Tag Archives: East Central Community College

15 Sep

ah, september

Emotion bubbles up — and sometimes over — in September, when MLB games matter more. There’s the elation of clinching a playoff berth (see the Los Angeles Dodgers on Tuesday) and there’s the frustration of dropping critical games (see Pete Alonso of the New York Mets snapping a bat over his knee). Mississippians Austin Riley, Corey Dickerson and Adam Frazier felt the frustration Tuesday. Riley, the former DeSoto Central High standout, and his Atlanta teammates lost 5-4 at home to Colorado; the Braves have a less-than-comfortable lead in the National League East. Riley went 1-for-4 and left two runners on base. McComb native Dickerson took an 0-for-3 in Toronto’s 2-0 loss to Tampa Bay; the Blue Jays, who have been on quite a roll, slipped into a three-way tie with Boston and New York for the two American League wild card berths. Mississippi State product Frazier, who has scuffled since being acquired by San Diego from Pittsburgh, was on the losing side of a 6-1 game at San Francisco; the Padres are a game back of a wild card spot in the NL. Frazier, an All-Star this summer, was 1-for-2 but is batting just .231 as a Padre. Crystal Springs native Hunter Renfroe was 0-for-4 with three strikeouts and dropped a fly ball, but his night ended well when Boston rallied to beat Seattle, another AL wild card contender. Ex-East Central Community College star Tim Anderson had a somewhat frustrating return to the active roster — 1-for-5 and an error — but his Chicago White Sox team did beat the Los Angeles Angels to stay on track for the AL Central title. It has been a frustrating season for MSU alums Chris Stratton and Nate Lowe, but both enjoyed playing spoiler on Tuesday. Stratton notched his fifth save — and third in his last three outings — as last-place Pittsburgh beat Cincinnati 6-5, dropping the Reds behind St. Louis in the NL wild card standings. Lowe hit a first-inning homer, his 15th, to propel last-place Texas to an 8-1 victory against Zack Greinke and Houston, still trying to clinch the AL West. P.S. Down on the farm, ex-State and Brandon High standout J.T. Ginn took a no-hitter into the seventh inning and earned his third win of the season for High-A Brooklyn in the New York Mets’ chain. Ginn (3-3, 3.42 ERA in nine starts for the Cyclones) worked seven shutout innings, allowing two hits and one walk with seven strikeouts.

23 Aug

around the horn

Not so long ago, New York Yankees hitting coach Marcus Thames, the former East Central Community College star, was on a hot seat, as was manager Aaron Boone. For the better part of three months, the club struggled to score, foundering with runners in scoring position, frequently striking out or hitting into double plays. Well, that seems like ancient history now. The Yankees, finally fit and fortified with new additions to the lineup, are sizzling hot as they head into Truist Park in Atlanta, where the eyes of the baseball world will be on a two-game series between the hottest teams in the game. Both have won nine straight. The Yankees have climbed to 72-52, second in the American League East. The Braves are 68-56, first in the National League East. … Atlanta’s Mississippi connection, third baseman Austin Riley, the DeSoto Central High product, is batting .342 during the win streak, with four homers, six RBIs and nine runs. … Ex-Mississippi State standout Kendall Graveman, now with Houston, faced his former team, Seattle, for the first time on Sunday. He gave up a run in his one inning but maintained the lead, which the Astros later squandered en route to a 6-3, extra-inning loss. Graveman has allowed two runs in nine innings for the Astros; he had a 0.82 ERA in 30 appearances for the Mariners. Graveman was upset when Seattle traded him in late July. … In his third game at Low-A Salem, former DeSoto Central star Blaze Jordan hit his second homer, this one a grand slam. The first-year pro is 3-for-11 for Salem after hitting .362 with four homers for Boston’s Florida Complex League team. … Just in time for the start of fall classes, Alcorn State has hired a new coach. Reggie Williams, a former major league outfielder, was named last Friday to fill the post previously held by Brett Richardson. He was not retained after a 7-20 season. Williams is a Southern University alum who played in the big leagues in the 1980s. He previously worked as an instructor and coach in the Cincinnati and Milwaukee organizations and was also an educator in the Memphis school system. Three of the state’s HBCUs will have new coaches in 2022. Stanley Stubbs moves from Rust College to Mississippi Valley State, and John Bates was promoted from Stubbs’ staff to replace him as Bearcats coach. … Three Mississippians were on the West roster for Sunday’s Perfect Game All-American Classic in San Diego: outfielder Emaarion “Mari” Boyd of South Panola, outfielder Dakota Jordan of Jackson Academy and catcher Ross Highfill of Madison Central. All are 2022 seniors. The West was no-hit by the East in a 9-1 defeat at Petco Park.

