolia State boys. And the hottest hitter of them all, Corey Dickerson (Meridian CC, .335, nine homers, 18 RBIs), didn’t have a game on Thursday. P.S. Baseball America’s latest Top 500 draft prospects list shows just two Mississippians: State’s Brent Rooker at No. 64 and Jake Mangum at 160.

19 May

lewiston-bound

What can Brown do for you? Well, William Carey University’s Wes Brown delivered a single to score Adrian Brown from second base with the game-winning run in the bottom of the ninth as the Crusaders beat Southeastern (Fla.) University 10-9 to claim a berth in the NAIA World Series. The event starts May 26 in Lewiston, Idaho. Carey last made the series in 1978 and won it in 1969. The Crusaders (42-18) rallied from an 8-3 deficit to beat Southeastern in the Opening Round tournament’s winner-take-all game at Wheeler Field in Hattiesburg. The Crusaders also beat the Fire on Wednesday to force the decisive game.

18 May

houston, we have a connection

The Houston Astros have the best record (29-12) in baseball, and many experts say they are the best team in the game right now. Several key pieces of this club have Mississippi connections, including reliever Tony Sipp, a Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College alum, and four former Mississippi Braves standouts. (An aside: Atlanta, five games under .500, has only five ex-M-Braves on its current roster.) Sipp, after a rocky start, has trimmed his ERA to 3.38 over 12 appearances. In a win against Miami on Tuesday, the left-hander threw 2 2/3 shutout innings to finish the game. Former M-Braves closer James Hoyt also works out of the Astros’ pen and has posted a 1.13 ERA in six games with 18 strikeouts in eight innings. (As M-Braves fans may recall, Hoyt throws serious gas.) Charlie Morton, whose star turn with the M-Braves came 10 years ago, is 5-2 with a 3.97 ERA as a Houston starter. That brings us to the catchers, the bearded boys Brian McCann and Evan Gattis. McCann, in the home stretch of a brilliant career, is still productive at 33: .276, six homers and 25 RBIs. Gattis is also batting .276 with three bombs and 18 RBIs. (Many Atlanta fans are wondering why the Braves ever parted with the brawny slugger.) And though it has been 18 years since the Astros’ Double-A club played in Jackson, there is a Generals connection in Houston. Dave Hudgens, in his third year as the club’s hitting coach, was the Gens’ hitting coach in 1993, when the team won a Texas League championship.

18 May

that’s baseball

There were two huge stunners in the opening round of the NJCAA Region 23 Tournament in Ellisville and upsets of considerable weight in Hattiesburg and Pearl, as well, on Wednesday. To wit: NJCAA Division II No. 1 Jones County Junior College squandered a four-run lead and fell to Pearl River 5-4 in the regional, and Hinds upended second-ranked LSU-Eunice 6-2. John Moore and Lucas Scott got clutch hits for PRCC and Colby White did the clutch mound work. Jones lost for just the third time all season and first time at home. The Wildcats and Hinds will play in a winner’s bracket game today. Jones meets East Central in an elimination game. … William Carey University won twice to stay alive in the NAIA Opening Round tourney at Wheeler Field. In their second game of the day, the Crusaders rallied to beat top-seeded and ninth-ranked Southeastern (Fla.) University 6-4, forcing a winner-take-all game today for a berth in the NAIA World Series. Carey scored twice in the ninth to tie the score, then went ahead in the 10th on a Christian Smith two-run single. Closer Lane Fazende worked the last three innings to get the win. … West Lauderdale High entered the MHSAA state finals at Trustmark Park with a 31-2 record and is the only Mississippi school ranked by Baseball America at No. 10. But Corinth (29-8) jumped on the Knights for three runs in the first inning and Kyle Crigger made the lead stand up with a complete game effort in a 5-3 win in Game 1 of the best-of-3 Class 4A series. P.S. There also was an upset of note in the SWAC Tournament in New Orleans as Alcorn State, the 4-seed from the East, beat West No. 1 Grambling State 7-6 in 11 innings.

17 May

down on the farm

JaCoby Jones, trying to work his way back to The Show, is hitting .250 with a homer, six RBIs and 11 runs in 16 games at Triple-A Toledo in the Detroit system. Former Richton High star Jones, who started the season in the big leagues, was batting just .150 when he was hit in the mouth by a pitch on April 22 and landed on the 10-day disabled list. The Tigers sent the 25-year-old rookie outfielder on a rehab assignment to Toledo, then optioned him to the Mud Hens’ roster on May 7. Jones is one of a batch of players with Mississippi connections toiling in the Tigers’ farm system. Also at Toledo is Ole Miss alum Alex Presley, the veteran big leaguer who re-signed a minor league deal with Detroit in the off-season. Presley, an outfielder, is hitting .206 with a homer and eight RBIs in 33 games. At high Class A Lakeland, there’s ex-Madison Central standout Spencer Turnbull, a 2014 draftee out of Alabama. Turnbull had perhaps his best outing of 2017 on Tuesday, throwing seven shutout innings to move his record to 3-2 and drop his ERA to 4.32. Former Ole Miss star Will Allen, also a 2014 draft pick, is the first baseman at Lakeland. He is batting .226 with five homers (matching his entire 2016 total) and 14 RBIs. At low-A West Michigan we find Jacob Robson, an eighth-round pick out of Mississippi State last summer whose star appears to be rising quickly. Robson, a lefty-hitting outfielder, is batting .338 with 13 RBIs and 25 runs in 37 games for the Whitecaps.

