14 Jun

hard luck

Garrett Crochet, the former Ocean Springs High star, was two outs away from a shutout against the New York Yankees. Boston’s big left-hander was one strike away from punching out Aaron Judge for the fourth time on Friday night at Fenway Park. Then the Yankees slugger did his thing, pulverizing a 3-2 fastball 443 feet over the left-field wall, out of the park, tying the score. Exit Crochet. The Red Sox won the game 2-1 in 10 innings, but Crochet was denied his first career shutout. “Crochet deserved this win, but the team needed it more,” said Boston broadcaster Lou Merloni. The Red Sox are 35-36, in fourth place and 8.5 games back of the first-place Yankees in the American League East. Crochet, in his first year with Boston, has six wins, a 2.24 ERA and a league-leading 117 K’s, seven on Friday. … It was a hard luck day also for former Ole Miss standout Drew Pomeranz. Pitching the 10th inning for the Chicago Cubs, he was on the bump when Pittsburgh’s “ghost runner” — Mississippi State alum Adam Frazier — scored the go-ahead run on a double-play ball. The Pirates held on for a 2-1 win at Wrigley Field. Pomeranz, who had not allowed a run in 18 appearances overall before Friday, gets charged with an unearned run, per the extra-inning rules, as well as the loss. … More hard luck: Gunnar Hoglund, another Ole Miss alum, is done for the season after hip surgery; the right-hander, who made his MLB debut in May after four years in the minors, had a 6.40 ERA in six starts for the A’s. … Luck didn’t smile on ex-Ole Miss ace Ryan Rolison either. Colorado’s rookie lefty gave up four hits, a walk and five runs in the eighth inning at Atlanta during the Braves’ 12-4 win. It didn’t help that the woeful Rockies committed four errors in that frame. P.S. There’s a bundle of state products on the preliminary rosters in the Cape Cod League, which launches its season today. (Note: The rosters can and will change during the summer.) Mississippi State’s Ace Reese, Charlie Foster, Dane Burns and Duke Stone are on the Chatham roster, along with ex-Jackson Prep (and current South Alabama) star Duncan Mathews. Bourne lists Ole Miss’ Campbell Smithwick and Owen Paino and Southern Miss’ Grayden Harris. USM’s Josh Och is on Hyannis’ roster and UM’s Patrick Galle on Wareham’s. Former Mississippi Braves and MLB catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia will manage Falmouth, which lists Grayson Saunier, an ex-Ole Miss pitcher, on its roster.

13 Jun

aw shuckers

Fans of the Biloxi Shuckers enjoyed some vicarious thrills on Thursday. The big league debut of Jacob Misiorowski was the main attraction, and Milwaukee’s top pitching prospect did not disappoint at American Family Field. “The walk in from the bullpen was like, ‘Holy cow, this is it, we’re actually doing this.’ … It’s cool. It’s really cool,” he said postgame. The 6-foot-7 right-hander threw five hitless innings at the St. Louis Cardinals, touching 102 mph on the gun while striking out five batters and walking four. Misiorowski, who pitched for the Double-A Shuckers in 2023 and ’24, left the game in the sixth inning after experiencing leg cramps. He threw 14 pitches at 100-plus. Former Shuckers stars Jackson Chourio (12th home run), Sal Frelick (3-for-4, two RBIs) and Brice Turang (2-for-4 with an RBI) also contributed in the Brewers’ 6-0 win, which moved the team ahead of St. Louis into second place in the National League Central. At Houston, ex-Shuckers ace Josh Hader notched his 18th save — 217th career — for the first-place Astros, who put down the Chicago White Sox 4-3. At Kansas City, Shuckers alum Devin Williams, now back in the closer role, nailed down his ninth save with a clean ninth for the New York Yankees in a 1-0 win. He has four saves and a 1.93 ERA this month after some early season struggles. At Colorado, the Rockies got a walk-off hit from Orlando Arcia — a star on the original Shuckers team in 2015 — in an 8-7 victory against San Francisco. Arcia is batting .200 with a homer and four RBIs in nine games for the Rockies since Atlanta cut him loose. And in Chattanooga, the current Shuckers beat the Lookouts 6-5 in 10 innings, with former Magnolia Heights standout Cooper Pratt scoring the game-deciding run. The Shuckers, at 36-24, have the best record in the Southern League.

