Tag Archives: Collegiate Baseball

02 Jan

poll positions

The best performance by a state college in 2016 was delivered by Jones County Junior College, which won its first national championship. Do the Bobcats have an encore in them? The editors of Collegiate Baseball magazine apparently think so. CB’s comprehensive 2017 preseason issue is out, and it’s got JCJC ranked No. 1 in NJCAA Division II. Chris Kirtland’s Bobcats lost a few key players from last season (most notably Mason Irby, now at Southern Miss) but return a strong core from a 54-win squad. Mason Strickland, Ben Stiglets and Logan Robbins were a combined 28-0 on the bump. Erick Hoard batted .409 with 19 homers, Tanner Huddleston .392 with 12 homers and Fred Franklin .378 with 22 steals. The Bobcats may be challenged for state supremacy by Meridian CC, ranked 18th in CB’s poll. … Ole Miss is ranked No. 22 in the NCAA Division I poll. The Rebels, 43-19 and a regional host in 2016, return the likes of Tate Blackman, Colby Bortles and Will Stokes, and Mike Bianco reeled in what CB ranked as the No. 2 recruiting class in the country. Mississippi State, which won the SEC regular season title and hosted a regional and Super Regional last year, is picked fifth in the SEC West. New coach Andy Cannizaro has some rebuilding to do, as does Southern Miss’ Scott Berry. USM, which won the Conference USA Tournament in 2016, is pegged for a third-place finish in the league. … In the SWAC, Jackson State is picked second, Alcorn State third and Mississippi Valley fifth in the five-team East Division. JSU’s Cornelius Copeland emerged last year as one of the league’s best players. … In NAIA, William Carey checks in at No. 23. The Crusaders won 40 games last year, made the postseason and welcome back top hitters Tyler Odom and Adrian Brown, slugger James Land and pitcher Devin Smith. Believe it or not, Carey opens Feb. 3.

10 Oct

oh so close

A champion has been crowned in college baseball. And Ole Miss just missed being the subject of this coronation. Collegiate Baseball, in its Oct. 1 issue, anointed Arizona State as the recruiting champion of 2016. Ole Miss was rated No. 2. Mississippi State was 20th, and six other SEC schools finished among the top 25. They’ll still have to play the games and stuff next spring, but it’s a good start for the Rebels and Bulldogs, a little something to fuel their fall ball workouts. Collegiate Baseball uses a rating system to produce its list, taking into account the number of players who were drafted, high school All-Americans, junior college All-Americans, etc. Arizona State brought in eight MLB draftees among its 20 signees, a group that includes an NCAA Division I transfer and four jucos. Ole Miss, which may have to rely on some newcomers in 2017, signed 18 players, five of whom were drafted. Included in the Rebels’ class are 15 freshmen, led by the bunch from Oxford High and Madison Central’s Trace Tyre, and three jucos. One to watch: Timothy Rowe, a lefty-hitting outfielder from Itawamba CC who batted .418 with eight homers, 48 RBIs and 46 runs this past season.

22 Dec

poll position

If the Collegiate Baseball poll is out, then the season can’t be far behind. Mississippi State, coming off a 24-30 season but welcoming back 16 lettermen, is ranked 11th in the NCAA Division I poll released on Monday. The D-I start date is Feb. 19, with the Bulldogs opening in Starkville against Florida Atlantic. Neither Ole Miss nor Southern Miss, who had winning seasons in 2015, made CB’s “Fabulous 40.” There are four SEC schools in the top seven, with Florida opening at No. 1. For what it’s worth, State was ranked No. 20 in CB’s 2015 preseason poll. Ole Miss was unranked but made the NCAA Tournament field, the only one of the Big 3 to do so. … The college season in Mississippi actually starts on Feb. 5 – just 45 days away! — when Tougaloo College visits Mississippi College and William Carey University travels to Florida to play Ave Maria University. For MC, the game at Frierson Field in Clinton will mark the debut of coach Jeremy Haworth.