Chris Lemonis Archives - All Mississippi Baseball

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.)

whirlwind

Whirlwind is a great word. Sounds like what it means: energetic, dizzying, a little bit chaotic. There may be no better word to describe the last few weeks for Mississippi State. Walk-off wins. Trip to Omaha. Disheartening finish. Top 10 rankings. Jake Mangum’s coming back. Gary Henderson’s not. Chris Lemonis is coming in. Konnor Pilkington and Jacob Billingsley are going pro. J.T. Ginn isn’t. When the Ginn news dropped late Thursday, it was truly a wow moment. Ginn, the state’s player of the year from Brandon and the 30th overall pick by the Los Angeles Dodgers, turned down big bucks – slot value of $2 million-plus – to follow a dream of playing for the Bulldogs. The centerpiece of a recruiting class that includes a slew of the state’s top players, the 6-foot-1, 210-pound Ginn can both pitch and hit. He could have a major impact in 2019. And there’s also the possibility that signee Carter Stewart, the big right-hander from Florida drafted in the first round by Atlanta, will be coming to Starkville. Stewart was the eighth overall pick but hasn’t signed, reportedly because of concerns about a wrist problem. Signing deadline is today. Stay tuned. There’s already much anticipation for fall ball in Starkville. Most of the position players responsible for State’s amazing postseason run – including Mangum, the team leader and best hitter – are back. Lemonis and Ginn are in. The whirlwind goes on. P.S. Former State standouts Dakota Hudson (now in St. Louis’ system) and Nathaniel Lowe (Tampa Bay) have been named to the U.S. roster for the July 15 All-Star Futures Game. Also on the U.S. team are current Mississippi Braves pitcher Kyle Wright, Biloxi Shuckers infielder Keston Hiura (Milwaukee) and Ke’Bryan Hayes (Pittsburgh), son of Hattiesburg native and ex-big leaguer Charlie Hayes.