Author Archives: Mike Christensen

10 Jun

wrapping it up

The college season in the Magnolia State was tinged with disappointment. To paraphrase the Billy Beane character from “Moneyball,” If you don’t win the last game of the season, the rest is irrelevant. Winning the last game is what every team is gunning for. But while no school from Mississippi won a national championship, there was plenty of stuff to be proud of. William Carey made yet another trip to the NAIA World Series. The Crusaders won the SSAC Tournament, then hosted and won an NAIA regional before ending their run at 37-16. R.J. Stinson was a Ferriss Trophy finalist and John Snyder a second-team All-America. Southern Miss, under first-year coach Christian Ostrander, won the Sun Belt Tournament and got an NCAA Tournament bid, finishing 43-20, the program’s eighth straight 40-win season. Mississippi State rallied from a sluggish start to earn an NCAA bid and finish 40-23. The Bulldogs’ Dakota Jordan won the Ferriss Trophy, and Connor Hujsak made the SEC All-Tournament team after delivering two game-winning knocks. Delta State reached the GSC Tournament championship round and earned an NCAA Division II regional spot. Led by All-GSC third baseman Dylan Coleman, the Statesmen finished 33-24. Jackson State reached the title game of the SWAC Tournament and was three outs from winning it. The Tigers finished 36-20 and were ranked No. 2 in Black College Nines’ final HBCU Large School poll. Belhaven — led by CCS pitcher of the year Brett Sanchez and player of the year Owen Abney — reached the semifnals of the CCS Tournament and ended the season with a 25-17 mark. The Blazers also swept all three games from Maloney Trophy rival Millsaps. Blue Mountain Christian reached the SSAC Tournament final — losing to Carey — and earned the school’s first NAIA Tournament bid. The Toppers, who finished 31-23, beat Carey in a three-game series for the first time, and Arderrius Townsend was a first-team All-America choice. MUW went 22-15, setting a school mark for regular season wins. Southeastern Baptist of Laurel posted a 17-15 record, including a win over Division I Alcorn State. It was an especially tough year for Ole Miss, which wobbled in at 27-29, 11-19 in the SEC. The Rebels’ season ended in gut-wrenching fashion: a walk-off loss to Mississippi State in the SEC tourney. Mississippi College‘s season also ended with a thud: a three-game sweep at the hands of rival Delta State. The Choctaws wound up 20-25, 10-20 in the GSC. Millsaps endured a 14-27 campaign that ended with two one-run losses to Centre (Ky.) in the SAA postseason. Both Alcorn State and Mississippi Valley State struggled again, the Braves going 6-43 (5-25 SWAC) and the Delta Devils 12-34 (4-26). NAIA member Rust finished 16-33 overall (10-11 GCAC) but did win a couple games in the GCAC Tournament. Tougaloo went 13-35, 8-13 GCAC. P.S. Seven players from Mississippi jucos earned All-America honors in NJCAA Division II. Pearl River Community College first baseman Hollis Porter — the MACCC player of the year — was a first-team pick, along with Meridian catcher Blaise Priester. PRCC outfielder Bryce Fowler, Hinds outfielder Thomas Marsala and Jones infielder Brady Thomas made the second team, and East Central pitcher Luke Cooley — the conference pitcher of the year — and outfielder Mo Little were on the third team. ECCC got an at-large bid to the juco World Series and reached the semifinals, finishing 55-9.