16 May

trifecta

They had the best record in the league. They put up wow-inducing numbers, both with their bats and their arms. They’re the top seed in this week’s tournament and, even though wild and crazy things can happen in double-elimination play, it’d be foolish to bet against them. So, who are we talking about? Could be Jackson State, Delta State or Jones County Junior College. The description fits all three. JSU, which went 20-4 in the SWAC East and 36-15-1 overall, starts conference tournament play Wednesday against Southern University, the fourth-place team from the West, at Barrow Stadium in New Orleans. The Tigers hit .322 as a team with 421 runs and 132 steals; they posted a 3.46 ERA, a .252 batting average against and seven complete games. Tigers to watch: Lamar Briggs (.379), Jesus Santana (nine homers, 62 RBIs), Bryce Brown (.368, 25 steals), C.J. Newsome (50 runs), Miguel Yrigoyen (nine wins, 2.93), Jose Tirado (seven saves). Delta State, regular season and tournament champion in the Gulf South Conference, will start NCAA Division II South Region play on Friday at Ferriss Field in Cleveland. It’s a strong, seven-team field, including defending national champ Nova Southeastern and GSC powers West Alabama and Valdosta State. But DSU (41-11) looks up to the task. The Statesmen are hitting .320 with 432 runs and 60 homers; the staff ERA is 4.57 (fifth in the hitter-heavy GSC) with five shutouts and just 25 homers allowed. Statesmen to watch: Ferriss Trophy finalist Zack Shannon (.451, 18 homers, 84 RBIs, 60 runs), Clay Casey (.358, 17 homers), Seth Birdsong (9-1, 2.82), Zach Osbon (six saves, six wins, 1.35). And then there’s Jones County JC, ranked No. 1 in the country in NJCAA D-II. The Bobcats (44-2) open Region 23 Tournament play on Wednesday against Pearl River at Community Bank Park in Ellisville. JCJC batters hit .370 with 437 runs and 44 homers; its pitchers had a 2.64 ERA with 9.3 K’s per game. Bobcats to watch: Erick Hoard (.417, 12 homers, 53 RBIs), Shelton Wallace (.452, 62 RBIs), Fred Franklin (40 steals), Ben Stiglets (11-0, 1.60), Logan Robbins (11-0, 2.34, 83 K’s in 61 2/3 innings). P.S. William Carey won its opener in the NAIA Opening Round tournament and plays top-seeded Southeastern (Fla.) University today at Wheeler Field in Hattiesburg. Carey knocked off Texas Wesleyan 4-3 with a four-run ninth sparked by big hits from Tyler Odom and Cody Christian.

16 May

making adjustments

Home runs in back-to-back games, including a walk-off for San Diego on Monday night, is a good sign for Hunter Renfroe, who has been struggling of late. Here’s another: The Mississippi State product from Crystal Springs has walked nine times in his last nine games. He walked twice in his first 30 games this season. Being more selective should translate to being more productive. “He’s making an adjustment back to the league right now and that’s really good to see,” Padres manager Andy Green told The Associated Press. Renfroe’s homer on Monday – on a 3-2 pitch in the 10th inning against Milwaukee’s Oliver Drake – was his seventh of the season and first career walk-off. “That’s pretty special,” Renfroe said. He lifted his average, which had dipped to .200 a few days ago, to .217, and he now has 17 RBIs. He has fanned 43 times in 143 at-bats. In his 11-game MLB debut in 2016, he hit .371 with four homers and five punchouts in 35 at-bats. P.S. Ex-East Central Community College star Tim Anderson (see previous post) was back on the Chicago White Sox’s bench on Monday and is expected to be back in the lineup tonight against the Los Angeles Angels.

15 May

show stoppers

Tampa Bay can’t be too happy with its record – 19-21, fourth in the American League East – but has to be thrilled with the production it’s getting from Corey Dickerson. The Meridian Community College product, in his second season with the Rays, is batting .340 with a .576 slugging percentage. He extended his current hitting streak to eight games on Sunday with a 4-for-6 effort in an 11-2 win against Boston at wet, windy Fenway Park. He has six homers, 13 RBIs and 21 runs. The lefty-hitting outfielder/DH belted 24 homers for the Rays in 2016 but hit only .245 after coming over in a trade with Colorado. … Ole Miss alum Drew Pomeranz took the loss for the Red Sox, departing with triceps stiffness after yielding two runs in three innings. He is now 3-3 with a 5.29 ERA. … Ex-Mississippi State star Tyler Moore’s 25th career MLB homer and fourth as a pinch hitter carried Miami to a 3-1 win over Atlanta. Moore smacked an R.A. Dickey knuckleball out of Marlins Park in the seventh inning, accounting for all of Miami’s runs. Moore is hitting .357 over his two stints with the Marlins this season, serving mainly as a pinch hitter. “I love being in the big leagues,” he told The Associated Press. “Whatever is going to keep me here, I like.” … Former Southwest Mississippi CC standout Jarrod Dyson hit his first homer of the year for Seattle at Toronto’s Rogers Centre. It was his eighth career home run and the first in a park other than Kansas City’s Kauffman Stadium, where he spent the first seven seasons of his career. … Hunter Renfroe went deep for San Diego, the sixth homer of the year for the State product but first since April 26. The rookie right fielder is batting .209 with 13 RBIs. … Among the major leaguers wearing No. 2 on Sunday, the day the New York Yankees retired Derek Jeter’s old number, were former Southern Miss star Brian Dozier and ex-UM standout Zack Cozart, both of whom came up as shortstops during Jeter’s heyday.