Tag Archives: Biloxi Shuckers

06 Jul

star struck

Garrett Crochet, who starred at Ocean Springs High, and Brent Rooker, who did same at Mississippi State, were named Sunday to the American League All-Star team. It’s the second time each has been selected. Left-hander Crochet, who beat Washington on Sunday, is 9-4 with a 2.37 ERA and 151 strikeouts in his first season with Boston. Rooker, picked as a DH, is batting .273 with 18 homers and 48 RBIs for the A’s heading into a Sunday night game against San Francisco. At least one Mississippian (native or school alum) has been on an All-Star Game roster every year since 2014. (There was no game in 2020.) Also going to Atlanta next week are former Biloxi Shuckers Josh Hader, now with Houston, and Freddy Peralta (Milwaukee) and Mississippi Braves alum Max Fried (New York Yankees). The pitchers and reserves were announced on Sunday. Last week, former M-Braves stars Ronald Acuna Jr. (Atlanta) and Freddie Freeman (Los Angeles Dodgers) were voted in as starters for the National League. The Midsummer Classic is July 15 at Truist Park. P.S. Brandon Woodruff, a former All-Star, flashed all-star form in his first appearance since September 2023 (see previous post). Starting for Milwaukee on Sunday, MSU alum Woodruff got the win vs. Miami, throwing six innings (70 pitches) and yielding just two hits and a run with eight strikeouts. He reportedly hit 96 mph.

05 Jul

four for the 4th

Four Mississippians in the majors made notable contributions to winning efforts on July 4, always a star-spangled day in baseball. Jordan Westburg provided plenty of fireworks for Baltimore, going 3-for-4 with a homer — his eighth — in the Orioles’ 3-2 win at Atlanta. Mississippi State alum Westburg was back in the lineup at third base for the first time since June 27 because of a nagging injury. (Ex-Braves star Charlie Morton got the win for the O’s, his fifth of the season and the 143rd of his MLB career; he is the all-time leader in wins among former Mississippi Braves hurlers, of which there are many who’ve made The Show.) … Ex-MSU star Brent Rooker, a potential All-Star pick, went 2-for-4 with two RBIs as the A’s routed San Francisco 11-2. Rooker is batting .273 with 18 homers and 48 RBIs. … Matt Wallner, former Southern Miss standout, went 1-for-3 with a walk in Minnesota’s 4-3 win against surging Tampa Bay. The Twins (42-46 overall) are 23-17 at Target Field. Wallner is batting just .201 but 19 of his 31 hits have been for extra bases, including eight home runs. … Colt Keith, the Biloxi High product, went 1-for-4 batting leadoff as Detroit beat Cleveland 2-1. Keith is hitting .258 (.338 OBP) for the Tigers, the best team in MLB at 53-34. P.S. Mississippi State’s Ace Reese — who made several All-America teams this year — and Ryan McPherson made the 26-man roster for the Collegiate National Team that will play a team from Japan in a series starting July 8. Reese hit .267 in the Stars vs. Stripes Series and McPherson posted a 0.00 ERA in two appearances. Jackson State coach Omar Johnson is on the Team USA coaching staff. … The Biloxi Shuckers drew an announced crowd of 6,098 Friday night at Keesler Federal Park, and the Southern League South first-half champs beat Pensacola 10-4. Former Magnolia Heights star Cooper Pratt went 1-for-3 with two walks and a run for the Double-A Shuckers. … The independent Mississippi Mud Monsters drew an announced crowd of 5,230 for their Friday night game against Washington at Pearl’s Trustmark Park, and the home boys rewarded the fans with a 2-1 victory, their fourth in a row in the Frontier League. Kasten Furr drove in both runs in the seventh inning.