10 Jun

that’s the ticket

Typically, there is an adjustment period for a minor league player as he moves up the ladder. Former South Panola High standout Emaarion Boyd might be starting to figure out the High-Class A level in the Philadelphia system. The 20-year-old center fielder went 3-for-6 on Sunday for Jersey Shore, his second three-hit game in his last three. He filled up the box score in the BlueClaws’ 18-5 win against Greensboro with a homer (his first), a double, two runs, four RBIs and a stolen base (his 12th). At the Low-Class A level in 2023, Boyd hit .262 with a .366 on-base percentage and swiped 56 bases. The going has been tougher this season. Boyd is batting just .214 with a .314 OBP in 42 games. But he has hit at a .292 clip in June, and Sunday’s performance arguably was his best of the season. His home run — his second in three pro seasons — was a first-inning grand slam off former Ole Miss star Derek Diamond, a Pittsburgh prospect. The 6-foot, 177-pound Boyd was an 11th-round pick out of South Panola — the football power — in 2022 and received a nice signing bonus. Rated a 70 (on the 20-80 scale) for his speed tool, Boyd is the No. 16 prospect in the Phillies’ system, per MLB Pipeline. He can be a weapon — a la Billy Hamilton — as both a base-stealer and fly-catching center fielder. P.S. Interesting that Tim Anderson, the East Central Community College alum, was placed on the bereavement list by Miami prior to its three-game home series with Cleveland. Anderson and the Guardians’ Jose Ramirez engaged in a much-publicized scrap last summer, and both were suspended. Anderson, batting a miserable .188 with zero homers, six RBIs and three stolen bases, missed the entire series, won 2-1 by the Guardians. … Though he didn’t play for Detroit on Sunday, ex-Biloxi High star Colt Keith apparently dodged major injury to his knee in a collision with Akil Badoo on Saturday. Rookie second baseman Keith is batting .214 with seven errors.

09 Jun

a case for cooperstown

Today is Dave Parker’s 73rd birthday, which makes it a good time to ask, Why is he not in the National Baseball Hall of Fame? There is only one native Mississippian in Cooperstown: Starkville’s Cool Papa Bell, a star in the Negro Leagues. Parker, born in Grenada, should be there, too. He was a seven-time All-Star, three-time Gold Glove winner, two-time batting champion, two-time World Series champ and one-time National League MVP. He was drafted out of a Cincinnati high school in 1970 and played in the majors from 1973-91, batting .290 with 2,712 hits, 339 home runs and 1,493 RBIs. He had one of the best right-field arms in the game in his prime. Nicknamed “The Cobra,” he was baseball’s first million-dollar-a-year player. He had a controversial side. He endured weight problems and injuries at various times and was embroiled in the cocaine scandal of the early ’80s. That’s probably what hurt him with the BBWAA voters; he fell off that ballot in 2011, never coming close to election. His fate now rests with the special selection committees. Parker, who is battling Parkinson’s, is in the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame and the Pittsburgh Pirates Hall of Fame. He really ought to be in Cooperstown. P.S. Hurston Waldrep is set to become the 22nd Southern Miss alumnus to play in the big leagues. The right-hander is slated to start for Atlanta today at Washington. Waldrep, the Braves’ top draft pick in 2023 and current No. 2 prospect, pitched at USM in 2021-22 before finishing his college career at Florida. … Former USM standout Justin Storm, a seventh-round pick by Miami last summer, is having a fine season at Low-Class A Jupiter. The Madison Central High alum, a 6-foot-7 lefty, is 3-1 with a 0.55 ERA in 10 games. The lone run he allowed in a three-inning stint on Saturday against Lakeland was a homer by former William Carey standout Patrick Lee, who recently signed with Detroit as a free agent. … Ex-Madison Central star Braden Montgomery suffered a broken ankle Saturday in Texas A&M’s win against Oregon in the NCAA Super Regional. He is done for the season. Montgomery — a likely first-round MLB draft pick next month — hit .322 with 27 homers for the Aggies.

