double dip

Caught a Smith-Wills Stadium/Trustmark Park double feature on Monday night: the Hattiesburg Black Sox vs. the Mossy Oak Bucks in the Mississippi Baseball Congress (semi-pro) state tournament and the Mississippi Braves vs. the Tennessee Smokies in a Double-A Southern League contest. The Bucks beat the Sox 2-1 in a matchup of undefeated teams; Mossy Oak moved into tonight’s championship round. The most compelling figures in the MBC game were Hattiesburg pitcher Tony Phillips, the 41-year-old former Triple-A hurler, and DH Wendell Magee, the 38-year-old former major league outfielder. The crafty Phillips, working for the second straight day, pitched well enough to win but didn’t get enough offensive support. Magee, who hit .247 with 24 homers over parts of seven big league seasons, went 1-for-3 but was picked off first base by the catcher and hit into a double play (after failing to get a bunt down) in the seventh and final inning. At the TeePee, the M-Braves won 4-1 behind the brilliant, three-hit pitching of lefty Brett Oberholtzer and a clutch three-run double by Cory Harrilchak. The M-Braves had lost the first game of the night 2-1, completing a contest suspended from Sunday by weather. The M-Braves still aren’t hitting enough. They’re 12-13 heading into a five-game road trip to Jacksonville — but they’re already 7 games out in the SL South.