Tag Archives: East Central Community College

07 Jun

feel the power

Itawamba Community College alumnus Desmond Jennings, in a slump and under fire in Tampa Bay, broke out with a 3-for-4 game on Monday that included his fourth home run of the year. Jennings, whose playing time has diminished of late, is batting .189 with 13 RBIs for the last-place Rays, who beat Arizona 6-4 for a fourth straight win. … In his first game in Triple-A, former Richton High star JaCoby Jones went deep for Toledo. Jones, one of Detroit’s hottest prospects, batted .312 with four bombs and 20 RBIs at Double-A Erie after starting the year on the suspended list. … Tim Anderson, the East Central CC product, belted his fourth homer of the season for Triple-A Charlotte in the Chicago White Sox’s system. Anderson is hitting .300 with 20 RBIs, 38 runs and 10 steals. … Harrison Central High product Bobby Bradley, who has been scuffling, hit a grand slam, plus a two-run double, for Class A Lynchburg. Cleveland’s No. 3 prospect, who turned 20 on May 29, is hitting .232 with 14 homers and 53 RBIs. P.S. The Indians, somewhat strapped for outfield help, have former Mississippi Gulf Coast CC star Joey Butler at Triple-A Columbus, but he hasn’t been hitting enough (.222 with three homers) to rate a call-up. Butler batted .276 with eight bombs in 88 games for Tampa Bay in 2015, the first year he had gotten extended big league time.

01 Jun

here and there

Seth Smith blasted two home runs for Seattle on Tuesday, then got hit by a pitch. But it’s not what you think. The former Ole Miss standout was plunked in the foot by what was described as an “eephus-type pitch” thrown by San Diego’s Christian Bethancourt, the ex-Mississippi Braves catcher who was working in mop-up duty in a 16-4 game. Bethancourt, known for his arm, touched 96 mph from the mound while also throwing some pitches in the 50-mph range. According to mlb.com, Smith told Bethancourt after the HBP: “As long as it’s not your fastball, we’re all right.” … Meridian Community College alum Corey Dickerson also went deep on Tuesday for Tampa Bay. Of his 31 hits, nine are homers; he is batting .204 with 24 RBIs. … Ole Miss product David Goforth has been sent down by Milwaukee; he has a 9.39 ERA in seven appearances. … Ex-Southern Miss star Scott Copeland is struggling in the Korean Baseball Organization. The right-hander, who pitched for Toronto in 2015, is 1-1 with a 7.07 ERA in six starts for the LG Twins. … Hunter Renfroe, the former Mississippi State standout, belted his 12th home run on Tuesday for El Paso, the Padres’ Triple-A club. He is batting .320 with 39 RBIs and surely itching for a call-up. … Adam Frazier, another Bulldogs product, is hitting .302 with 14 stolen bases at Triple-A Indianapolis in the Pittsburgh system. … Even after a rough outing on Memorial Day, UM alum Cody Satterwhite has a 1.96 ERA and a 3-1 record in 17 appearances for Salt Lake, the Los Angeles Angels’ Triple-A team. … There is much speculation that the Chicago White Sox may be ready to call up East Central CC alum Tim Anderson, the shortstop prospect who is batting .305 with 10 steals at Triple-A Charlotte. “He could come up and do well,” J.B. Shuck, recently recalled from Charlotte by the ChiSox, told csnchicago.com. “He has that personality where he’s not going to get rattled by anything.” … Ex-State standout Brandon Woodruff notched his first Double-A win on Tuesday when he worked seven strong innings for Biloxi in a 7-1 win over the M-Braves. … Anthony Alford, the former Mr. Baseball from Petal, has gotten hot at Class A Dunedin in Toronto’s organization. Coming back from a knee injury that contributed to a slow start, Alford hit .368 over his last 10 games and is up to .233 in 27 games on the season.

