Tag Archives: Atlantic League

06 Jul

it’s a thing

Mississippi certainly seems to have a knack for producing power hitters. It’s a thing, as they say. Check the Atlantic League batting leaders today and you’ll find ex-Ole Miss star Thomas Dillard on top in the home run category. Playing for Barry Lyons’ Lexington Counter Clocks in the independent league, Dillard mashed his 21st homer on Wednesday in a 9-4 win against Staten Island. The lefty-hitting first baseman has moved two homers ahead of former Harrison Central High star Bobby Bradley, who led the league about a month ago. Power has been Dillard’s calling card for much of his career. He led the nation in homers as a senior catcher at Oxford High with 16, earning All-America honors and state player of the year recognition from USA Today. At Ole Miss, he belted 14 homers and hit .310 as a junior and was drafted in the fifth round by Milwaukee in 2019. He played three seasons in the Brewers’ system, hitting .241 with 37 homers — 12 at Double-A Biloxi in 2022 — but striking out 356 times in 986 at-bats. Milwaukee released him last December. Lyons was happy to add him to the roster this spring for his first Lexington team. Dillard, only 25, still strikes out a fair bit but has posted a .269 average (.412 on-base percentage) and 53 RBIs for the 30-31 Counter Clocks. P.S. Madison Central product Braden Montgomery did his Shohei Ohtani act on Wednesday for Team USA, hitting a two-run homer and striking out the side in an inning of work against Chinese Taipei. Montgomery is 3-for-15 with two homers and four RBIs for the Collegiate National Team, which begins a five-game series against Japan on Friday.

29 Jun

names of note

Colt Keith: The former Biloxi High standout homered in his first Triple-A at-bat on Wednesday and finished 3-for-4 for Toledo, Detroit’s top affiliate. He had 14 homers in Double-A.
Jordan Westburg: The Mississippi State alum went 2-for-5 with an RBI double for Baltimore and is batting .417 with at least one hit in each of his first three MLB games.
Adam Frazier: The State product hit a game-tying homer — his ninth — with Westburg aboard in the eighth inning for the Orioles, who fell 11-7 in 10 to Cincinnati.
Hunter Renfroe: The former State star belted his 13th homer for the Los Angeles Angels, his first since June 13. He is tied with Brent Rooker for second-most bombs in the majors among Mississippians, one back of Austin Riley.
Nick Sandlin: The Southern Miss product pitched a clean 1 1/3 innings in relief for Cleveland and got the win vs. Kansas City as the Guardians moved into first place in the American League Central. Sandlin is 4-3 with a 3.14 ERA.
James McArthur: The ex-Ole Miss standout made his MLB debut for the Royals — and it didn’t go well: seven earned runs in one inning of work, a 63.00 ERA.
Thomas Dillard: The Ole Miss alum hit his 16th homer for Lexington in the independent Atlantic League and is fourth in the loop in homers.
Bobby Bradley: The Gulfport native hit his 17th homer for Charleston in the Atlantic League and is tied for second in that category.
Hunter Hines: The MSU star went 0-for-5 for Yarmouth-Dennis in the Cape Cod League but picked up his 22nd RBI, which leads the collegiate summer league. He also leads the loop in homers with six.
Braden Montgomery: The Madison Central alum, now at Stanford, went 2-for-5 in the final Stars vs. Stripes Series game and finished 5-for-17 with three RBIs in four games at the Collegiate National Team training camp.
Mason Nichols: The Ole Miss standout threw a scoreless inning in the Stars vs. Stripes game and finished with a 3.00 ERA and four strikeouts in three appearances in the training camp.
Tanner Hall: The Southern Miss ace was named a first-team All-America by Baseball America, the latest in a series of honors for the MLB draft prospect.
Braden Shewmake: The former Mississippi Braves shortstop hit for the cycle for Triple-A Gwinnett, a first for the Atlanta affiliate. Shewmake, who made a brief big league appearance this season, is batting .232 with eight homers.
P.S. From the Always a Mississippi Connection Dept.: Ex-MSU star Brent Rooker went 0-for-3 with two strikeouts for Oakland in Domingo German’s perfect game for the New York Yankees. In the last perfect game, on Aug. 15, 2012, ex-Itawamba Community College star Desmond Jennings struck out as a ninth-inning pinch hitter for Tampa Bay in Felix Hernandez’s perfecto for Seattle.

