Tag Archives: allmississippibaseball

03 May

home cookin’

In his major league debut Friday night, Gunnar Hoglund wore the colors of the visiting team, but he sure looked right at home on the mound at loanDepot Park in Miami. In a sense, he was. A native of Dunedin, Fla., the former Ole Miss standout had a cheering section of family and friends behind the A’s dugout, and he treated them to a brilliant performance. Hoglund shut out the Marlins for five innings before yielding a solo homer in the sixth. He finished six innings, allowing six hits and no walks with seven strikeouts in a 6-1 victory. “All those people that came and watched me tonight, they’ve all played a part in me getting to this point now. … Without them, I wouldn’t be here,” Hoglund told mlb.com. Hoglund, 25, was the 19th overall pick out of Ole Miss by Toronto in 2021 after going 10-5 with a 3.68 ERA in three college seasons. He was traded to Oakland the next spring. The 6-foot-4, 220-pound right-hander was 1-2, 2.43, in six starts in his first full season in Triple-A when he got the call to the big leagues. … Former Mississippi College star Blaine Crim also made his MLB debut on Friday, and it didn’t go as well. Batting eighth and playing first base for Texas, Crim went 0-for-3 with two strikeouts as the slumping Rangers lost to visiting Seattle 13-1. He struck out in his first at-bat against Bryan Woo. A .296 career hitter in six minor league seasons, Crim is the first former MC player to appear in a big league game since Harry Craft in 1942. P.S. Ole Miss product Doug Nikhazy, knocked around in his big league debut last Saturday, got knocked around again in his first Triple-A start since returning to the minors. The left-hander yielded eight hits (three homers), three walks and five runs in four innings, taking the loss Friday for Columbus against St. Paul. His Triple-A ERA rose to 4.84. Debuting for Cleveland on April 26, Nikhazy gave up six runs in three innings against Boston.

02 May

racking up wins

William Carey University moved to 2-0 in pool play in the SSAC Tournament with an 8-4 win Thursday over in-state rival Blue Mountain Christian at Jackson, Tenn. The victory was especially significant for Carey coach Bobby Halford, who moved past Ron Polk on the career wins list with No. 1,374, according to a school release. “It’s great for our program and our university. I’ve been very blessed to be able to do this all of these years and I owe my family a big thank you for all of their support,” Halford, in his 40th season, said in the release. Halford ranks in the top 20 for all-time wins at any college level. In Thursday’s victory, Bridley Thomas drove in three runs and Bobby Magee threw seven solid innings for his seventh W as the Crusaders, ranked 10th in NAIA, improved to 37-11. (The current record includes two forfeits from Faulkner.) Carey plays Middle Georgia State today. BMC, 0-2 in the tournament, fell to 27-24. P.S. Belhaven also got a big win Thursday, crushing Piedmont (Ga.) 9-1 to move to 2-0 in the CCS Tournament at Maryville, Tenn. Nick Thornton drove in four runs with three doubles and Sylvester Colton and Lane Alack combined on a five-hitter. The Blazers are 30-11 and riding a seven-game win streak. They’ll play a semifinal game today. … Rust (22-28) bowed out of the HBCUAC Tournament with a pair of losses at North Little Rock, Ark. … The GSC Tournament starts today with Delta State, the top seed, facing Montevallo (Ala.) and 4-seed Mississippi College meeting West Alabama at Oxford, Ala.