21 May

measuring stick

Big: Mississippi State beat Arkansas 5-1 on Friday in Starkville to keep pace with Texas A&M in the SEC. Both are 20-9, best in the West and overall with one game left in the season. State (39-14-1) last won a regular season title in the SEC in 1989. The Bulldogs go for the sweep of the Razorbacks today while also pulling for Ole Miss, which will try to salvage the series finale against Texas A&M at College Station. The Aggies are 5-0 against the Magnolia State this year.
Bigger: Delta State took down Tampa, ranked as high as No. 2 in NCAA Division II, on Friday to move to 2-0 in the South Region tournament at Tampa, Fla. There is still work to do, but DSU (40-15) is smelling what would be a 12th regional championship and a trip to the D-II World Series.
Biggest: East Central Community College topped Jones County Junior College 11-10 in the NJCAA Division II Region 23 Tournament on Friday at Decatur. The Warriors, MACJC champs, are in the championship round, awaiting the winner of an elimination game between No. 2 JCJC and No. 1 LSU-Eunice. The region champ gets a berth in the NJCAA D-II World Series.
P.S. The season ended on Friday for Jackson State and Alcorn State in the SWAC Tournament and for Northwest CC in the Region 23 tourney. William Carey’s season ended Thursday in an NAIA regional. … If you haven’t seen the catch made by former Mississippi Braves star Jason Heyward on Friday night in San Francisco, find the highlight. Playing right field for the Chicago Cubs, Heyward tracked down a fly ball into deep right-center, making what the Giants announcers on XM radio were calling the best catch they had ever seen.

14 May

going batty

First of all, no, East Central Community College has not snuck former big league slugger Marcus Thames back into the lineup. But the amazing numbers the Warriors have been putting up in the MACJC postseason had to make you wonder. ECCC beat No. 2-ranked Jones County Junior College 14-13 in Ellisville on Friday to advance to the championship round of the state tournament. The Warriors, ranked 14th in NJCAA Division II, have now scored 71 runs – yes, 71! — in their last four games, including 19 in their first-round win over Meridian and 27 in their best-of-3 series clincher against Gulf Coast last week. Neal Holliman’s club was down 13-8 after seven innings against Jones on Friday, tied it with a five-run eighth and won it in the bottom of the ninth. Matt Mitchell led the Warriors’ attack with three hits that included a home run. Dylan Snypes, Billy Cameron and Nathan Roseberry all had two hits apiece. Cole Prestegard, the team’s best hitter (.367, eight homers, 38 RBIs in the regular season), had a quiet night, as did T.J. Lockett, who drove in four runs against Meridian on Thursday. The Warriors (35-16) won the state title in 2013, fueled by current Chicago White Sox prospect Tim Anderson. With a new cast of stars, they’ve got another clearly in their sights. Jones (44-6) and Northwest (29-18) play an elimination game today, with the winner then having to beat ECCC twice to claim the championship. They best be prepared to score some runs.

13 May

so close …

With the best record in the American League, the Chicago White Sox don’t appear to need a lot of help at the moment. But when they do, Tim Anderson may be ready. The former East Central Community College standout, now playing at Triple-A Charlotte, had a four-hit game on Thursday that included his first home run of the season. He is batting .333 over his last 10 games to boost his average to .278, and he has 10 RBIs, 20 runs and seven steals over 30 games in his first taste of Triple-A ball. Anderson, 22, a shortstop, started slow this year but is beginning to play like the highly rated prospect that he is. “I’ve been a believer in myself, and I’m just glad the results are showing,” he told milb.com. P.S. Also toiling in Triple-A and looking for that first big league call-up, ex-Mississippi State star Hunter Renfroe is batting .285 with five homers and 20 RBIs at El Paso in the San Diego system. He is close. So, too, is Northwest Mississippi CC product Cody Reed, 2-1 with a 1.88 ERA in five starts at Triple-A Louisville in Cincinnati’s system. And State alum Adam Frazier, playing mostly outfield this year, is hitting .292 for Pittsburgh’s Indianapolis club. Meanwhile, Tyler Moore and Joey Butler are lodged in Triple-A and trying to get back to the The Show. Moore, a State product, is hitting .242 with a homer and 10 RBIs at Gwinnett in Atlanta’s system, while Gulf Coast CC alum Butler, playing for Cleveland’s Columbus team, is at .238 with two homers and 11 RBIs.