08 Jun

white knight

Mired in a franchise-record 14-game losing streak and coming off a woeful performance on Thursday, the lowly Chicago White Sox sent Garrett Crochet out to ride to their rescue on Friday night. The 6-foot-6 left-hander from Ocean Springs delivered the W — with a little help from his posse. In a 7-2 win over Boston at Guaranteed Rate Field, Crochet pitched six innings, allowing three hits and two runs with two walks and 10 strikeouts. “That guy is a (expletive) stud,” Boston’s Jarren Duran told mlb.com. Crochet, converted to starter this spring, now owns six of the White Sox’s 16 wins. He is 6-5 with a 3.33 ERA and ranks second in MLB with 103 K’s. Crochet was also the winning pitcher in the team’s previous victory — back on May 21. One of the runs he allowed Friday was the result of his own bad throw and the other came on a bizarre steal of home by Duran. Rookie Jonathan Cannon pitched the final three innings for his first save. Luis Robert Jr., Gavin Sheets and Andrew Vaughn homered for the ChiSox — a welcome sight for hitting coach Marcus Thames, the ex-East Central Community College star whose charges entered Friday’s game last in MLB in hitting and runs and tied for last in homers. (Crochet notwithstanding, the pitching ain’t so good either: The staff ranks next-to-last in ERA and runs allowed.) P.S. Nacho Alvarez, Atlanta’s top-rated position player prospect, returned to the Double-A Mississippi Braves’ lineup at shortstop and went 1-for-5 with an RBI in a 2-1 loss at Pensacola. Alvarez had been out since May 30 with a minor injury. … Zach Allen has been elevated to head coach at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College. Pascagoula native Allen, who played at Jones JC and William Carey, was an assistant to Bob Keller the last three years. The Bulldogs went 26-22 in 2024 and missed the MACCC postseason. … The New Albany-based Cotton States League is scheduled to begin its 16th season today. The wood-bat college summer league has four teams this year, comprised mainly of players from small colleges and jucos around the state. … The Cape Cod League’s season begins next Saturday, and there is a smattering of Mississippi alums in what is regarded as the premier summer loop for collegians. Southern Miss’ Davis Gillespie, Nick Monistere and Kros Sivley are among those on the preliminary rosters, along with Ole Miss’ Andrew Fischer, Luke Hill, Campbell Smithwick and Patrick Galle and Mississippi State’s Luke Dotson, Cam Schuelke and Dylan Cupp. The rosters will change frequently as the season progresses.

07 Jun

a winning blend

The Mississippi spice was strong in Kansas City’s big 4-3 win against Cleveland on Thursday at Progressive Field. Ex-Mississippi State star Hunter Renfroe went 2-for-3 with an RBI double; MSU alum Adam Frazier doubled and scored the go-ahead run in the eighth inning; and Ole Miss product James McArthur pitched a clean ninth for his 12th save. The Royals improved to 37-26 and climbed to within 4 games of the first-place Guardians in the American League Central. Renfroe, after a very cold start (.189), is showing signs of heating up, hitting .271 with two homers, seven RBIs and 11 runs in his last 15 games. The Crystal Springs native hit his fifth homer in Tuesday’s game. Frazier, who also scuffled out of the gate (.210), is batting .275 with six runs over his last 15. McArthur has been a fairly reliable closer despite a 4.91 ERA (inflated by a couple of bad outings). The fourth Mississippian on the KC roster is reliever Chris Stratton (2-3, 5.76 ERA, three saves), another State alum who didn’t get in Thursday’s game. Stratton, Renfroe and Frazier — each a free agent signee this past off-season — were teammates in Starkville in 2011-12. “Really blessed to be able to play this game with people that you know and care about,” Stratton recently told the Kansas City Star. “It’s a lot of fun.” Winning helps. … Down on the Royals farm, former Mississippi Braves star Drew Waters went 3-for-5 with a homer and four RBIs to pace Triple-A Omaha to a 16-6 win over Memphis. Waters, clamoring for a call-up, is batting .271 with six homers and 30 RBIs. At Double-A Northwest Arkansas, former MSU standout Eric Cerantola is 2-2 with a 2.41 ERA and 55 strikeouts in 11 games. And at High-Class A Quad Cities, ex-Southern Miss star Dustin Dickerson hit his first homer of 2024 as part of a 2-for-4 effort in the River Bandits’ 5-3 win Thursday against Wisconsin. Dickerson, a shortstop, is hitting .250 with 13 RBIs and 23 runs in 40 games in his first full pro season. Ole Miss alum Brandon Johnson is 3-3, 4.09, with two saves in 17 relief appearances for QC. P.S. Ex-USM standout Matt Wallner homered in both ends of a doubleheader for Triple-A St. Paul and now has six homers in his last nine games — 11 on the season — for the Minnesota affiliate; he is batting .214 with 32 RBIs. … Cheers all around for Jackson Prep’s Konnor Griffin, named Gatorade’s national high school player of the year. An LSU signee and highly rated MLB draft prospect, Griffin follows the likes of Bobby Witt Jr., Clayton Kershaw, Justin Upton, Zack Greinke, Alex Rodriguez and Gary Sheffield as the winner of this award.