02 May

debut alert, take 2

To a list that includes MLB old-timers Harry Craft and Hal Lee, add Blaine Crim. The former Mississippi College star reportedly will be called up by the Texas Rangers, who sent veteran first baseman Jake Burger to the minors on Thursday. The list of former MC players who have played in the majors is fairly short, including Craft (1937-42), Lee (1930-36), George Gill (1937-39) and Jim Joe Edwards (1922-28). Crim, 27, was hitting .313 (.565 slug) with seven homers and 25 RBIs at Triple-A Round Rock. He is a .296 career hitter with 110 minor league homers since 2019. He won a Puerto Rican Winter League batting title with a .406 average in 2022. The Rangers drafted Crim in the 19th round after he won Gulf South Conference player of the year honors in his fourth year at MC. A 5-foot-10, 200-pound first baseman/DH, he has never been on the Rangers’ 40-man roster. Interestingly, Texas opted not to recall ex-Mississippi State standout Justin Foscue, who can also play first base. Foscue made his MLB debut last year and is currently hitting .304 at Round Rock. Of note: Four former MSU players have manned first base for the Rangers over the years: Rafael Palmeiro, Will Clark, Mitch Moreland and Nathaniel Lowe.

01 May

debut alert

Gunnar Hoglund, a 2021 first-round pick out of Ole Miss, is getting the call to the big leagues by the A’s, according to various reports. The 25-year-old right-hander could be in line to start Friday’s game at Miami. Hoglund threw five scoreless innings for Triple-A Las Vegas on Sunday; he is 1-2 with a 2.43 ERA over six starts in the Pacific Coast League. Between Double-A and Triple-A in 2024, Hoglund posted a 9-7 record, 3.44 ERA. Drafted 19th overall by Toronto four years ago, and coming off Tommy John surgery, Hoglund was traded in the spring of 2022 to Oakland in the Matt Chapman deal. … When he plays, Hoglund will be the third Mississippi product to make his MLB debut in 2025, following Jake Mangum and Doug Nikhazy, and the 20th overall to get in an MLB game this season.

01 May

names to know

JoJo Parker (No. 14), J.B. Middleton (31), Landon Harmon (47), Talon Haley (84), Pico Kohn (102) and Mason Morris (116): All are ranked among MLB Pipeline’s new Top 150 MLB draft prospects for 2025. Parker (Purvis), Harmon (East Union) and Haley (Lewisburg) are high school players; Middleton pitches at Southern Miss, Kohn at Mississippi State and Morris at Ole Miss.
Brent Rooker: The ex-Mississippi State All-American hit his eighth homer to spark a six-run ninth as the A’s, 16-15 with six wins in eight games, beat Texas 7-1 in the major leagues on Wednesday.
Colt Keith: The former Biloxi High star, battling a sophomore slump in MLB, hit his first homer of the season and scored twice for Detroit in a 7-4 victory at Houston; Keith, a .260 hitter in 2024, is batting .181.
Brandon Johnson: The Ole Miss alum, a fourth-year pro, notched his fourth save for Double-A Northwest Arkansas (Kansas City chain) and now has a 1.42 ERA over 10 appearances.
Konnor Griffin: The ex-Jackson Prep standout, Pittsburgh’s No. 2 prospect, belted his fifth homer for Low-Class A Bradenton and is batting .265 over 20 games as a pro rookie.
Ti’Quan Forbes: The Columbia High product, the state’s Mr. Baseball in 2014, has signed with the independent Mississippi Mud Monsters; Forbes, 28, an infielder, was a second-round draft pick by Texas 11 years ago and reached the Triple-A level in affiliated ball.
Austin Canale: The Belhaven freshman shortstop drove in five runs on a four-hit day as 2-seed Belhaven beat Huntingdon 16-1 on Wednesday in the first round of the CCS Tournament at Maryville, Tenn.
Eli Collins: The senior outfielder went 2-for-4 with three RBIs and two runs to lead William Carey to a 15-5 win against Tennessee Southern in the first day of pool play in the SSAC Tournament.
Mason Nichols: The Ole Miss senior pitcher has been named the 2024-25 SEC Male H. Boyd McWhorter Scholar-Athlete of the Year by the conference office. Nichols, a Jackson Prep grad, is a biological sciences major and is 3-1 with a 5.40 ERA this season.

