Monthly Archives: May 2024

03 May

down the road

A couple of former Mississippi high school stars crossed paths — and showed out — in the Low-Class A Carolina League on Thursday night. Cooper Pratt is on the faster track, but there is still time for Brennon McNair to get rolling. Magnolia Heights product Pratt, Milwaukee’s No. 9 prospect, went 3-for-5 with two RBIs, two runs and two steals as the Carolina Mudcats blasted Columbia 16-2 at Five County Stadium in Zebulon, N.C. Having recently come off the injured list, Pratt, 19, is hitting .250 with 11 RBIs in 14 games. The 6-foot-4 shortstop was a sixth-round pick in 2023 — he got a big bonus to pass on his Ole Miss commitment — and batted .356 in rookie ball last summer. Pratt has impressive bloodlines. His dad played college ball and his mom played softball. Brother Ozzie is Southern Miss’ starting shortstop. Brewers manager Pat Murphy, who has raved about Cooper Pratt’s potential, coached one of his uncles at Arizona State. … McNair, a former Magee High star, went 2-for-3 Thursday with his first home run of the season for Columbia, a Kansas City affiliate. McNair was an 11th-round pick by the Royals in 2021 — the only prep player drafted from the Magnolia State that year — and passed on a South Alabama offer to sign. In addition to batting .527 with 11 homers as a shortstop at Magee his senior year, he was valedictorian and class president. The 5-foot-11, 185-pound McNair, who has played multiple positions in pro ball, has had some injury issues. He is hitting .244 in 14 games this season, .219 with 11 homers and 32 bags for his career. He is only 21, but this could be a pivotal year for him. P.S. Brandon Parker — former West Harrison High and Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College star — put up his second straight two-hit game Thursday for the Mississippi Braves, helping USM alum Hurston Waldrep notch his first Double-A win. Waldrep went 5 2/3 innings, allowing no earned runs, in a 6-1 win against Pensacola at Trustmark Park. Parker, who homered Wednesday, has raised his average to .204.

02 May

name game

On this day in 2007, Jarrod Saltalamacchia set a major league record just by stepping up to the plate. The former Mississippi Braves star, making the jump from Double-A, debuted for Atlanta and set the mark for longest surname — 14 letters — in MLB history. (The record was “broken” in 2022 by a player with a double last name.) Saltalamacchia, also celebrating his 22nd birthday on May 2, 2007, was a pretty good player, sticking in the big leagues for 12 years, hitting 110 career homers and winning a World Series ring with Boston in 2013. “Salty,” a switch-hitting catcher with good defensive skills, arrived in Pearl in 2006 as Atlanta’s top prospect. After an unimpressive first tour of Double-A, he returned in 2007 and was batting .309 with six homers in 22 games when the Braves summoned him to Atlanta. He was traded to Texas in the Mark Teixeira deal that summer and would go on to play for seven different teams and wear eight different numbers during his career. … On the subject of former M-Braves catchers, there are three playing regularly in the big leagues, none for Atlanta. William Contreras, now with Milwaukee, is among the National League’s top hitters with a .345 average, five homers and 25 RBIs. Shea Langeliers, with Oakland, has six homers though he is hitting just .170. The well-traveled Christian Bethancourt, who shares catching duties in Miami with former Ole Miss star Nick Fortes, is hitting .028 in 15 games. … On the subject of catchers, Blue Mountain Christian’s Carson Gault went 3-for-4 with a double, a grand slam and six RBIs as the Toppers stunned top-seeded Faulkner (Ala.) 15-5 Wednesday in pool play at the SSAC Championship in Jackson, Tenn. Gault, from New Albany via East Mississippi Community College, is batting .367 with nine homers and 50 RBIs.

01 May

on memory lane

It was a familiar sight when he was wearing the uniform of the Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College Bulldogs, Brandon Parker circling the bases after a home run. The Saucier native made the trip for the first time as a Mississippi Brave today, though his first career Double-A bomb couldn’t help the run-starved team beat Pensacola. The visiting Blue Wahoos spanked the M-Braves 5-3 in 10 innings for the second straight game, dropping the home team’s record to 7-16. At Gulf Coast in 2018 and ’19, Parker belted 38 homers, setting the school record with 24 as a freshman. He was the NJCAA Division II player of the year that season, when he also batted .424 with 81 RBIs. He hit 14 more homers as a sophomore and even swiped 12 bases. Atlanta drafted him in the 10th round in 2019. He hasn’t hit a ton in pro ball, with 27 homers and a .224 average over 257 games. He is 8-for-45 (.178) this year as the M-Braves’ fourth outfielder. Parker reached Double-A at the end of 2023 and made the M-Braves’ opening day roster this season. He called it “an honor” to play in his home state and for a team he grew up rooting for as a kid. P.S. Justin Steele, the ex-George County High star from Lucedale, threw 63 pitches in a rehab assignment for Triple-A Iowa in the Chicago Cubs’ system. Steele has been on the MLB injured list since opening day with a hamstring strain. The 2023 All-Star, a 16-game winner for the Cubs, worked 3 1/3 innings today, yielding six hits, a walk and three runs.

01 May

big wednesday

The Mississippi Braves play an 11 a.m. matinee today at Trustmark Park in Pearl, the pro game against Pensacola serving as an appetizer of sorts for tonight’s Ole Miss-Mississippi State clash at the same venue. The televised non-conference game (6:30 p.m./ESPN2) between the Rebels (23-20, 27th in ncca.com’s RPI) and Bulldogs (29-15, 28th in RPI) could have implications for their NCAA Tournament chances. UM took two of three from State in their SEC series last month. … Meanwhile, in Jackson, Tenn., William Carey University and Blue Mountain Christian will begin play today in the SSAC Championship. Carey (30-14) is the No. 2 seed and will open Pool B play against Thomas U. BMC (29-19) is the 8-seed and draws top-seeded Faulkner to start Pool A play. The winners of the two four-team pools will meet for the championship, with both getting bids to the NAIA Tournament. … The Belhaven University-MUW game originally scheduled for tonight in Clinton has been cancelled. The Blazers (23-15) have finished their regular season and will compete in the CCS postseason next week. P.S. The pairings are set for the MACCC’s best-of-3 play-in series, which begin Friday: East Central, ranked No. 1 in NJCAA Division II, hosts Northeast; No. 12 Northwest hosts Hinds; No. 13 Jones hosts East Mississippi; and Meridian hosts Copiah-Lincoln. The series winners advance to the NJCAA Division II Region 23 Tournament next week in Poplarville, home of regular season champion Pearl River, ranked No. 2 nationally. … Eli Huebner of Meridian was named the MACCC hitter of the week after batting .500 with three homers, including two grand slams in one inning, in four games, while PRCC’s Caleb Dyess earned pitcher of the week honors following his six-hitter in the championship-clinching 7-1 win against Northwest on Saturday.