dreaming big

While the spotlight was trained on the MLB playoffs on Wednesday, several Mississippi products with big league aspirations put on a nice show in the Arizona Fall League. Olive Branch native Kendall Williams and ex-Mississippi State standout Rowdey Jordan teamed up to spark Glendale to a 7-1 win over Surprise, with MSU alum Eric Cerantola taking a tough loss for the Saguaros. Williams, drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers out of IMG Academy in Florida in 2019, worked four innings for Glendale, yielding five hits and a run with three strikeouts. He got the win. Jordan, a 2021 draftee by the New York Mets, popped out against his former State teammate Cerantola in his first at-bat but finished with two doubles and three RBIs. One of the doubles came in the Desert Dogs’ pivotal four-run fourth after Cerantola had departed the game. Cerantola, a Kansas City farmhand, allowed just one hit and one run while fanning four in his three innings. Jordan hit 13 homers and stole 30 bags for the Mets’ Double-A Binghamton club. Both Williams and Cerantola also reached the Double-A level this year and posted good numbers. … Also making an AFL appearance on Wednesday was Northeast Mississippi Community College alum Tyler Samaniego, now in the Pittsburgh system. The ex-South Alabama star threw a clean inning for Salt River.