11 Jun

good to see

Bobby Bradley will hit bombs. That we know. The former Harrison Central High star hit 180 home runs in eight seasons in affiliated ball, and he has 14 — tied for the league lead — in his first season in the independent Atlantic League. What is a little different this year for the 27-year-old Bradley has been his ability to put the ball in play. He went 3-for-4 (with a homer) in a 9-8 win by the Charleston Dirty Birds on Saturday and raised his average to .288. He has a .362 on-base average, a .667 slug. High strikeout totals (and defensive limitations) were Bradley’s big issue in affiliated ball. He punched out more than a thousand times in 820 games. In his last MLB stint with Cleveland in 2022, he hit .118 with nine strikeouts in 17 at-bats before being shipped to the minors and ultimately released. He has fanned 36 times in 37 games (132 at-bats) for Charleston. Atlantic League pitching isn’t bad; there are a lot of veteran arms around the circuit. Bradley, primarily a first baseman, has shown defensive versatility by playing some left field this year. Whether he has a path back to affiliated ball, who knows? But it’s good to see the once-highly rated prospect having some success again. P.S. Lance Berkman, the former Jackson Generals standout, was somehow bypassed for inclusion in the National Baseball Hall of Fame, but he has been named to the Cape Cod League Hall of Fame, no minor honor. The star-studded college summer league, which began its centennial season on Saturday, named its 2023 class on Friday. Berkman hit a league-best .352 for Wareham in 1996. Two years later, after being drafted in the first round out of Rice by Houston, Berkman had a big year for the Double-A Gens, hitting .306 with 24 homers and 89 RBIs. He was a six-time All-Star and a World Series champ in the majors, finishing with a .293 career average over 15 seasons.

09 Jun

what’s going on

It ain’t Red Sox-Yankees (also happening on this sports-packed weekend), but Counter Clocks-Blue Crabs is a burgeoning rivalry that should get the attention of Mississippi baseball aficionados. The Lexington Counter Clocks, managed by Biloxi native Barry Lyons, and the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs, managed by Jackson native Stan Cliburn, are slated for a three-game Atlantic League series at Regency Furniture Stadium in Waldorf, Md., beginning tonight. It is the first meeting this season of the two former big league catchers. Lyons is in his first year with the Counter Clocks, while Cliburn is a veteran of the independent league. Cliburn’s club leads the APBL North Division with a 21-13 record. Lyons’ team is 16-20, third in the South. The Blue Crabs’ top hitter is former Ole Miss standout Braxton Lee, batting .349. Ex-Rebels star Thomas Dillard is batting .235 with six homers and 17 RBIs for the Counter Clocks. … On the MLB docket, the two best teams record-wise, Tampa Bay and Texas, open a compelling three-game set tonight at Tropicana Field. On the undercard in this series is the first meeting as opposing players for the Brothers Lowe, former Mississippi State star Nathaniel of the Rangers and Josh of the Rays. A bunch of family and friends are expected to attend. … The Mississippi Braves and Biloxi Shuckers continue their Southern League series tonight at Pearl’s Trustmark Park. The Milwaukee-affiliated Shuckers have won two of the first three in the six-game set and lead the season series 7-5. … The NCAA Super Regionals begin tonight — Tennessee-Southern Miss starts Saturday — and one of the most interesting matchups is South Carolina-Florida, a longtime SEC rivalry. Both teams feature a Southern Miss transfer: Will McGillis is the Gamecocks’ usual leadoff batter and Hurston Waldrep is one of the Gators’ top starting pitchers. … The Cape Cod League, the best of the college summer loops, begins its centennial season Saturday. There are a handful of Mississippi products on the current rosters, including Mississippi State’s Ross Highfill and K.C. Hunt with Falmouth, State’s Hunter Hines with Yarmouth-Dennis and Ole Miss’ Mason Nichols with Hyannis. There is a lot of roster movement during the season, so there may be more Mississippians arriving later.

