news flashes

Moving past Chris Coghlan’s “dirty” slide (no, it wasn’t) and Rafael Palmeiro’s “comeback” (don’t get it), here’s some baseball news we can sink our teeth into: Former Petal High standout Anthony Alford has been named the best player in Toronto’s minor league system by Baseball America. “He’s truly made progress across the board; every day he finds a way to get better in an aspect of the game,” Tony LaCava, the Blue Jays farm director, told BA. Alford, an erstwhile football star, batted .298 with four homers, 35 RBIs and 27 steals over two levels of A-ball in his first full pro season. He was a third-round pick in 2012. And here’s some more news: Former Southern Miss star B.A. Vollmuth has returned to the Golden Eagles as a volunteer assistant. From 2009-11, the Biloxi native batted .326 with 40 home runs and 153 RBIs. He was an infielder on the 2009 team, with Brian Dozier, that went to the College World Series. Taken in the third round of the 2011 major league draft by Oakland, Vollmuth played four pro seasons, batting .231 with 45 homers, before his release in 2014.