12 Jun

juco stars come out

Individual honors continue to roll in for Pearl River Community College’s 2025 team, which finished as national runner-up this season in NJCAA Division II. Five Wildcats were named to the NJCAA All-America teams, including first-team pick K.K. Clark. Jacob Keys and Caston Thompson made second-team A-A, Topher Jones the third team and Jacob Johnson honorable mention. Itawamba CC’s Jud Files and East Central’s Pablo Roque made the third team. Clark, a Brandon High product, went 12-2 with a 1.84 ERA in his lone season with PRCC after transferring from Mississippi State. He was previously named the MACCC’s pitcher of the year and the outstanding pitcher in the juco World Series. Clark is bound for Louisiana Tech, where he’ll play for Mississippian Lane Burroughs. All told, PRCC has seen 16 players from the ’25 squad sign with four-year schools. Pearl River’s Michael Avalon was the MACCC coach of the year after guiding the Wildcats to a 53-10 record with state and Region 23 titles. … A number of MACCC players finished among the national leaders in various statistical categories. PRCC’s Clark and Johnson, both 12-game winners, tied for second in the nation in that category, and Clark ranked fourth in strikeouts with 116. Jones College’s Caden Freeman and Copiah-Lincoln’s Nash Sturdivant tied for the D-II lead in saves with nine each. Jake Meilstrup of Southwest was third in the nation in steals with a school-record 56. (The previous record was held by Maleke Fowler — not, surprisingly enough, by former MLB star Jarrod Dyson.) PRCC’s Jones led the state with 72 RBIs, a figure that ranked 10th nationally, and teammate Keegan Giger, a .349 hitter, topped the state with 82 hits, tied for 16th in the national stats. Holmes’ Hunter Azemar led the state in home runs with 15, tied for 17th-most in the nation. PRCC’s Thompson, the MACCC player of the year and a Nicholls State signee, and Jackson Hood tied for 14th in homers with 14. The MACCC’s leading hitter was Hinds’ Dawson Muenzenmay, who batted .400, with Meridian’s Brennon Wright at .381. The national ranking of batting average leaders is not available.

12 Jun

hey now …

Brent Rooker was an All-Star for the Oakland A’s in 2023 and might be on that path again this season. The former Mississippi State standout had a star-spangled day at the plate on Wednesday, going 4-for-5 with two home runs, a double, three RBIs and three runs. In his final at-bat, he hit a drive that was caught at the warning track. (Not surprisingly, the lowly A’s lost the game to the Los Angeles Angels 6-5.) Rooker is hitting .276 with 15 bombs and 41 RBIs on the year; he ranks in the top 10 in the American League in homers, RBIs and slugging percentage. Over his last 20 games, he is at .380 with five homers and 17 runs knocked in. But it hasn’t been a streaky kind of season. “I’ve been able to maintain a level of consistency that maybe I haven’t in the past,” Rooker said in an mlb.com article. He batted .293 with 39 homers and 112 RBIs in 2024, winning a Silver Slugger but not making the All-Star Game. He hit .246 with 30 homers in 2023, his first season with the A’s. All-Star Game voting is under way on mlb.com; the game is July 15 in Atlanta. … Elsewhere in The Show, in his season debut with Toronto, Madison Central High alum Spencer Turnbull pitched two scoreless innings in middle relief and picked up the win as the surging Blue Jays beat St. Louis 5-2. It was his first MLB game since June of last year (see previous posts). P.S. Kudos to six players from Mississippi schools who made the NCBWA Division I All-America teams. Southern Miss’ Nick Monistere and J.B. Middleton (the state’s Ferriss Trophy winner) and MSU’s Ace Reese and Noah Sullivan were named to the first team, USM’s Colby Allen and Ole Miss’ Hunter Elliott to the third team.