11 May

worth noting

Justin Steele, former George County High standout, ran his record to 6-0 on Wednesday, throwing six strong innings for the Chicago Cubs in a 10-4 win over rival St. Louis at Wrigley Field. “It was a fun game,” he told The Associated Press. Steele, who has a 1.82 ERA, yielded three earned runs, the first time in 15 starts dating to 2022 that the left-hander had allowed more than two. … For the other Chicago team, ex-Ole Miss star Lance Lynn gave up a career-high seven earned runs against Kansas City and saw his record drop to 1-5 and ERA rise to 7.51. The crumbling White Sox also placed Taylorsville native Billy Hamilton on the injured list. The 11-year veteran, now basically a pinch-running specialist, had scored two runs and stolen two bases in three games since his call-up earlier this month. … On a brighter note for White Sox fans, former Ocean Springs High star Garrett Crochet posted back-to-back scoreless outings on Tuesday and Wednesday at Triple-A Charlotte as he works his way back from Tommy John surgery. … In the independent Atlantic League, Gulfport’s Bobby Bradley hit his fourth home run for Charleston. It was just the fifth hit of the young season for the ex-big leaguer, batting .147 for the Dirty Birds. Braxton Lee, the ex-Pearl River Community College and Ole Miss star, lifted his average to .378 with a 2-for-3 game and drove in three runs in a win for Southern Maryland; Jacques Pucheu, an East Mississippi CC alum, made his fourth straight scoreless relief appearance for the Blue Crabs. … Tyler Tolve, an Atlanta catching prospect, went 0-for-4 with a walk and a run in his Double-A debut Wednesday in a win by the Mississippi Braves at Trustmark Park. Tolve hit .261 with 12 homers at High-Class A Rome in 2022. … Former Hattiesburg High standout Joe Gray Jr. went 0-for-4 for Double-A Biloxi at MGM Park and saw his average dip to .038 (1-for-26) in six games since Milwaukee promoted him to the Shuckers. … Jackson Prep product Will Warren, a New York Yankees prospect, leads the Double-A Eastern League in strikeouts with 37. He is 2-0 with a 3.09 ERA in five starts for Somerset. Ex-Ole Miss star Tim Elko (White Sox system) leads the Class A Carolina League in homers with 10, and ex-South Panola High standout Emaarion Boyd (Philadelphia system) tops the Class A Florida State League with 18 stolen bases. Davis Bradshaw (Miami system), a Meridian CC and McLaurin High alum, had three hits Wednesday to raise his average to .378, second in the Class A Midwest League. … The first-round pairings are set for Monday’s NJCAA Divison II Region 23 Tournament at Eunice, La. State champion East Central will play Itawamba; defending national champ Pearl River draws Meridian; and Northeast gets No. 1-ranked LSU-Eunice. The winner of the double-elimination tourney goes to the juco World Series in Enid, Okla.

02 May

noteworthy

Konnor Pilkington, Mississippi State alum, has been traded to Arizona from Cleveland, which designated the Pascagoula native for assignment on April 26. The Diamondbacks, who need some pitching help, sent the left-hander to Triple-A Reno, but he figures to get a big league call soon. Originally drafted out of MSU by the Chicago White Sox in 2018, Pilkington posted a 3.88 ERA for the Guardians in 15 games in 2022, working as both a starter and reliever. He made one scoreless appearance this season, spending most of the first month at Triple-A Columbus, where his numbers weren’t great. … Braxton Lee, the ex-Ole Miss standout from Picayune, is the hitting coach for the independent Southern Maryland club — and he is leading by example. Lee, who had a brief MLB stint in 2018, also plays outfield for the Blue Crabs and is batting .300 in their 3-0 start. He hit .306 for them last season. Jackson native Stan Cliburn is the manager of the Atlantic League team. … Former East Central Community College star Tim Anderson is slated to return to the White Sox’s lineup today at home against Minnesota. The All-Star shortstop has been out since April 10 with a knee injury. … Meridian CC product Corey Dickerson, now with the Washington Nationals, remains on the shelf with no clear timetable to return, per reports. The career .281 hitter played two games for the Nats before going down with a calf injury. … Ex-Ole Miss standout Drew Pomeranz was shut down by San Diego from his rehab assignment after a rough outing at Triple-A El Paso last week. That’s not a good sign for the 34-year-old lefty, who missed all of 2022 after arm surgery. … Emaarion Boyd, a 2023 draftee out of South Panola High by Philadelphia, has 14 stolen bases at Low-Class A Clearwater despite batting just .191. Boyd’s steals total leads the Florida State League and ranks among the best in the minors. … Props to Mississippi Braves slugger Drew Lugbauer, who hit his 50th career homer last week, extending his club record. The sobering news is that Lugbauer, 26, has been in Double-A long enough — parts of three years — to hit 50 homers.