27 Apr

minor matters

A four-hit game on Monday moved Tim Anderson’s average above the Mendoza Line. But an 0-for-5 followed on Tuesday. It hasn’t been a silky smooth season for the former East Central Community College star now playing at Triple-A Charlotte in the Chicago White Sox’s system. After a big year in Double-A in 2015, Anderson is batting .221 with three doubles, two RBIs, seven runs and four steals in 15 games for Charlotte. “You’ve just got to keep grinding and stay focused and keep dreaming about what you’ve been working for all your life,” Anderson told milb.com. Veteran Jimmy Rollins is currently handling shortstop duties for the ChiSox, but Anderson, the 17th overall pick out of ECCC in 2013, is expected to take the job by 2017 if not before. Anderson’s speed is considered his standout tool. P.S. Mississippi State alum Jonathan Holder got the last three outs of a combo no-hitter for Double-A Trenton on Tuesday. Fellow New York Yankees prospect Ronald Herrera worked the first eight innings against New Hampshire. Gulfport’s Holder got two strikeouts and made a nice defensive play in the ninth. “I’m thankful to be part of something that goes into history here in Trenton,” Holder told milb.com. He has a 1.08 ERA in four appearances at Trenton this season. … Former Biloxi Shuckers star Orlando Arcia, the heir apparent for Milwaukee’s shortstop job, is batting .313 with two homers and 13 RBIs in 17 games at Triple-A Colorado Springs. “He loves to play the game and he’s always having fun out there,” Sky Sox manager Rick Sweet, the former Jackson Generals skipper, told milb.com.

25 Mar

buy low

It might be a good time to invest in some Tim Anderson rookie cards. A web site devoted to such things reveals that the average price of a rookie card of the former East Central Community College standout is $4.96. But one card, a “2013 Leaf Draft Superfractor RC Rookie Auto Autograph 1/1,” sold for $58 in January of 2015. Anderson hasn’t played a big league game yet. He was sent down to Triple-A Charlotte by the Chicago White Sox on Thursday, but it won’t be long before the highly rated prospect assumes the shortstop job at Comiskey Park. Could be this summer. A first-round pick (17th overall) out of ECCC in 2013, Anderson put up some great numbers at Double-A Birmingham in 2015: .312, 12 triples, 49 steals, 79 runs and 46 RBIs in 125 games. Some might remember that he homered at Trustmark Park in Pearl in his first Southern League game back in 2014. He has been in the White Sox’s big league spring camp the last two years and made an impression. “The biggest thing for me seeing him in the last couple years is, defensively, he just looks so much better and confident,” ChiSox manager Robin Ventura told mlb.com. Buy low, they say. Might be a good time to load up on some Tim Anderson rookies.

16 Feb

breaking good

Good story on the Baseball America web site about Mississippians Anthony Alford and Cody Reed, who have emerged on the magazine’s list of the Top 100 prospects in 2016. Alford, an outfielder with Toronto, is No. 25; Reed, a left-hander in the Cincinnati system, is No. 34. Neither was in the Top 100 last year. Alford came out of Petal High with dreams of being, as he tells BA, “the next Bo Jackson or Deion Sanders.” He was the state’s Mr. Football and Mr. Baseball as a senior, but the two-sport thing didn’t quite work out on the next level. Alford devoted himself to baseball full-time in 2015 and mastered two levels of A-ball. He acknowledges that baseball probably always was his better sport. Reed, a non-prospect in high school at Horn Lake, signed with Northwest Mississippi Community College. Rangers assistant and ex-big leaguer Bill Selby apparently saw potential in Reed, who proceeded to gain 50 pounds and add 15 mph to his fastball. Reed tells BA he was genuinely thrilled to be drafted in the second round by Kansas City in 2013. After struggling for a couple of years, he found his form in 2015 and was a standout at Double-A Pensacola after the Reds got him in a trade. Both Alford and Reed will be in big league camp. … Also appearing in BA’s Top 100 are East Central CC alum Tim Anderson (No. 45, Chicago White Sox); Mississippi State product Hunter Renfroe (No. 86, San Diego) and ex-Harrison Central star Bobby Bradley (No. 93). Former Biloxi Shuckers shortstop Orlando Arcia is No. 8, and Dansby Swanson, who could be the Mississippi Braves’ shortstop in 2016, is No. 17.

