names in the news

Bobby Halford: Congratulations to the longtime William Carey University coach on his election to the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame. Halford is the state’s all-time winningest college coach with 1,375 wins over 40 years at the Hattiesburg school. His teams have made 26 appearances in the NAIA Tournament and three trips to the World Series. Halford has won more coach of the year honors than you can count.
Konnor Griffin: The former Jackson Prep star added a minor league Gold Glove award to the numerous player of the year honors he has collected. The first-year pro, Pittsburgh’s top prospect, had a .980 fielding percentage at shortstop with seven errors in 89 games. He also played some center field while moving through three levels.
Antoan Richardson: The ex-Mississippi Braves standout has joined new Atlanta manager Walt Weiss’ staff as first-base coach. Richardson, who coached with the New York Mets in 2025, played in Pearl in 2010-11 and made the majors in 2011 with Atlanta. He also played for the Yankees and is remembered for scoring the run on Derek Jeter’s walk-off hit in his final MLB at-bat.
Brandon Woodruff: The Mississippi State product from Wheeler declined his mutual option with Milwaukee and became a free agent. Woodruff went 7-2 with a 3.20 ERA in 12 games in 2025 but ended the season on the injured list. He missed all of 2024 following arm surgery. He is 53-28 over an eight-year big league career.
Michael Fowler: The former Southern Miss pitcher has made six appearances in the Arizona Fall League without allowing an earned run over seven innings. Milwaukee signed Fowler off the independent Mississippi Mud Monsters’ roster last summer, and he put up good numbers in A-ball.