06 Jun

whatever happened to …

Thomas Dillard, the ex-Ole Miss slugger, is playing for Cleburne in the American Association and batting .250 with six home runs for the independent club. Dillard, a longtime Milwaukee minor leaguer, blasted 39 homers in the indy Atlantic League in 2023 and 12 for Double-A Biloxi in 2022. … Trent Giambrone, former Delta State standout, is with Kansas City in the American Association, having recently been traded there by Cleburne. Giambrone, who had a cup of coffee in the majors with the Chicago Cubs in 2021, is batting .292 in seven games for the Monarchs and .203 with four homers overall in 2024. He also played in the Atlantic League last year, hitting .287 with 22 homers for York. … Tyreque Reed, the ex-Itawamba Community College star from Houlka, is with Washington in the independent Frontier League. Recently placed on the injured list, Reed — who turns 27 today — is hitting .258 for the WildThings. He missed all of 2023 with an injury in Boston’s system and became a minor league free agent last fall. He hit 25 homers at ICC and has 64 career minor league bombs but has yet to go deep in 2024. … Ti’Quan Forbes, the former Mr. Baseball from Columbia, is hitting .258 for Querataro in the Mexican League. Forbes reached Triple-A during his eight-year minor league run and belted 17 home runs in the indy Frontier League last season. P.S. Former Mississippi Braves star Justyn-Henry Malloy broke up a perfect game with his first MLB home run — and hit — on Wednesday for Detroit. Malloy went deep against Texas’ Jose Urena in the sixth inning of the Tigers’ 9-1 loss. Malloy, 2-for-10 in three games with the Tigers, played for the M-Braves in 2022 (.268, six homers in 54 games) and was traded by Atlanta in December of that year in the Joe Jimenez deal.

06 Jun

yeah, but …

The good news for Grae Kessinger is, he’ll get off the bench. The bad news, delivered on Tuesday, is that he’s no longer in the big leagues. The former Ole Miss star from Oxford was optioned to Triple-A Sugar Land by the Houston Astros and was in the Space Cowboys’ lineup on Wednesday. Kessinger, 26, made the Astros’ opening day roster as a backup infielder but had only 11 at-bats (and no hits) all season. He missed about 10 days while on the injured list in early May. A second-round pick by Houston in 2019, Kessinger debuted in the big leagues on June 7 of last year. He got his first hit four days later and first (and only) homer on July 4. All told, he hit .200 in 40 at-bats for the Astros in 2023. Kessinger scuffled his first couple of years in pro ball but hit .283 for Sugar Land last year before his promotion. The grandson of former MLB All-Star — and Ole Miss coach — Don Kessinger, Grae was an All-America shortstop at UM who hit .312 with 15 homers over his last two years in Oxford. He “celebrated” his return to Triple-A by ripping a single in his first at-bat on Wednesday at Salt Lake. … Kessinger’s demotion drops the number of active Mississippians (native or school alum) in the big leagues to 17. P.S. Mississippi State alum Justin Foscue began a rehab assignment in the Arizona Complex League on Wednesday. Foscue made his MLB debut for Texas on April 5, went 1-for-2 in two pinch at-bats and then landed on the IL on April 8 with an oblique strain.