29 Apr

that other draft

While Ole Miss has tumbled from the national rankings this season, Jacob Gonzalez’s MLB draft stock has remained steady. The Rebels shortstop, regarded as a top 10 pick entering this season, is rated No. 8 in MLB Pipeline’s new list of the Top 150 prospects for this summer’s draft. Gonzalez is batting .322 with seven homers and 37 RBIs for the 22-20 Rebels, last year’s national champs. The left-handed hitter, who goes 6 feet 2, 200 pounds, has a .317 career average with 37 homers in three seasons at UM. Five other players from the state are in the Top 150: No. 43 Cooper Pratt, shortstop at Magnolia Heights; No. 47 Colton Ledbetter, Mississippi State outfielder; No. 64 Kemp Alderman, Ole Miss outfielder; No. 101 Tanner Hall, Southern Miss pitcher; and No. 145 Calvin Harris, UM catcher. Ranked 11th is Hurston Waldrep, who pitched at USM in 2022 but is now at Florida. Ledbetter, a Samford transfer, has been a standout during a tough year for State, hitting .322 with 10 homers, 46 RBIs and 15 steals. Hall, last year’s Ferriss Trophy winner, is 7-3 with a 2.95 ERA for the Golden Eagles, who are battling for the Sun Belt Conference title. P.S. Lexington beat the York Revolution 5-4 Friday night in Barry Lyons’ debut (see previous post) as manager of the Counter Clocks of the independent Atlantic League. Former Delta State star Trent Giambrone went 2-for-4 for York in his ALPB debut. Harrison Central High alum and ex-big leaguer Bobby Bradley homered for Charleston in his indy ball debut. … The Chicago White Sox lost their ninth straight game Friday after MSU product Kendall Graveman gave up a ninth-inning homer in a 3-2 defeat against visiting Tampa Bay. Graveman (1-2) has a 5.06 ERA in 11 relief appearances for the 7-20 White Sox. … Tim Anderson, on a rehab assignment for the ChiSox, went 0-for-4 for Triple-A Charlotte in Game 1 of a twinbill. Also in the Knights’ lineup was Taylorsville’s Billy Hamilton, the demoted big league vet who went 2-for-3 to improve his average to .186. He has three stolen bases.

28 Apr

saddle up

It’s a few days before the Lexington Counter Clocks’ season opener, and Barry Lyons’ enthusiasm is palpable. “I’m energized,” Lyons said in a phone interview as he came off the field from a team workout. “It’s given me a new sense of purpose.”
At age 62, Lyons has seized the reins as the new manager of the Kentucky-based Counter Clocks, who play in the independent Atlantic League. The former Biloxi High, Delta State and major league catcher — a recent inductee into the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame — is back in uniform some 25 years after he last managed a professional team.
“I loved managing when I did,” Lyons said. “I only got out after my daughter was born.”
Lyons stayed engaged in the game. He did some broadcasting for a minor league team in Nashville, and he has been deeply involved with the Biloxi Shuckers since the Double-A team moved from Huntsville, Ala., in 2015. He also administers summer and fall wood bat leagues for amateur players on the Coast.
Lyons has endured some personal hardships along the way, but he is in a good place now, personally and professionally.
“I missed being out on the field,” he said.
As fate would have it, Lyons’ nephew Nathan — a former Ole Miss pitcher — and Nathan’s wife Keri purchased the Lexington Legends franchise back in October. (The nickname was changed to Counter Clocks in recognition of early Kentuckians racing horses in a counter-clockwise direction, opposite of the tradition in England.)
Naturally, Barry Lyons’ interest was piqued.
“I have a lot of friends in the league — Stan Cliburn, Wally Backman, Frank Viola,” he said. “I had kept up with the league. After he bought the team, I talked with Nathan about getting the ball rolling there. He didn’t know that I had any interest in managing again. But one thing led to another, and he asked me about the job. Basically, he made me an offer I couldn’t refuse. I couldn’t be more excited and thankful for this opportunity.”
He took the job in mid-December.
Lyons was a Division II All-America catcher under Boo Ferriss at Delta State, led the Double-A Jackson Mets to the Texas League championship in 1985, made his big league debut with the 1986 world champion New York Mets and spent parts of seven years in the majors, his career curtailed by injury issues.
His first managerial job was in an independent league, the Big South, in 1996, and he worked for two seasons with a Class A team in the Cincinnati Reds’ system.
“Barry’s experiences in baseball have equipped him with a unique understanding of all aspects of the game,” Nathan Lyons said in a team release, “and we can’t wait to see what he does with the team on the field.”
In independent ball, there is no major league affiliate to supply players. You have to stock your own team and comply with a salary cap. With the help of coaches Cameron Roth and Enohel Polanco, both indy league veterans, Lyons has put together what he feels is a competitive club.
The Atlantic League is the premier independent league — aka, MLB Partner League — in the country, and many former major leaguers dot the rosters of the 10 teams. Lyons has landed a few, including pitcher Jerad Eickhoff, infielder Abiatal Avelino and outfielder Ronnie Dawson. He has recruited some players with Mississippi connections: former Ole Miss first baseman Thomas Dillard, ex-Delta State pitcher Cooper Brune and catcher Logan Brown, who played for the Double-A Mississippi Braves in 2022. Former LSU star Brandt Broussard is also on the roster.
“I’m very pleased with everything we’ve seen (in training camp),” he said. “We have a lot of experienced players and a few younger ones to balance it out.”
Lyons said he is looking forward to matching managerial wits with Cliburn, the Jackson native and ex-big league catcher now running the Southern Maryland team, and Backman, Lyons’ teammate with the New York Mets and current skipper of the Long Island Ducks.
“I saw Stan at a golf event a few weeks ago and he was beating his chest about stealing a player we wanted,” Lyons said. “I told him, ‘O.K., the stakes just went up.'”
That meeting won’t come until June. First up is today’s season opener at home against the York Revolution.
“I can’t wait to get out there,” Lyons said.