30 Apr

brought low

In need of a big hit in a clutch spot, Nathaniel Lowe delivered a huge one for Washington on Tuesday night. A short time later, his star turn was upstaged by a Philadelphia rally, Lowe brought low. The Phillies beat the visiting Nationals 7-6 in a wild affair at Citizens Bank Park. Lowe, the Mississippi State alum in his first season with the Nationals, was in a 2-for-27 funk when he blasted a two-strike, two-out, go-ahead three-run homer in the top of the ninth against Philly closer Orion Kerkering. In the bottom half, the Phillies rallied for two runs and the win against Nats closer Kyle Finnegan. The winning run crossed on a wild pitch. “That’s the roller coaster that we sign up for,” Lowe said in an mlb.com article. Washington traded for Lowe in the off-season, hoping his power bat — 78 bombs in four years with Texas — would boost a team that had posted four straight losing seasons. He has had some big knocks. The lefty-hitting first baseman is batting .245 with six homers and a team-best 23 RBIs — and the 2025 Nats (13-17) have been more competitive, Tuesday’s gut-punch notwithstanding. P.S. Former Southern Miss star Dustin Dickerson is hitting .353 in 10 games for Triple-A Omaha since Kansas City promoted the shortstop in his third pro season. … Braden Montgomery went 1-for-3 with two walks, an RBI and a run in his first game with High-Class A Winston-Salem in the Chicago White Sox system. The ex-Madison Central High standout, a first-round draftee in 2024, was hitting .304 with three homers and 19 RBIs at Low-A Kannapolis. … The fields are set for next week’s NJCAA Division II Region 23 sub-regionals. Pearl River Community College, the MACCC champ, will host Mississippi Gulf Coast, Northeast, Meridian and Northwest, with state runner-up East Central hosting Jones, Copiah-Lincoln, Holmes and Southwest. Meridian and Northwest will meet in a play-in game at Poplarville, and Holmes and Southwest will do the same in Decatur.

29 Apr

still grinding

Scroll through the list of the Mexican League’s current pitching leaders and you’ll run across the name Chris Ellis. Yes, it’s that Chris Ellis. The former Ole Miss star, who was drafted by the Los Angeles Angels 11 years ago, pitched for the Double-A Mississippi Braves nine years ago and appeared in 10 major league games between 2019 and ’22, is still wearing a uniform, still trying to get batters out for the Sultanes de Monterrey. The Mexican League is one of the many pro leagues not directly affiliated with Major League Baseball. Foreign leagues and independent leagues afford players who’ve been cast off by MLB clubs the opportunity to keep playing the game they love. Those leagues may also afford them the opportunity, potentially, to get back on the MLB track. Ellis, 32, has pitched in winter ball and indy ball since he last worked for a big league organization. He has pitched well this season for Monterrey; he is tied for the league lead with four saves in five appearances. Maybe an MLB scout will notice. Billy Hamilton, the former Taylorsville High star, is also playing in Mexico. At 34, he is tied for the league lead with seven steals and is hitting .281 in nine games for Jalisco. Hamilton played parts of 11 years in the majors, the last in 2023. He has spent the last two years in Mexico, playing winter ball there, as well. Clearly, he’s not ready to hang ’em up. Also still out there grinding is Cody Reed, the former Northwest Mississippi Community College standout from Horn Lake. The 32-year-old lefty, who pitched in 65 MLB games from 2016-21, is on the roster of Gary SouthShore RailCats of the independent American Association. Their season starts next week. Reed was in the Tampa Bay system in 2022, missed all of 2023 with injury and played in Mexico last summer, putting up a 4.12 ERA in 26 games for Tabasco. He may still have something left in the tank at 32. Demarcus Evans, a Petal High product, has been in pro ball since 2015 but is only 28 and has barely pitched the last two years since leaving the Texas Rangers’ system as a minor league free agent. A flame-throwing righty, Evans had a 4.75 ERA in 29 games with the Rangers in 2020-21 and a career ERA of 2.76 in the minors. He is on the roster of the American Association’s Cleburne club. … A large number of Mississippi-connected players are playing indy ball, including the likes of Davis Bradshaw, Brayland Skinner and Kyle Booker with the Mississippi Mud Monsters, the new Frontier League team that opens next week. Tyreque Reed, Regi Grace, Brett Sanchez and Banks Tolley are also on FL rosters. There’s Bobby Bradley, Errol Robinson and LeDarious Clark in the Atlantic League. Joe Gray Jr., J.C. Keys and Hayden Dunhurst are in the American Association. No doubt many of them are still yearning for The Show. P.S. Ex-Big leaguer Kirk McCarty, Southern Miss alum from Hattiesburg, had re-signed to play for CTBC Brothers in the Chinese Professional Baseball League but was released earlier this month. He previously played in Korea.