11 Jun

whatever happened to …

Cody Reed, 32-year-old left-hander from Horn Lake, is pitching in the independent American Association, four years after he last worked in the big leagues. He has been an effective reliever for the Gary SouthShore RailCats, putting up a 2.38 ERA in 11 2/3 innings over 12 games. Is this a path back to MLB? Teams are always looking for lefty relievers, it seems. Reed was drafted out of Northwest Mississippi Community College in the second round in 2013 by Kansas City. A highly rated prospect, he was traded to Cincinnati in 2015, reached the big leagues in 2016 and made 65 appearances (5.22 ERA) over the next six seasons. Reed was a solid reliever for Tampa Bay in 2021 before an injury (and surgery) halted his season in May. He re-signed with the Rays in 2022, then got hurt again in the spring. He pitched briefly in the minors that season, not at all in 2023 and in Mexico last year. … Scanning the pitching leaders in the AA, there is also Kyle Crigger, an Itawamba CC alum from Corinth who is 4-1 with a 2.16 for Fargo-Moorhead; J.C. Keys, a Hattiesburg native and ex-Southern Miss star who has a 3.86 and one save for Chicago; and Taylor Broadway, a former Ole Miss standout who has a 3.45 for Cleburne. All three pitched in the affiliated minors with some success. P.S. On the subject of pitching, Mississippi State product Khal Stephen made MLB Pipeline’s list of top performers from Tuesday’s games. Currently at High-Class A Vancouver in Toronto’s organization, he threw six shutout innings with nine strikeouts on Tuesday. In his first pro season, the second-round pick from 2024 is 5-0 with a 2.25 ERA, an 0.98 WHIP and 73 strikeouts in 59 1/3 innings over 12 games in A-ball.

11 Jun

out of kilter

In his first game off the injured list, Mississippi State product Jordan Westburg hit a home run for Baltimore. Unfortunately for the Orioles, the homer came in the ninth inning of Tuesday night’s 5-3 loss to Detroit. The Orioles, perhaps the most disappointing team in the big leagues, had entered the opener of this series having won seven of nine. Westburg and center fielder Cedric Mullins were activated from the IL. “I think everybody in Baltimore is excited,” O’s interim manager Tony Mansolino said pregame. Detroit, with the best record (44-24) in baseball, didn’t seem to notice, building a 5-1 lead by the fifth inning. Baltimore managed just six hits. And so it goes for the O’s. They are now 26-39, dead last in the American League East. Westburg was an All-Star at third base in 2024, when he hit .264 with 18 homers and 63 RBIs. A big season was expected of him and this team, which went 91-71 in 2024 and made the playoffs. But like many of his teammates, Westburg scuffled out of the gate. When he went down with a hamstring injury on April 28, he was hitting .217. He now has five homers but just seven RBIs. His numbers are bound to improve, but the team is in such a deep hole, and its pitching in such a fix, improvement in the standings could be a tall order. … Home runs were kind of a thing for Mississippians on Tuesday. In MLB, Nathaniel Lowe hit his ninth for Washington, Matt Wallner his fifth for Minnesota and Nick Fortes his second for Miami. In the minors, Reed Trimble (Baltimore system), Braden Montgomery (Chicago White Sox) and Brennon McNair (Kansas City) went yard. And in the independent Frontier League, Travis Holt and Karell Paz homered for the Mississippi Mud Monsters in a road win at Joliet. P.S. He didn’t hit one out, but Konnor Griffin went 2-for-5 with an RBI and a run in his High-Class A debut for Greensboro in the Pittsburgh system. Griffin, first-round pick out of Jackson Prep last summer, hit .338 with nine homers in Low-A ball and led the Florida State League in several categories before his promotion.

