April 24, 2024 - All Mississippi Baseball

stat freaks

In the hitting-heavy MACCC, where runs tend to flow like the mighty Mississippi, a pair of state natives are tied for the national lead in scoring. Brady Magee, from Lake, has scored 66 runs for No. 2 East Central Community College, matching the total of Jeff Ince, a Brandon native, who plays for No. 3 Pearl River CC. ECCC has state’s RBI leader, Mo Little (Brandon), whose total of 67 ranks second in the NJCAA Division II stats. Hollis Porter (Hurley) of PRCC leads the league in homers with 19, which also ranks second in the nation. No. 12 Northwest has the MACCC’s top base stealer, Jacob Hill (Byhalia), with 35, which ranks ninth nationally. The state’s leading hitter is Gulf Coast’s Marc Stephens, batting .450 for the Bulldogs. Bryce Fowler (Madison) of PRCC leads in total hits with 76, ranking second in the nation. His teammate Porter has 72 knocks and Hinds’ Thomas Marsala 70, both sitting in the top 10 in the country. There is some quality pitching out there: Luke Lirette of Southwest leads D-II in total strikeouts with 104 (in 65 2/3 innings), and seven other MACCC pitchers rank in the top 10 in K’s. Beau Bryans (Madison) of 13th-ranked Jones is No. 2 in the nation in K’s per nine innings (14.63). ECCC’s Luke Cooley (Waynesboro) ranks seventh in the nation with a 1.86 ERA; he is 7-0. Meridian’s Landon Waters (Duck Hill) is second in strikeouts (95) and 10th in ERA (1.97). … Key games on today’s schedule: ECCC (44-4) hosts Southwest; PRCC (43-7) visits Jones (35-11); Northwest (35-13) travels to Itawamba; and Meridian is at Gulf Coast.

there it is

Blaze Jordan is on the board. The former DeSoto Central High star’s first home run of the season might be a sign that his bat is coming to life. Playing for Boston’s Double-A Portland club, Jordan went 2-for-5 on Tuesday night, driving in four runs in a 9-6 loss at Hartford. After starting the season 1-for-18, Jordan has a modest four-game hit streak that has bumped his average to .174 through 12 games. Jordan’s tremendous power earned him a national rep as an amateur player, and the Red Sox picked him as a 17-year-old in the third round of the 2020 draft. Four years later, power is still his dominant tool, though the 6-foot-1, 220-pound corner infielder has hit only 37 homers in 282 career minor league games. He carries a .291 average. MLB Pipeline’s scouting report says Jordan needs to be “more selective in hunting for pitches to launch and turning his right-handed swing loose when he gets them.” That happened Tuesday night, when he pulled a first-pitch fastball up in the zone over the left-field wall. Jordan has been an organization All-Star for the Red Sox the last two years, though he has slipped to No. 19 on their prospect chart. This will be his first full season at the Double-A level, a big test for the 21-year-old.