29 Apr

fasten your seatbelt

What was already going to be a fascinating week for Magnolia State teams got a lot more interesting on Monday, when Mississippi State decided to make “a change in baseball leadership.” Suddenly, Chris Lemonis was out as head coach. Justin Parker will make his debut as the interim coach tonight when the Bulldogs host Memphis at Dudy Noble Field in Starkville. Lemonis, who had a 232-135 record, won a national title in 2021, but the team’s results since then, especially in the SEC, have been decidedly mediocre. Ranked in the preseason, MSU takes a 25-19 record (7-14 SEC) into tonight’s game. … Also today, Jones College will host East Central Community College in a doubleheader that will decide the second seed in the MACCC playoffs. Both are ranked in the top 10 nationally in NJCAA Division II. Postseason positioning is on the line in several other MACCC games today. No. 2-ranked Pearl River already has claimed the regular season championship and will host a sub-regional starting May 5. … Jackson State completed a series sweep of Alcorn State on Monday, outscoring the struggling Braves 30-7 in the three games at Lorman. JSU, on a six-game win streak, is 23-17, 11-10 SWAC, and will host New Orleans on Wednesday and Mississippi Valley State next weekend. … In the SSAC Tournament opening round on Wednesday at Jackson, Tenn., No. 1 seed William Carey plays Tennessee Southern and No. 5 Blue Mountain Christian meets Middle Georgia. The Mississippi schools are in the same four-team pool. … Belhaven, seeded second in the CCS Tournament at Maryville, Tenn., plays Huntingdon (Ala.) on Wednesday in the first round. … Rust College will take on Wiley (Texas) on Wednesday in the quarterfinal round of the HBCUAC Tournament in North Little Rock, Ark. … Delta State is the top seed and Mississippi College No. 4 in the GSC Tournament that begins Friday at Oxford, Ala. DSU meets Montevallo (Ala.) and MC gets West Alabama in first round games. … NCAA Division III rivals Millsaps and MUW, whose conference tournaments start next week, will tangle today at Twenty Field in Jackson. Millsaps, as the top seed, will host the SAA Tournament starting on May 8. MUW’s seeding in the SLIAC tourney has not been set. P.S. With Baltimore having paced ex-State standout Jordan Westburg (hamstring) on the injured list, there are now 11 Mississippians on the major league IL and 11 on active rosters. (Cleveland sent Ole Miss alum Doug Nikhazy back to the minors after his inauspicious debut.)