10 Jun

alumni meeting

Though the Mississippi-Biloxi rivalry no longer exists in the Southern League, alumni of the Double-A clubs can still clash in the National League. The first meeting of 2025 between Atlanta and Milwaukee happened on Monday night at American Family Field — and the former M-Braves won the day and the game, 7-1, snapping a dreadful seven-game losing streak. Five M-Braves alums combined for seven hits, four walks and five runs. Notably, Ronald Acuna homered for the fifth time in his 16 games; Austin Riley went 3-for-5 to raise his average to .285; and Ozzie Albies registered career hit No. 1,000. He is the all-time hits leader among Atlanta second basemen. Three ex-Shuckers were a combined 1-for-9 with a pair of walks. (Former M-Braves catcher William Contreras, now Milwaukee’s backstop, was 1-for-4 with an RBI knock.) It was a huge win — psychologically, at least — for the Braves, now 28-37 but still mired in fourth place in the NL East. The Brewers are 35-32, third in the NL Central. Game 2 of the three-game set is tonight. … The M-Braves, who played at Trustmark Park in Pearl from 2005-24, have produced more than 180 big league players. The Shuckers, based in Biloxi since 2015, have sent more than 80 players into MLB. P.S. Mississippi State alum Jake Mangum had a four-hit, two-RBI game Monday as Tampa Bay spoiled the debut of No. 1 overall prospect Roman Anthony by beating Boston 10-8 in 11 innings at Fenway Park. … Arizona has placed ex-MSU star Kendall Graveman back on the injured list with a hip problem. He had made nine appearances, all but his last effective ones. … Chris Stratton, another ex-Bulldogs standout, declared free agency Monday. Since being designated for assignment and then released by Kansas City on May 25, the 10-year MLB vet has: signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers, been DFA’d, been outrighted to Triple-A, declared free agency, re-signed with the Dodgers, been DFA’d again, been outrighted again and declared free agency again. He made three appearances with the Dodgers during that time. … On June 10, 2019, Arizona and Philadelphia set a major league by combining for 13 homers in a game at Citizens Bank Park. The fun started when McComb native Jarrod Dyson led off with a bomb, the first of three straight by the Diamondbacks to start the game. Dyson hit only 21 homers in his 12-year career, but he’s in the home run record book.

09 Jun

in local news

At Pearl, the Mississippi Mud Monsters wrapped up a 4-1 homestand with a twinbill split Sunday against Florence (Ky.) at Trustmark Park. In the 11-2 win in Game 2, Kyle Booker homered and drove in three runs to back the strong start of Rodney Theopile. Nick Hassan went 3-for-4 with an RBI and a run for the independent Mud Monsters. Booker, a former DeSoto Central High star who spent three years at Tennessee, is batting .327 with three homers and 18 RBIs on the year. He had two of the Mud-sters’ three hits in a 4-0 loss in Sunday’s opener. Mississippi is 13-14 in its inaugural Frontier League season. After a 12-game road trip, the next homestand starts June 24.
At Biloxi, the Double-A Shuckers whipped Montgomery 6-4 at Keesler Federal Park to win the Southern League series 5 games to 1. The first-place Shuckers are 35-22. Brock Wilken, a highly rated Milwaukee prospect, hit a grand slam, and former Magnolia Heights standout Cooper Pratt, another top prospect, went 3-for-4 with an RBI, a run and two steals. Wilken leads the SL with 15 homers and 35 RBIs. The Shuckers are celebrating their 10th anniversary season as an SL club.
At New Albany, the college boys of the Cotton States League played a pair of doubleheaders in BNA Bank Park with league-leader Tallahatchie going 1-0-1 vs. Tippah County and North Delta taking two from Hill Country. Houston Green, an Itawamba Community College alum, drove in two runs for Tallahatchie to back the three-hit pitching of Jake Thomas and Sam Brumbaugh in their 5-1 win. The Rascals are 4-0-1. Green is 6-for-12 on the young season, and Thomas is 2-0 with a 1.12 ERA. For North Delta, Eli Akins, a Delta State alum, threw a one-hitter in a 2-0 win against Hill Country after Connor Edge (ICC) tossed a three-hitter and Hayden Short knocked in three runs in the Dealers’ 10-1 victory in the opener.
P.S. Madison Central High product Spencer Turnbull has been added to Toronto’s active roster. The veteran right-hander, a recent free agent signee, had a 2.65 ERA in 17 games for Philadelphia before a lat injury in June ended his 2024 season. He has a 4.26 career ERA over 78 games. … Braden Montgomery, another Madison Central alum, had a four-hit game Sunday for High-Class A Winston-Salem and boosted his average there to .263. Montgomery is a highly rated prospect in the Chicago White Sox’s chain.