21 Aug

roll the tape

When the American League MVP voters begin to ponder their choice for 2021, they need to punch up the video from Friday night’s Chicago White Sox-Tampa Bay game. To appreciate the many talents of ex-East Central Community College star Tim Anderson, “show ’em this game today,” White Sox manager Tony La Russa said in an mlb.com story. In a clash of first-place clubs, Anderson went 3-for-6 with a home run, scored four times and drove in two runs in a 7-5, extra-inning win. One of the runs he scored came on an acrobatic slide to avoid a tag at the plate. The homer — his 14th — tied the game in the ninth after the White Sox had squandered a lead. In the 11th, he knocked in the go-ahead run and scored the final one. He has 51 RBIs and 78 runs, batting mainly in the leadoff spot. He is hitting .303 and has a 10-game hit streak in which he has batted .388 with four bombs, including that game-winner in the Field of Dreams Game. “(T)he confidence is at an all-time high,” he said postgame. The All-Star shortstop, eight years after leading ECCC to the state juco title, is leading the White Sox to their first division title since 2008. Said La Russa in the mlb.com piece: “There’s nobody in the league, either league, that’s better than he is when you look at the whole game.” Sounds like an MVP. P.S. Jonathan Holder, the Mississippi State product from Gulfport, made his first appearance of 2021 Friday on a rehab assignment (one inning, no runs) in the Arizona Complex League. Signed by the Cubs in the off-season, Holder has been down with a shoulder injury. The Cubs could use some help.

13 Aug

center stage

“Baseball, among many other things, is theater, a definition that mandates that a very small number of players will be strikingly distinctive because of productivity and ‘presence.’” – Donald Honig, Baseball America.
There has never been a stage quite like the one MLB created for Thursday night’s Field of Dreams Game. A cornfield in Iowa. So, of course, leave it to Tim Anderson, the former East Central Community College star who relishes the spotlight as much as any player in the game, to bring down the curtain with a game-ending home run into the corn stalks beyond right field. You might call it a Roy Hobbs moment, though that’s from a different movie than the one that inspired this game. Anderson’s second career walk-off bomb gave the Chicago White Sox a 9-8 win against the New York Yankees. “These are the moments you want to be in,” Anderson, the effervescent leader of these Sox, said in a postgame interview. “These big games like this, this is the time to show up.” The game actually lived up to the hype, which was not easy to do. There were five lead changes. Though 17 runs crossed the plate, pitchers also enjoyed some moments with 23 strikeouts. Anderson’s game-winner was the last of eight balls that left the park and crash-landed in the cornfield. Dramatic doesn’t quite get it. As Ray Kinsella might have said, “It’s more than that. It’s perfect.”

12 Aug

cornfield connections

Three Mississippi products are on the Chicago White Sox’s active roster for tonight’s Field of Dreams Game in Dyersville, Iowa. Ole Miss alum Lance Lynn is slated to be the ChiSox’s starting pitcher, ex-East Central Community College star Tim Anderson is the shortstop and probable leadoff batter and Ocean Springs native Garrett Crochet works out of the bullpen. (Taylorsville’s Billy Hamilton is currently on the injured list.) For the record, there also was a Mississippian on the infamous 1919 White Sox team that is central to the story in the “Field of Dreams” movie, though he is not one of the eight who come out of the cornfield. Ewell Albert “Reb” Russell was a Jackson native who pitched for the White Sox for seven years, winning 80 games from 1913-19, including a 23-win rookie season. The left-hander was on the 1917 club that won the World Series. Russell injured his arm in 1918 and made just one appearance for the 1919 team; he was released long before the World Series that the Black Sox were accused of throwing. Russell would return to the majors in 1922 as an outfielder with Pittsburgh and earn a dignified place in the history books. He hit 11 homers that season. Only two other players have ever posted both a double-digit win season and a double-digit homer season: Babe Ruth and Rick Ankiel. Shohei Ohtani could be the next to do it. P.S. Cleveland has placed former Southern Miss standout Nick Sandlin on the injured list, where he joins teammate Bobby Bradley, the Harrison Central High product. Ole Miss alum Drew Pomeranz was put on the IL for the third time this season by San Diego.