28 Jun

double-a stuff

Reed Trimble, who is having a tough season, and Colton Ledbetter, having a really nice one, got walk-off knocks on Friday, two of a bundle of Mississippi products who had an impact in Double-A games. Trimble, from Tupelo by way of Southern Miss, went 2-for-5 with a 10th-inning game-winner as Chesapeake (Baltimore system) beat Altoona 4-3. Trimble, who has four homers, is batting just .175 with seven RBIs in 24 games. Ex-Mississippi State star Ledbetter banged out four hits, scored twice and drove in the clincher in the ninth as Montgomery (Tampa Bay) topped Rocket City (Los Angeles Angels) 5-4. MSU alum Hunter Stovall hit his fifth homer for the winning Biscuits, and former Bulldogs star David Mershon went 2-for-4 with an RBI for the Trash Pandas. Ex-Ole Miss All-America Jacob Gonzalez had three hits, three RBIs and a steal for Birmingham (Chicago White Sox) in a 6-2 win vs. Knoxville. Gonzalez is batting .258 with five homers, 32 RBIs and 10 bags. Also in the Southern League, Magnolia Heights product Cooper Pratt went 1-for-5 in helping Biloxi (Milwaukee) beat Columbus (Atlanta) and USM alum Landon Harper 3-0. Harper, making his sixth start since moving from the bullpen, allowed two runs in five innings with six strikeouts and no walks. He is 2-3 with a 3.00 ERA. Former USM standout Dustin Dickerson went 2-for-4 with a run as Northwest Arkansas (Kansas City) beat Corpus Christi in the Texas League. Dickerson is batting .213. P.S. Mississippi State’s Ace Reese and Ryan McPherson have been chosen by USA Baseball to participate in the Collegiate National Team Training Camp in North Carolina. Reese, who has been playing in the Cape Cod League, hit .352 with 21 homers for the Bulldogs this season. McPherson was 4-1 with three saves and a 4.12 ERA as a freshman. Two squads will play a five-game Stars vs. Stripes series with the first game set for Sunday. The players making the cut for Team USA will be named on July 4.

21 Jun

big league chew

Matt Wallner’s sixth home run of the season, a rather modest 370-footer, came in the seventh inning Friday night with his team down 8-0. But it was a significant hit for the Minnesota slugger out of Southern Miss. Milwaukee rookie and former Biloxi Shuckers ace Jacob Misiorowski had a no-hitter going at the time. In fact, the 6-foot-7 right-hander had entered the seventh with a perfect game, following up the five no-hit innings he threw in his big league debut last week. A walk to Byron Buxton ended the perfecto and Wallner then took a hanging slider out of the park to end Misiorowski’s night. The Brewers won the game 17-6. … Former state prep stars Austin Riley and Colt Keith also went deep Friday in losing causes, Riley hitting his 12th for Atlanta, Keith his sixth for Detroit. … Spencer Turnbull, the ex-Madison Central standout, made his first start for Toronto — and first since last season with Philadelphia — and it did not go well: The Chicago White Sox touched him up for five runs (four earned) in two innings. Turnbull now has a 7.11 ERA in three games for the Blue Jays, who lost 7-1 Friday. Ex-USM star Nick Sandlin came off the injured list and tossed a scoreless inning in relief for the Jays in his first MLB game in two months. … Former Jackson Generals standout Ray Montgomery is serving as the Los Angeles Angels’ acting manager with Ron Washington sidelined by health concerns. It’s the second time in the four years Montgomery, the team’s bench coach, has stepped in as acting skipper. The Angels lost to Houston 3-2 on Friday. … Will Clark, the former Mississippi State star now a special assistant with San Francisco, is helping Rafael Devers learn the ropes at first base, per reports. Devers, recently acquired from Boston, has never played the position. Clark was a five-time All-Star at first base with the Giants. “He’s very eager to help,” Giants manager Bob Melvin told The Mercury News of San Jose.

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.

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.

