at this point …

If seven games is enough to draw any conclusions about the 2025 Mississippi Mud Monsters, here’s one: They can swing the bats. As the Frontier League expansion team (4-3) begins its first road trip, four regulars are hitting .368 or better, led by Travis Holt, who went 3-for-5 in the season opener and has continued to rake. The former Butler and High Point standout is hitting .391. Davis Bradshaw, the McLaurin High and Meridian Community College alum, is batting .389. Not a shock considering he was a .300 career hitter in the affiliated minors. Karell Paz, a Cuba native who played in the New York Mets’ system, is at .381, and Victor Diaz, from the Dominican Republic via the Houston Astros’ system, is at .368. The club has hit just one homer – by former Columbia High star and pro veteran Ti’Quan Forbes – but Trustmark Park doesn’t yield a lot bombs. Forbes, Diaz and ex-DeSoto Central standout Kyle Booker lead the Mud-sters with five RBIs each. The team won the last three games of its homestand, sweeping Evansville while allowing just nine runs total. No. 1 starter James Boeree, the 7-foot-2 Australian, has a 3.38 ERA over eight innings in his two starts. Chris Barraza, an Arizona alum, has yet to allow a run in three relief appearances. … Mississippi opens a series tonight against the Down East Bird Dawgs, another FL expansion team, in Kinston, N.C. The team is managed by Brett Wellman, son of former Mississippi Braves manager Phillip Wellman.