leader of the pack

Which member of the Mississippi Braves’ current rotation has the best ERA? It’s not highly rated prospect Jason Hursh, All-Star Williams Perez or the unbeaten Mitch Atkins. It’s Greg Ross. Remember the name. He threw 6 2/3 shutout innings at Montgomery on Wednesday night to reduce his ERA to 2.12, the only sub-3.00 ERA among the five starters. Ross, a right-hander in his fourth pro season, was promoted to Double-A in late June — he was 5-3, 3.50 at Class A Lynchburg — and has been lights out. He is now 6-2 in 10 games (nine starts) with 33 strikeouts and just 14 walks in 59 1/3 innings. He tossed a nine-inning shutout in his second game with the M-Braves back on June 30. The 6-foot-3, 200-pound Maryland native was an 18th-round pick by Atlanta in 2011 out of Frostburg (Md.) State, where he was an NCAA Division III All-America selection. He went 11-2 with a 1.49 ERA and a school-record 112 K’s in 90 2/3 innings that final season at Frostburg. He now has a 35-24 pro record. Ross’ efforts on Wednesday at Trustmark Park led the M-Braves to a 2-0 win and kept them in the heat of a three-team battle for the second-half title in the Southern League South. Mississippi is 31-21, a half-game back of first-place Mobile. Perez (4-6, 3.27) starts tonight in Game 3 of the series.