28 Apr

watch list

Delta State, which has never had a Ferriss Trophy winner, has produced quite a few viable candidates over the years. The Statesmen have another solid one in 2025. Right-hander Drake Fontenot is 9-1 with a 1.96 ERA, a .208 batting average against, 78 strikeouts and 19 walks in 91 2/3 innings for the Gulf South Conference regular season champion. Fontenot’s only loss came on Friday at Mississippi College in his worst outing of the season (seven runs in six innings). The Ferriss Trophy — named in honor of Delta State coaching legend Boo Ferriss — will be awarded to the best college player in the state for the 21st time on May 19 by the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame and Museum. The finalists, who will attend the ceremony, have not yet been named. As usual, there are a bunch of players around the state who have put up mighty impressive numbers. Throwing out a few more names: Southern Miss’ J.B. Middleton, regarded as a top pro prospect, is 8-1 with a 1.92 ERA for the Golden Eagles. Teammate Nick Monistere, on a recent tear, has 16 homers, 56 RBIs, 42 runs and a .335 average for 31-13 USM. Ole Miss’ Luke Hill is batting .352 with 51 runs for the nationally ranked Rebels (31-13). Mississippi State’s Ace Reese has 16 bombs and 53 RBIs. Jackson State’s Jordan McCladdie is hitting .381 with 51 runs and 33 steals. Millsaps’ Gray Berry (.426, 61 runs) and Nick Tarantino (9-1, 2.74) have been stellar for a 28-11 conference championship club. MC’s Korey Cooper is a .376 hitter with 12 homers, 55 RBIs and 52 runs. At William Carey, also a conference champ, Rigoberto Hernandez is batting .386 with 12 homers, 51 RBIs, 63 runs and 17 bags for a 33-13 team. Blue Mountain Christian’s Hayden Redding has 46 steals and a .339 average. P.S. Mississippi College’s stunning blowout of Delta State in Clinton last weekend was the first-ever three-game sweep for the Choctaws over their longtime rival. MC (31-19, 21-12 GSC) outscored the Statesmen 40-7 and will go into the GSC Tournament next weekend as the No. 4 seed. DSU (32-16, 23-10) is the top seed, having gotten some help elsewhere over the weekend to win the regular season title. … Ole Miss jumped to No. 13 (from 22) in the new Baseball America Top 25 after taking two of three from then-No.8 Vanderbilt last week.

27 Apr

around the horn

Actors have their “Oscar scenes.” Austin Riley might have had his “Gold Glove moment” on Saturday night. The former DeSoto Central High star and current Atlanta third baseman threw out an Arizona runner at first base, with the tying run charging home from third, to end the Braves’ 8-7, 10-inning win over the Diamondbacks. If you saw it, your jaw dropped. Riley fielded Randall Grichuk’s grounder behind the bag near the foul line and launched a two-hopper to first baseman Matt Olson, who made a clean scoop. The umpire clearly blew the call, but it was corrected on review. Braves win. The play that ended the game essentially upstaged the record-tying four-homer effort by Arizona’s Eugenio Suarez. Riley, a two-time All-Star in his seventh MLB campaign, has yet to win a Gold Glove. Those who watch him regularly have to wonder why. He has handled 65 chances this year with 49 assists and just two errors. He has a .965 career fielding percentage, tied with Clete Boyer for 33rd all-time. But apparently, Riley doesn’t rate high in the new-fangled metrics. “You can take those defensive metrics and put it you know where. I judge defense with my eyes,” Braves manager Brian Snitker once said of Riley. Matt Chapman won the National League Gold Glove at third last year, Ke’Bryan Hayes in 2023, breaking Nolan Arenado’s long stranglehold on the award. Maybe it’s Riley’s time. … Doug Nikhazy’s MLB debut was not one to remember. The Ole Miss product gave up six runs (including a steal of home) on five hits and six walks in three innings, taking the loss for Cleveland against Boston. … The A’s have placed right-hander J.T. Ginn on the injured list with elbow soreness. The ex-Mississippi State star joins nine — nine! — other Mississippians on the current MLB injured list. … Former Jackson Prep standout Konnor Griffin had his first three-hit game as a pro on Saturday for Low-Class A Bradenton in Pittsburgh’s chain. He hit his fourth homer, swiped his 11th bag and raised his average to .243. … Hail to the college champs: Delta State, William Carey, Millsaps and Pearl River Community College have won their conference regular season titles. Now it’s on to tournament play.