21 Apr

puttin’ on the hits

In his second stint at Low-Class A Kannapolis, Tim Elko looks like he might be ready for the next step on the minor league ladder. The former Ole Miss slugger went 4-for-4 with two home runs on Thursday and is batting .413 with four homers and 16 RBIs for the Cannon Ballers. He also has a five-hit game during his current six-game hitting streak. A 10th-round pick by the Chicago White Sox last summer, Elko is, at 24, one of the oldest players on the Kannapolis roster. After mashing a school-record 24 homers and leading the Rebels to the national championship last year, Elko enjoyed a solid pro debut, hitting .240 with five homers between rookie ball and Kannapolis. Back with the Cannon Ballers to start this season, the 6-foot-4, 240-pound first baseman/DH is showing better plate discipline (seven walks, 17 strikeouts in 53 plate appearances). The White Sox’s High-A affiliate is in Winston-Salem. … Colt Keith, the former Biloxi High star, put up a 3-for-3 on Thursday for Double-A Erie in Detroit’s system. The 21-year-old Keith, the Tigers’ No. 4 prospect (per mlb.com), is batting .304 with a homer and seven RBIs in his first taste of the Double-A level. He is a lefty hitter who has played third and second base in his three pro seasons. … Southern Miss product Chuckie Robinson extended his hitting streak to 11 games Thursday with a knock for Triple-A Louisville in the Cincinnati system. Robinson, 28, a catcher, is batting .415 with two homers, seven RBIs and four steals in 12 games for the Bats. He got a call-up with the Reds last season, hitting a pair of homers in 25 MLB games. P.S. Ex-Delta State star Trent Giambrone, who got some big league time with the Chicago Cubs in 2021, has signed with York of the independent Atlantic League. Jacques Pucheu, a former West Harrison High and East Mississippi Community College pitcher, has signed with Southern Maryland of the Atlantic League, which starts its season next week.

14 Apr

whatever happened to …

Bobby Bradley, the erstwhile big leaguer from Gulfport, has signed with the Charleston (W.Va.) Dirty Birds of the independent Atlantic League. The lefty-hitting slugger, 26, was Cleveland’s opening day first baseman in 2022 but wound up being released out of the minors last August. Bradley was drafted in the third round out of Harrison Central High in 2014 and was ranked among Cleveland’s top prospects during his climb to the majors. He debuted in 2019. But he didn’t make enough consistent contact to stick in The Show, batting just .199 with 17 homers in parts of three seasons. He hit .246 with 163 homers and 539 RBIs in the minors, belting 33 homers in Triple-A in 2019. Many former big leaguers populate Atlantic League rosters, and Mississippi natives Stan Cliburn and Barry Lyons are managers in the league. The season starts April 28. Don’t be surprised if Bradley is among the league home run leaders.