02 Feb

lists and stuff

Former Petal High star Anthony Alford leads a group of five Mississippi-connected players appearing in MLBPipeline’s Top 100 minor league prospects list for 2016. Alford, an outfielder in the Toronto system who gave up football at Ole Miss last year to focus on pro baseball, is ranked No. 42. East Central Community College product Tim Anderson (shortstop, Chicago White Sox) is No. 47; Horn Lake High and Northwest Mississippi CC alum Cody Reed (left-hander, Cincinnati) is No. 66; former Copiah Academy and Mississippi State standout Hunter Renfroe (outfielder, San Diego) is No. 92; and Harrison Central High product Bobby Bradley (first baseman, Cleveland) is No. 93. Renfroe is the only one among the five that has reached the Triple-A level. The full Top 100 list is on mlb.com. … Ex-Pillow Academy star Louis Coleman has been taken off of Kansas City’s 40-man roster and designated for assignment. … Ole Miss is ranked 16th in the Sporting News preseason poll that appears in the magazine’s 2016 Baseball Yearbook. The Rebels are the only state school appearing in that poll. … Defending MHSAA Class 5A champion Oxford High (35-1 in 2015) is ranked No. 3 in the Perfect Game preseason prep poll that appears in the Sporting News yearbook. Senior Jason Barber, the state’s 2015 Gatorade player of the year and a MaxPreps preseason All-America pick, is the star on a loaded club that also includes Grae Kessinger (grandson of ex-big leaguer Donnie) and Ben Bianco (son of Ole Miss coach Mike). Oxford plays Amory and Center Hill on Feb. 20 in a home jamboree. … Walker Robbins of George County is a third-team All-America pick by Perfect Game.

14 Dec

around the horn

Former Ole Miss standout Aaron Barrett made some headlines over the weekend when he blamed his elbow injury on overuse early in the 2015 season. The right-handed reliever, who’ll miss the 2016 season following September Tommy John surgery, worked in 30 of Washington’s first 60 games. “The bottom line was I was literally just throwing too much,” he told The Associated Press. He pitched in only 10 games thereafter, working 29 1/3 innings all told. After a strong start, Barrett did two stints on the disabled list and wound up with a 4.60 ERA. … Houston wanted lefty reliever Tony Sipp back in the fold for 2016, and the feeling apparently was mutual. “You can see the talent on this team. … Just want to be a part of it,” Sipp told mlb.com. The Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College product from Pascagoula signed a 3-year, $18M deal with the Astros, for whom he posted a 1.99 ERA in 2015. He yielded one unearned run in five appearances in the postseason, Houston’s first venture there in 10 years. … Jonathan Papelbon, the Mississippi State alum, told WEEI.com (a Boston radio station) that new Red Sox closer (and former Mississippi Braves star) Craig Kimbrel is “a younger version or me.” Papelbon, now with Washington, is Boston’s all-time saves leader but, of course, is also infamous for some episodes of hotheadedness. Red Sox fans must be hoping that Papelbon was only talking about his pitching exploits when he made his comment about Kimbrel. … The Chicago White Sox reportedly discussed a trade with Cincinnati for All-Star third baseman Todd Frazier but did not want to include Tim Anderson, the ex-East Central CC star, in the deal. Shortstop Anderson, the White Sox’s top-rated prospect, hit .312 with 49 stolen bases at Double-A Birmingham this past season. Anderson had a “speed score” of 8.6 in 2015, fifth-best among mlb.com’s Top 100 prospects.