20 Jul

that’s consistency

Tim Anderson was playing like an All-Star before he was named as a late addition to the American League squad. Nothing has changed since. The East Central Community College product went into the break on a 12-game hit streak that started before he was named to the team for the first time. As if he needed to validate his selection, he has hit safely in all four games he has played since the break and has homered in three straight for the first-place Chicago White Sox. “(He) is one of the big reasons why we are where we are,” manager Tony LaRussa told The Associated Press. Anderson has 12 hits in his last seven games, 28 during his 16-game streak and is batting .394 over that stretch. For the year, Anderson, in his sixth season as the White Sox’s regular shortstop, is batting .314 with nine homers, 36 RBIs, 61 runs and 14 stolen bases. Anderson will look to extend his streak when Chicago hosts Minnesota today. The club record for a hitting streak is 28, held by Carlos Lee (2004). P.S. Petal’s Demarcus Evans was recalled by Texas on Sunday, threw two scoreless innings, then was optioned back to Triple-A Monday. Thanks for playing.

08 Jul

access denied

Tim Anderson has won a batting title and a Silver Slugger award. The former East Central Community College star, now in his seventh big league season, led his team, the Chicago White Sox, to a playoff berth in 2020 and to the top of the American League Central standings as of today. And yet: He hasn’t earned an All-Star Game invite. Granted, for a shortstop in the AL, that’s no easy feat. Xander Bogaerts was voted in by the fans. Carlos Correa and Bo Bichette, also deserving of consideration, were picked as reserve shortstops. Anderson — currently batting .307 with six homers, 29 RBIs, 50 runs and 14 steals — was snubbed, and Frank Thomas, the former White Sox star and Hall of Famer, was outraged (really). “Tim Anderson has proven to be a superstar in this league,” he said during a rant on a ChiSox pregame TV show. The normally outspoken Anderson has let his bat talk. He is 8-for-12 since the reserves were announced on July 4. He put up a 4-for-4 game on Wednesday as Chicago – and Ole Miss product Lance Lynn, an All-Star pick – beat Minnesota 6-1. P.S. Former Mississippi Braves Ronald Acuna, Freddie Freeman, Ozzie Albies, Austin Riley and Dansby Swanson combined for 11 hits, four RBIs and seven runs in Atlanta’s 14-3 win over Pittsburgh on Wednesday. Some other ex-M-Braves also showed out: Jason Heyward put a 4-1-1-1 in the box score and made a great catch in right field as the Cubs snapped their 11-game skid; Craig Kimbrel got the last three outs. Jose Peraza hit a late game-tying homer that propelled the New York Mets to a win over Milwaukee. Phil Gosselin went 1-for-4 with an RBI for the Los Angeles Angels in a 5-4 win against Boston. And Alex Wood worked seven innings for his eighth win as San Francisco topped St. Louis 5-2.

24 Jun

star gazing

The first phase of fan voting for the All-Star Game ended today with Adam Frazier looking like the lone Mississippi product on track to make Phase 2. Per the last update on the results, former Mississippi State standout Frazier was second in the voting for National League second baseman (behind Ozzie Albies); the top three advance in the voting process. The finalists for Phase 2 will be announced on Sunday. Frazier is among the league leaders with a .324 average for Pittsburgh. Ex-East Central Community College star Tim Anderson, having an All-Star type year for the Chicago White Sox, stood fourth at American League shortstop. Xander Bogaerts, Bo Bichette and Carlos Correa led that pack. Anderson, batting .297 with six homers, 41 runs and 13 steals, might still get picked as a reserve. A recent slump may have cost Austin Riley a shot at making the NL team at third base; he was fourth in the latest release. The DeSoto Central High product, who had a great month of May, is hitting .276 with 12 homers. Former State standout Brandon Woodruff (6-3, 1.89 ERA) and Ole Miss alum Lance Lynn (7-3, 2.14) would appear to be solid candidates as pitchers, which are chosen by player ballot and the Commissioner’s Office.

