birthday treats

Former Vancleave High star Colin Bray, a birthday boy on Saturday, celebrated with a pair of home runs for Class A Visalia in the Arizona organization. Bray, a 23-year-old center fielder, has scuffled a bit this year at the high-A level. He told milb.com it has been a good test and he’ll be better for it. Considered a rising prospect, Bray now has a four-game hit streak that has lifted his average to .241, with three homers, 26 RBIs and 34 runs in 64 games. He is a .283 hitter over his four-year pro career. Arizona picked Bray in the sixth round out of an Alabama junior college in 2013. P.S. St. Louis has signed all three of its picks from Mississippi in this year’s draft. Mississippi State’s Dakota Hudson, drafted 34th overall as the first Magnolia State player to be called, signed for a cool $2 million, it was announced on Saturday. The Cardinals also signed Hudson’s teammate Austin Sexton (18th round) on Saturday and earlier in the week inked Walker Robbins (fifth round) from George County High. All three figure to debut in the rookie Gulf Coast League. … Last year’s top pick from the state, DeSoto Central product Austin Riley, is batting .256 with three homers at 26 RBIs for Rome, Atlanta’s low Class A club. The top pick from 2014, Blake Anderson out of West Lauderdale, made his 2016 debut on Saturday, going 0-for-4 for Batavia, a short-season Class A team in Miami’s system. Anderson batted .220 with two homers at Batavia in 2015.