03 Jun

something to celebrate

There is no joy in Hattiesburg or Oxford today, but, hey, there should be a festive mood in Biloxi at Keesler Federal Park. The Double-A Shuckers, celebrating their 10th anniversary season, are in first place with the best record in the Southern League as they open a six-game homestand against Montgomery. The 10th anniversary of the franchise’s first home game is Friday. The Shuckers are 30-21, 2 games ahead of Montgomery in the SL South, and lead the league in scoring. Four of Milwaukee’s Top 30 prospects (per MLB Pipeline) are on the Biloxi roster, led by Cooper Pratt, the former Gatorade player of the year from Magnolia Heights. In his first Double-A season, shortstop Pratt is batting .229 with four homers, 27 RBIs and 28 runs. Ex-Mississippi State standout K.C. Hunt, the system’s No. 24 prospect, is in the Shuckers’ rotation and is 3-4 with a 4.61 ERA. No. 8 prospect Luke Adams leads the team with 34 runs, and No. 12 Brock Wilken has 12 homers and 27 RBIs. Zavier Warren has seven homers, 29 RBIs and 25 runs. On the mound, Nate Peterson is 5-4, 3.06; Tate Kuehner 4-4, 2.77; and Justin Yeager has eight saves. The Shuckers — formerly the Huntsville Stars — played their inaugural home game at what was then called MGM Park on June 6, 2015, winning 4-3 against Mobile. That Shuckers team, featuring Orlando Arcia and Tyrone Taylor among others, won a first-half championship despite playing the bulk of its games on the road. They actually clinched the title in mid-June vs. the Mississippi Braves at Trustmark Park in Pearl. … Montgomery, a Tampa Bay affiliate, comes to Biloxi with a crew of Mississippi products in tow: Ex-MSU stars Colton Ledbetter, Kamren James and Hunter Stovall and Southern Miss alum Matthew Etzel. Ledbetter and Etzel are ranked prospects for the Rays. P.S. In MLB moves, the (Sacramento) A’s have placed Gunnar Hoglund, the rookie righty out of Ole Miss, on the injured list (hip injury), and the Los Angeles Dodgers have DFA’d former MSU star Chris Stratton, who made two appearances for them.

21 Apr

remember them?

When you think of the many former Mississippi Braves and Biloxi Shuckers currently doing big things in the big leagues, the names Dylan Moore and Trent Grisham probably don’t come quickly to mind. Neither is the brightest of stars. But take a look: Quite a few years after they passed through Mississippi, both are among the most productive hitters on their current teams. Moore, the M-Braves’ regular shortstop in 2017, is batting .316 with five homers and five stolen bases in 19 games for Seattle. Grisham, who played for the Milwaukee-affiliated Shuckers in 2018-19, is hitting .320 with six homers and 13 RBIs over 20 games for the New York Yankees. And both have Gold Gloves on their resume. On Sunday, Moore — who can play any position — started at short and hit leadoff for Seattle, going 2-for-5 with a homer in the 12-10 Mariners’ win against Toronto. Grisham, playing center field, hit leadoff for the 14-8 Yankees and homered in a win against Tampa Bay. Moore, just a .207 hitter in Double-A Mississippi in 2017, played with Grisham in Biloxi for a time in 2018 and made the majors in 2019 with the Mariners. Grisham, a first-round pick by the Brewers in 2015, hit 20 homers over 170 games for the Double-A Shuckers and made his MLB debut with Milwaukee in 2019. He spent four seasons in San Diego and joined the Yankees in 2024.

05 Apr

update …

It probably comes as no real surprise that Konnor Griffin got a hit in his first pro at-bat Friday night. The former Jackson Prep star and Pittsburgh prospect also got a hit in his second at-bat, stole two bases and scored twice in Low-Class A Bradenton’s 6-2 win against Daytona Beach. Leading off and playing shortstop for the Marauders, he was 2-for-4 with a walk and handled three chances flawlessly in the field. … Also debuting Friday was Chicago White Sox prospect Braden Montgomery, a Madison Central High alum and another 2024 first-round draftee, who went 0-for-4 with a walk and an RBI in Low-A Kannapolis’ 7-4 loss to Hickory. … Mississippi State product Khal Stephen, a Toronto draft pick in the second round last summer, threw five shutout innings but got a no-decision for Low-A Dunedin. … Ex-Magnolia Heights star Cooper Pratt, a Milwaukee prospect, got a hit in his first Double-A at-bat and finished 1-for-4 for Biloxi, playing shortstop and batting second in a 4-0 loss at Pensacola. Ex-Ole Miss star Kemp Alderman, also a third-year pro and a Miami prospect, went 3-for-4 and scored twice for the Blue Wahoos in that game.