and they’re back

After a long road trip that lasted two weeks and rambled through four Midwest towns, the Mississippi Mud Monsters return to the sultry South for a six-game homestand that begins Tuesday at Pearl’s Trustmark Park. The independent Frontier League club, now 18-21 on the season, went 5-7 on the trip but did finish on a high note, beating Gateway 8-7 on Sunday. Nick Hassan hit his first homer of the season and drove in four runs as part of Mississippi’s 17-hit attack. Brayland Skinner continued to fuel the offense, going 3-for-6 from the leadoff spot. Luis Devers went seven innings for the win. Skinner, former Mississippi State standout, is hitting .300 with a team-leading 28 runs and a league-best 25 steals. Kyle Booker, a DeSoto Central High product, is batting .314 with three homers, 19 RBIs and 14 bags. Travis Holt (.268) leads in homers and RBIs with six and 22. Tyree Thompson (4-0, 2.84), Brian Williams (2-2, 2.97) and Devers (4-3, 5.21) have been effective starters for manager Jay Pecci’s club. Chris Barraza, who got the save Sunday, has three and a 0.50 ERA in 13 games. Sergio Sanchez has five saves despite a 7.07 ERA. The Mud-sters, fourth in the Midwest Conference South, will face a Down East team that is 14-23 and fourth in the Atlantic Conference East. The Bird Dawgs are managed by Brett Wellman, whose dad, Phillip, managed the Mississippi Braves to a Southern League pennant back in 2008. Brett served as a bullpen catcher at times during his father’s four seasons in Pearl. … Former Mud-sters lefty Zack Morris has made two appearances (2.25 ERA) for Colorado’s rookie-level team since being signed by the Rockies on June 13. P.S. Congratulations to Conner Ware, Germantown High and Pearl River Community College product and a member of LSU’s national title team. Ware, a junior, did not pitch in the College World Series. (Of note: Former Taylorsville High pitcher Aiden Moffett was on the LSU roster when the Tigers won the 2023 CWS crown; he was at Texas this season.)