04 Jun

fast company

This is a pretty cool list. It includes a couple of current big leaguers, one former big leaguer, two current Double-A stars and two players projected as potential first-round draft picks next month. Make that three potential first-round picks, now that Jackson Prep’s Konnor Griffin has been named Mississippi’s Gatorade Player of the Year for 2024. It wasn’t a big surprise that Griffin won the award, given annually to the best high school player in the state. He batted .559 this season with nine homers, 39 RBs, 76 runs and 85 stolen bases and went 10-0 with a 0.72 ERA on the bump. MLB Pipeline ranks Griffin as the No. 9 prospect in the upcoming draft. In addition, Prep won the MAIS 6A championship and finished 39-4. Prep Baseball Report ranked the Patriots No. 1 in its final Mississippi poll, ahead of Sumrall, Magnolia Heights, George County and Brandon, all state champs, rounding out the top five. MaxPreps, which named Griffin its Mississippi player of the year, ranked Sumrall at No. 1, with Prep No. 2 followed by Magnolia Heights, East Webster and George County. Sumrall won the MHSAA Class 4A title and finished 35-6, led by championship series MVP Cade Clinton, Landon Hawkins and Drew Davis. … Previous Gatorade POY winners include Austin Riley (now with the Atlanta Braves), Colt Keith (Detroit Tigers), Anthony Alford (ex-big leaguer now playing in Mexico), Blaze Jordan (Double-A with Boston), J.T. Ginn (Double-A with Oakland), Dakota Jordan (Mississippi State) and Braden Montgomery (Texas A&M). Last year’s winner, Cooper Pratt of Magnolia Heights, is in A-ball in the Milwaukee system and a highly rated prospect.

04 Jun

time to step it up

At 29-31 and 4.5 games out of first place in the American League West, the defending World Series champion Texas Rangers are not where they want to be. Neither is Nathaniel Lowe, the Mississippi State alum who has manned first base for the club since 2021. Lowe is batting just .256 with two homers and 17 RBIs in 39 games after starting the season on the injured list with a strained oblique. He has just eight hits and no homers in his last 46 at-bats and has been sitting lately against left-handed starters. Two years ago, Lowe won a Silver Slugger (.302, 27 homers). His numbers dipped in 2023 to .262 with 17 bombs, but he won a Gold Glove and hit three homers during the team’s run to the championship. Lowe, 0-for-1 as a pinch hitter in a 2-1 loss to Detroit on Monday night, figures to be in the starting lineup tonight against Tigers right-hander Jack Flaherty. The Rangers have been beset by injuries this season, including the hard-luck case of ex-MSU star Justin Foscue, who got his first big league hit on April 7 and went on the injured list the next day with a dreaded oblique strain. He is currently on the 60-day IL. … Like Lowe, former DeSoto Central High standout Austin Riley is having a sub-par season for a scuffling Atlanta team that finds itself 7 games back of first-place Philadelphia in the National League East. An All-Star and Silver Slugger winner last year, Riley is hitting .234 with three homers and 19 RBIs. After sitting for 12 days with a side injury, Riley is 5-for-28 with one RBI in seven games since he returned to the lineup. He hasn’t homered since May 3. He has averaged 36 homers the past three seasons. Injuries also have been an issue for the Braves (33-24), whose streak of six straight division titles could be in real jeopardy. They begin a series at Fenway Park against Boston tonight.

03 Jun

what’s that sound?

Matt Wallner is making noise in Triple-A, though it might not be enough just yet to pique the interest of the Minnesota Twins. Former Southern Miss standout Wallner homered for the fourth time in six games — that’s what he does — in St. Paul’s 6-1 win Sunday against Rochester. The left-hitting DH/outfielder is 8-for-29 (.276) in his last nine games, raising his average to .200. He has nine homers and 30 RBIs for the Saints. The Twins sent Wallner down on April 16, when he was 2-for-25 with one home run (off a position player). It appears Minnesota, contending in the American League Central, could use some outfield help, but Wallner likely will have to demonstrate more consistency before he gets a call. He has struck out 60 times (and walked just 20) in 150 at-bats for St. Paul. USM’s all-time homer leader, Wallner hit 14 in 76 games for the Twins last year, when he batted .249. For what it’s worth, he has a very good throwing arm. P.S. In his first start for Triple-A Gwinnett, USM alum Hurston Waldrep struck out 11 batters in six innings but allowed three runs — two on a first-inning bomb by Heston Kjerstad — and took the loss against Norfolk. Atlanta’s No. 2 prospect, Waldrep had a 2.92 ERA and 48 strikeouts in 49 1/3 innings for the Double-A Mississippi Braves this season.