24 May

the unkindest cut

Three outs from the SWAC championship, with the league’s reliever of the year on the mound, Jackson State appeared to have a firm grip on its first league title in seven years, a just reward for a dominant season. It didn’t happen. O’Neill Burgos, a former hero at Brookhaven Academy and Jones College, played that role for Southern University on Sunday, belting a three-run homer to propel the upstart Jaguars to a 7-6 victory and the SWAC’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. JSU went 24-0 in the league in the regular season and won its first three tournament games at Madison, Ala. But the one that mattered most slipped away. There was some confusion initially about Burgos’ homer as Tigers left fielder Jatavious Melton crashed through the bullpen gate trying to run down the ball. Video review showed the ball cleared the fence. The Tigers went down 1-2-3 in the bottom of the ninth. Closer Steven Davila took the loss, his first of the year. JSU finishes with a 34-9 record; an NCAA at-large bid is most unlikely. Southern entered the tournament with a 15-27 record, lost its second game there and then won four straight elimination contests. The Jags, who have a number of Mississippi products on their roster, will head to the NCAAs after a sidetrip to the HBCU World Series in Jackson this week. P.S. After falling in the decisive game of the GSC Championship Series on Saturday, Delta State got new life on Sunday when it received a bid to the NCAA Division II South Region tourney at Pensacola, Fla. DSU will open with Tampa on Thursday in a region filled with GSC teams. … East Central Community College pushed second-ranked LSU-Eunice to a second game in the championship round of the NJCAA D-II Region 23 Tournament but ultimately fell to the Bengals 7-5 on Saturday. LSU-E goes to the juco World Series. … Ole Miss, once ranked No. 1 in the nation, faces a win-or-go-home game vs. Auburn in the SEC Tournament on Tuesday at Hoover, Ala. Mississippi State plays the winner of Florida-Kentucky on Wednesday to begin the double-elimination phase of its bracket. Southern Miss, the 3-seed and the defending champion in the C-USA Tournament, plays Western Kentucky on Wednesday at Ruston, La., in the double-elimination event.

14 May

they were everywhere

The leadoff batter, a product of East Central Community College, got it started with a home run. The veteran starter out of Ole Miss battled for five innings to keep the lead. The speedy center fielder from Taylorsville made two run-saving catches. And the rookie reliever from Ocean Springs worked a scoreless seventh inning. The fingerprints of Mississippians were all over the Chicago White Sox’s 4-2 win against Minnesota on Thursday night. The White Sox have won six straight and have baseball’s best record at 22-13. Tim Anderson, Lance Lynn, Billy Hamilton and Garrett Crochet are playing big roles. Anderson’s homer was his fifth of the year, and he is batting .315 with 15 RBIs. Lynn, on a night when he didn’t have his best stuff, threw 111 pitches, allowed just two hits and no earned runs in moving to 4-1 (1.30 ERA) on the season. “He just refuses to lose, and it’s inspiring to watch him,” manager Tony La Russa said in an mlb.com article. “He has the heart and guts of a champion.” Hamilton, a Gold Glove-caliber outfielder, made a leaping catch at the wall with the bases loaded and two outs in the fourth and ran a ball down in the left-center gap with two on and one down in the eighth. Crochet, a big lefty with electric stuff, walked a couple and threw a wild pitch but yielded nothing else in notching his fourth hold and cutting his ERA to 0.84 in 10 appearances. “Everybody is believing in themselves and we are having fun while doing it,” the effervescent Anderson told the Chicago Tribune. The fun could last a long time on the South Side. P.S. San Diego has placed ex-Ole Miss standout Drew Pomeranz (1.98 ERA in 14 appearances) on the 10-day injured list with a lat strain. … Former Mississippi State and Jackson Prep star Jake Mangum hit his first career homer Thursday for High-A Brooklyn in the New York Mets’ system. The SEC career hits leader is off to a slow start (2-for-16) in his second pro campaign. Adding some power to his profile could be key to movement for Mangum, whose slugging percentage over 198 minor league at-bats is .298.