08 Jun

game of adjustments

Konnor Griffin, a year removed from Jackson Prep, has made a remarkably smooth transition to pro ball. Playing at the Low-Class A level, the ninth overall MLB draft pick from 2024 is batting .338 with nine home runs, 36 RBIs, 49 runs and 26 steals through 50 games for the Pittsburgh affiliate. He was 3-for-5 with an inside-the-park homer on Saturday, ripping around the bases when two outfielders had a tough time picking up his shot to the wall in right-center. He’s making this look easy, which it is not. As he moves up the minor league ladder, Griffin will encounter speed bumps. It’s inevitable. He’ll have to make adjustments. Baseball is a game of adjustments. It’s a trite phrase — but very true. Many a highly regarded Mississippi prospect has scuffled at various levels of the game. Some adjust, some can’t. Injuries can be a factor. Gunnar Hoglund, a first-round pick out of Ole Miss in 2021, made the big leagues with the A’s last month. He is 1-3 with a 6.40 ERA and on the injured list, where he has spent time before. When he returns, some adjustments will be necessary. Former Mississippi State standout Jake Mangum finally made the majors this year in his sixth pro season. He hit .311 for Tampa Bay in April, went on the IL and is just 5-for-29 since he returned. “There are good days and bad days,” he told forbes.com in a recent interview. “When you fail, don’t be too hard on yourself.” In other words, reevaluate and forge ahead. Will Bednar, a first-rounder out of State in 2021, is in Double-A with San Francisco. He has a 9.56 ERA. Landon Sims, the 34th overall pick from MSU in 2022, is making the big adjustment to Double-A in the Texas system. He has a 4.91 ERA in 20 games. Ex-Ole Miss star Jacob Gonzalez was the 15th overall pick by the Chicago White Sox in 2023. He reached Double-A in 2024 but struggled there. Back at that level this year, he appears to have figured some things out. He is batting .257 with four homers and 21 RBIs. Tough times have shadowed former Southern Miss star Reed Trimble, who has battled injuries since being drafted 65th overall in 2021. He is at Double-A in Baltimore’s system, hitting .069 in 10 games. He is at .237 in 153 minor league games. Also on the Orioles’ Chesapeake roster is Ole Miss product Anthony Servideo, a third-rounder back in 2020. He is batting .171 for his career, having reached Triple-A for a time in 2024. The game ain’t easy. But if they keep giving you a uniform, you keep grinding, looking for the right adjustments.

07 Jun

always compelling

Whenever the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees get together — as they did on Friday night — something buzzworthy is bound to happen. Flash back to June 7, 2011. At Yankee Stadium, former Mississippi State star Jonathan Papelbon, pitching for the Red Sox, nailed down his 200th career save, doing so in his 259th appearance, faster than any reliever ever. The previous record was held by none other than Yankees legend Mariano Rivera. Papelbon gave up a walk and a hit but struck out two, including Alex Rodriguez for the final out, in Boston’s 6-4 victory. Papelbon had a tremendous career. He had 13 saves in three years at MSU before Boston took him in the fourth round of the 2003 draft. He still ranks 11th on the all-time MLB saves list with 368 and holds the career record for both the Red Sox (219) and Philadelphia (123). During his occasionally tempestuous 12-year big league career, he made six All-Star Games and won a World Series with the ’07 Red Sox, closing out the clincher against Colorado. Alas, he lasted just one year (in 2022) on the Hall of Fame ballot. … Flash forward to June 6, 2025. At Yankee Stadium, former Jackson Prep star Will Warren, pitching for New York, got his first taste of the Red Sox-Yankees rivalry and came away a winner. Given an early lead, rookie Warren blanked Boston for four innings before yielding a homer in the fifth and three runs in a clunky sixth. Warren went 5 1/3 innings in the 9-6 victory, running his record to 4-3 with a 5.34 ERA in 13 starts. Before a crowd of 46,783, he struck out the first batter of the game and six all told and now has 75 K’s in 57 1/3 innings for the first-place Yanks. Friday’s game was the first meeting of the season between the old rivals. Stay tuned. P.S. Spencer Turnbull, Madison Central High alum, had a rough outing in his latest minor-league tune-up. The veteran right-hander, who recently signed with Toronto as a free agent, gave up five runs in 4 2/3 innings Friday for Triple-A Buffalo. He is 0-3 with a 7.13 in five minor league appearances between A-ball and Triple-A.