Tag Archives: Delta State

14 Feb

blue skies ahead?

Weather has come out swinging this week, knocking out home openers at Millsaps (Tuesday), Delta State (Wednesday) and Southern Miss (today) and forcing Mississippi State to find a new opponent (Western Carolina replaces Hofstra). While USM will have to go on the road (Lake Charles, La.) to start its season on Saturday, there are some big games on state campuses this weekend. MSU, ranked as high as No. 2 in the nation, will play a three-day, three-game set at Dudy Noble Field. Jackson State plays Texas Southern and South Dakota State (two games with each) at Braddy Field starting today, and Alcorn State hosts Bradley for a three-game series at McGowan Stadium in Lorman. Millsaps, off to a 3-0 start, plays Trinity (Texas) in a doubleheader Saturday and single game Sunday at Twenty Field. Blue Mountain hosts a three-game set in New Albany with NAIA No. 1 Faulkner. Belhaven, 7-1 after a 9-2 win over St. Francis on Thursday, hosts Campbellsville today and Missouri Baptist on Saturday at Smith-Wills Stadium. William Carey has a three-game set at Wheeler Field in Hattiesburg against Spring Hill (single game today, twinbill Saturday). Delta State (1-2) hosts West Alabama for three games (two Saturday, one Sunday) in Cleveland. DSU went 25-3 at Ferriss Field last year and has a .772 winning percentage there all-time. But even the Statesmen can’t beat bad weather. Fingers are crossed all over the state, hoping the skies stay sunny.

07 Feb

party on

Delta State, which hasn’t played a game yet, is already in a celebratory mood. This season marks the 10th anniversary of the Statesmen’s NCAA Division II national championship campaign. Of course, DSU may have plenty of other things to celebrate. The Statesmen, who open Friday at Palm Beach Atlantic in West Palm Beach, Fla., are a consensus top 10 team in the D-II preseason polls. Coach Mike Kinnison (747 wins in 17 years) has five preseason All-Gulf South Conference players on his roster. That group includes preseason All-Americans Jordan Chovenac (.333, 64 runs, 20 stolen bases) and Michael Manley (9-0, 1.93 ERA). Also back are pitchers Ricky Winters (5-0, 3.93) and Taylor Stark (3-0, five saves) and second baseman Kasey Hinton (.331). DSU went 44-11-1 in 2013, won the GSC regular season title and made the NCAAs. This team appears capable of similar accomplishments, and that 10th anniversary buzz certainly won’t hurt. P.S. The state’s junior colleges also start this weekend, with defending MACJC champion East Central Community College opening Saturday against Pensacola JC in Decatur. The Warriors went 32-21 last year but lost star shortstop Tim Anderson to the MLB draft. Two Mississippi schools are ranked in the NJCAA Division II preseason Top 20: Northwest (31-18) at No. 14 and Northeast (30-18) at No. 20. Defending South Division champion Pearl River, 41-14 in 2013, didn’t make the poll. … The best player in the league might be East Mississippi sophomore outfielder LeDarious Clark, a former two-sport (baseball/football) star at Southeast Lauderdale High. Clark is rated the No. 40 juco draft prospect by Sporting News. Also on that chart is former Northwest Rankin outfielder Daniel Sweet, No. 27, now playing at Polk State JC in Florida.

16 Nov

wintering

Edwin Maysonet, the former Delta State standout who has had some big league time, got three knocks Friday and is hitting .342 for Santurce in his native Puerto Rico. Maysonet, now 32, played at Triple-A Iowa in the Chicago Cubs system this past season, batting .242 with six home runs and 33 RBIs in 72 games. He last played in MLB with Milwaukee in 2012. … Taylorsville’s Billy Hamilton, also with Santurce, leads the Puerto Rican (Roberto Clemente) Winter League with six steals, and former Jackson Generals catcher Ramon Castro, a Puerto Rico native playing for Caguas, leads the league with seven RBIs. … Former Mississippi Braves star Ernesto Mejia belted two homers Friday for Zulia in the Venezuelan Winter League. Still Atlanta property, he is batting .235 with six bombs and 14 RBIs. Mejia had a monster year with the M-Braves in 2011: .297, 26 homers, 99 RBIs, 82 runs. … Tommy LaStella, the M-Braves’ second baseman in 2013, hit .290 with a homer and 10 RBIs for Scottsdale in the Arizona Fall League. He was named an MiLB Double-A All-Star for 2013 after batting .343 in 81 games for the M-Braves. … Also with Scottsdale were former Ole Miss hurlers Cody Satterwhite (2.77 ERA in 11 games) and Phil Irwin (1-2, 8.62 in five starts). Satterwhite is a New York Mets farmhand; Irwin is with Pittsburgh. … Noticed on the transaction wire: Washington released former M-Braves infielder Mauro Gomez, who reportedly is bound for Japan; ex-M-Braves outfielder Antoan Richardson signed a minor-league deal with the New York Yankees; and former M-Braves catcher J.C. Boscan inked a minor deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers.