Tag Archives: East Central Community College

23 Jun

star power

Mississippi’s minor league clubs will be on prominent display in tonight’s Southern League All-Star Game at Montgomery, Ala. The Mississippi Braves’ Mallex Smith and the Biloxi Shuckers’ Orlando Arcia, Nick Ramirez and Michael Reed are in the projected starting lineup for the South stars, and there are several pitchers from the two teams on the roster, including highly rated prospects Tyrell Jenkins of the M-Braves and Tyler Wagner of the Shuckers. In addition, Ramirez will participate in the pre-game Home Run Derby. Smith, a center fielder and leadoff batter, has emerged as one of the most exciting players in the Double-A loop. He is second in the league in hitting at .340 and in steals with 23. Penciled in at Nos. 3-5 in the lineup, Arcia is hitting .307, Ramirez .289 (with nine homers) and Reed .300 for first-half champion Biloxi. Former East Central Community College star Tim Anderson is slated to play shortstop and bat second for the North. He is hitting .313 with 23 steals for Birmingham. Game time is 7:20 (MiLB.TV). The 2016 SL All-Star Game will be at Trustmark Park in Pearl; the M-Braves previously hosted the game in 2007. P.S. Scott Copeland, the ex-Southern Miss ace, made his first MLB start for Toronto on June 10, allowing one run in seven innings. His next start came June 16, when he yielded three runs in four innings. Then came Sunday: seven runs in 1 1/3 innings. Currently back at Triple-A Buffalo, Copeland has been up and down so many times he could be excused for suffering dizzy spells.

16 May

making a list

Marcus Thames, the slugger from Louisville, is on a list that is both short and long at the same time. In its current issue (May 18), Sports Illustrated highlights the players who homered on the first pitch they saw in the big leagues. Minnesota’s Eddie Rosario became the 29th to achieve that feat on May 6. Just the 29th. And yet, it seems crazy that it has happened 29 times! First pitch. Home run. Thames did it on June 10, 2002. The former East Central Community College star, debuting for the New York Yankees, took Randy Johnson deep at Yankee Stadium. Thames, now a coach in the Yankees’ minor league system, is one of the few players on the list the casual fan might actually have heard of. There’s Bert Campaneris, Junior Felix, Adam Wainwright (yes, the pitcher), Starling Marte, Daniel Nava and Jay Bell. Bell went on to hit 194 more homers and has the most of any player on the first-pitch-homer list. Thames is second with 115. He hit just .246 over his career, but he did have some thump, averaging a home run every 15.4 at-bats, a remarkable ratio. P.S. Kudos to Oxford High’s Jason Barber, who is featured in Sports Illustrated’s Faces in the Crowd, which makes note of his 0.00 ERA and two no-hitters this season. … Kudos also to former Mississippi Braves star Todd Cunningham, who went 3-for-4 with an RBI and two runs in his first big league start, sparking Atlanta’s 5-3 win at Miami on Friday night. … Former Ole Miss star Zack Cozart and Taylorsville High product Billy Hamilton homered for Cincinnati, the only runs yielded by Madison Bumgarner in San Francisco’s 10-2 rout of the Reds. Southern Miss alum Brian Dozier went yard (on his 28th birthday) for Minnesota, and ex-UM standout Seth Smith homered for Seattle. Cozart leads all Mississippians in the majors with six homers.

29 Apr

pair of sox

Tim Anderson hit .364 in a brief Double-A trial last summer. The ex-East Central Community College standout is showing this season that it was no fluke. Anderson, a first-round pick by the Chicago White Sox in 2013, is hitting .329 with 12 RBIs, eight runs and 11 steals through 18 games for Birmingham of the Southern League. “Every week that goes by he gets better,” Julio Vinas, the Barons’ manager, told milb.com. Anderson, a shortstop, also has played well in the field, where he had some hiccups during a big league spring training look. He is rated the No. 2 prospect in Chicago’s system by both Baseball America and mlb.com. Birmingham doesn’t come to Trustmark Park in Pearl until late August. Alas, Anderson may have moved up by then. … Staying in the ChiSox system: Mason Robbins lasted until the 25th round of the MLB draft last summer. From the early returns, it looks like the White Sox may have gotten a steal. Robbins, a lefty-hitting outfielder from Southern Miss, is batting .300 through 17 games at low Class A Kannapolis this season. This comes on the heels of a strong debut season in which he hit .304 with seven homers and 32 RBIs in rookie ball at Great Falls, Mont. He also had a 17-game hit streak. “He put himself on the map in the White Sox organization, which is very good to see,” Charlie Poe, Robbins’ manager in 2014, told the Great Falls Tribune. Robbins was the state’s Mr. Baseball at George County High in 2011 and was a freshman All-America pick and career .300 hitter at USM.

29 Jan

a spring in their step

Former East Central Community College standout Tim Anderson has been rated the No. 10 shortstop prospect in the minors by mlb.com. Anderson also has received an invitation to the Chicago White Sox’s major league spring training camp next month. A first-round pick in 2013, Anderson batted .301 with nine homers and 40 RBIs in an injury-interrupted 2014, finishing the season in Double-A. He also played well in the Arizona Fall League. … Other Mississippians who have received non-roster invites to big league camps include Petal High alumnus and former Mr. Baseball Anthony Alford (Toronto), Mississippi State product Hunter Renfroe (San Diego), ex-Hattiesburg High star Robert Carson (Los Angeles Dodgers) and Mississippi Gulf Coast CC alum Joey Butler (Tampa Bay). … Also of note: Former Mississippi Braves catcher J.C. Boscan has signed a minor league deal with Kansas City and will report to the Royals’ big league camp. P.S. Hinds Community College is ranked No. 2 in the NJCAA’s preseason poll, and Jones County Junior College is slotted at No. 11. Hinds, 40-21 and a Division II World Series finalist last year, opens on Feb. 7 against Mineral Area (Mo.) in Raymond. Jones, 46-11 and MACJC state champion in 2014, starts Feb. 7 against Jeff Davis (Ala.) in Ellisville.

18 Nov

catching up

With five hits in his last three outings, Anthony Alford appears to be finding his stroke in the Australian Baseball League. The former Mr. Baseball from Petal High is 5-for-12 with a home run, six runs and two RBIs in his last three games for Canberra. For the young ABL season, Alford is at .219. Drafted by Toronto in the third round in 2012, Alford has just 94 minor-league at-bats to date as he had been focused on football, which he has now given up. … Mississippians Hunter Renfroe and Tim Anderson got kudos from mlb.com’s Jim Callis for their work in the Arizona Fall League, which wrapped up last week. Mississippi State product Renfroe, a San Diego prospect, batted .284 with a league-best six homers and 20 RBIs. He also led the AFL in extra base hits, total bases and slugging. Anderson, a Chicago White Sox prospect from East Central Community College, hit .301 with six steals. “(F)ew shortstops can match his tools,” Callis wrote. … Tyrell Jenkins, the 6-foot-4 right-hander acquired by Atlanta from St. Louis in the Jason Heyward deal, posted a 2.22 ERA in the AFL. Jenkins, 22, is a candidate for the Mississippi Braves’ roster in 2015, which will be his sixth pro season. He pitched in high-A ball this past season. … Former M-Braves star Jeff Francoeur will get another shot (how many is that?) at making a big league club next spring, this time with Philadelphia. Francouer had a big year (.289, 15 homers, 69 RBIs) in Triple-A with San Diego in 2014, though he didn’t hit at all in his MLB trial. … Ex-MSU standout Tyler Moore is batting .299 with six homers, 17 RBIs and 19 runs in 22 games in the Dominican Winter League as he attempts to improve his stock in the Washington organization. … Mississippi Gulf Coast CC alumnus Roy Corcoran, 34, is pitching in the Mexican Pacific League. The onetime major leaguer is 2-3 with a 3.66 ERA for Hermosillo. Corcoran, who originally signed with the Montreal Expos in 2001, pitched in independent ball the last two years. His last MLB season was 2009; he has a career 4.17 ERA in 82 games. … Belhaven University is ranked No. 14 in the NAIA preseason poll. The Blazers open the 2015 campaign on Jan. 30 at Smith-Wills Stadium in Jackson. William Carey also opens that day in Hattiesburg.

09 Nov

here and there

Hunter Renfroe mashed a grand slam in a televised Arizona Fall League game on Saturday. The former Mississippi State standout and San Diego prospect is batting .271 with five home runs and 19 RBIs in the AFL. … East Central Community College alum Tim Anderson, also playing in the AFL, had another three-hit game on Saturday and is batting .313 with two homers and five stolen bases. The Chicago White Sox prospect missed a big chunk of the 2014 season because of a broken wrist. “I definitely saw some things that helped me become a better ballplayer,” he told mlb.com about his downtime. … Former Petal High star Anthony Alford, understandably rusty, is 2-for-16 with eight strikeouts in the Australian Baseball League, where Toronto sent him to get some work in preparation for his return to the minors in 2015. … Belhaven University senior second baseman Paul Pickerrell has been named to the NAIA preseason All-America team. The Pearl River CC transfer batted .345 with 38 runs and 38 steals for the Blazers in 2014. … Preston Brown threw five scoreless innings and Reid Humphreys, the former Northwest Rankin High star, went 2-for-4 with two runs and two RBIs as the Maroon beat the Gray 8-0 in a Mississippi State fall scrimmage on Saturday. … Hinds CC, the NJCAA Division II runner-up in 2014, will open its 2015 season on Feb. 7 in Raymond against Mineral Area (Mo.) College. The Eagles will play 28 MACJC games next season. With Meridian re-joining the state association, every team in the league will play two games against every other team. There are still North and South divisions, but the playoff qualifying system has been altered slightly.

04 Nov

movin’ on up

Ed Easley’s strong season in Triple-A has been rewarded. The St. Louis Cardinals have added the former Mississippi State standout to their 40-man roster. He is currently one of four catchers, joining Yadier Molina, Tony Cruz and A.J. Pierzynski. Easley, who’ll be 29 in December, has played eight pro seasons but has yet to make the big leagues. He batted .296 with 10 home runs and 43 RBIs in 80 games at Memphis in 2014, his first season in the St. Louis system. There was speculation he might get his first call-up when Molina was hurt late in the season, but it didn’t happen. It appears now that Easley at least will get a fair chance to make the club in spring training. … Meanwhile, another former State star had a monster day in the Arizona Fall League on Monday. Hunter Renfroe, who homered in Saturday’s Fall Stars Game, belted two more (one an inside-the-parker) in Surprise’s 19-6 win against Glendale. Renfroe, San Diego’s first-round pick in 2013, went 3-for-4 with five RBIs, boosting his season stats to .279 with four homers and 13 RBIs. For the record, East Central Community College alumnus Tim Anderson (Chicago White Sox) went 1-for-5 for Glendale and is batting .304.

29 Oct

star power

Former Mississippi State standout Hunter Renfroe shook out of a slump on Tuesday with a couple of hits, including a home run, in the Arizona Fall League. Renfroe, who had gotten off to a hot start in the AFL, is now batting .232 with two homers and six RBIs in 15 games for Surprise. Renfroe, a fast-rising San Diego Padres outfield prospect, is slated to play in the AFL’s Fall Stars Game on Saturday. “It’s going to be cool,” Renfroe told mlb.com. Also booked for the all-star contest is Daniel Castro, who finished the 2014 season as the Mississippi Braves’ starting shortstop. Castro, from Mexico, is batting .231 for Peoria; he batted .277 in 51 games for the M-Braves. … Tim Anderson, the ex-East Central Community College star now in the Chicago White Sox system, also had a good day in the AFL on Tuesday, going 3-for-4 for Glendale. Anderson, a shortstop, is hitting .309 with a homer and six RBIs. … Itawamba CC product Tim Dillard, in the Milwaukee system in 2014, still has not allowed a run over 9 1/3 innings for Zulia in the Venezuelan Winter League. P.S. Ole Miss has set its rosters for the Pizza Bowl fall ball championship. The series, which is essentially a 16-inning game spread over two days, will be held on Friday and Saturday at Oxford-University Stadium. … In Starkville, junior college transfer Logan Elliott and returning star Ross Mitchell combined on a two-hit, five-inning shutout as State continued its fall ball schedule. The Bulldogs are scheduled to play again on Saturday at Dudy Noble Field.

16 Oct

warming to the task

Tim Anderson, the former East Central Community College star, is heating up in Arizona after a chilly start. The Chicago White Sox’s 2013 first-round pick has five hits, including his first home run on Wednesday, over his last two games for Glendale in the Arizona Fall League. In six games, Anderson, 21, a 6-foot-1, 180-pound shortstop, is batting .400 with four runs, two RBIs and three steals. He spent most of the 2014 season, his first full pro year, at Class A Winston-Salem, hitting .297 with six homers, 31 RBIs and 10 steals. After he recovered from a late-season broken wrist, Anderson was sent to Double-A Birmingham and hit .364 in 10 games. … Kyle Wren and Daniel Castro, who played for the 2014 Mississippi Braves, are hitting .300 and .263, respectively, for Peoria in the AFL. … Former Saltillo High and Itawamba Community College standout Tim Dillard is 2-0 with a 0.00 ERA in three appearances for Zulia in the Venezuelan Winter League. Dillard, 31, a onetime big leaguer, posted a 3.13 ERA at Double-A Huntsville in the Milwaukee system this past season. P.S. Wednesday was a big day for Butch Thompson. The Mississippi State associate head coach was named the national assistant coach of the year for 2014 and also was announced as an inductee into the Itawamba Community College Athletic Hall of Fame. Thompson, an Amory native, was a closer at ICC in 1989 and ’90. He is currently in his seventh year of working with MSU’s pitchers. … State’s second fall scrimmage is slated for Friday at Dudy Noble Field.

10 Oct

scatter shots

Hunter Renfroe hit his first Arizona Fall League home run on Thursday night and is now batting .385 with four RBIs in three games. The former Mississippi State star from Crystal Springs, a San Diego outfield prospect, helped Surprise beat Glendale 7-4 in a game in which former East Central Community College standout Tim Anderson made his AFL debut. Anderson, a shortstop in the Chicago White Sox system, went 1-for-5 with four strikeouts for Glendale. Anderson made his Double-A debut with Birmingham at Trustmark Park this summer, going 10-for-22 in five games vs. the Mississippi Braves. … Ole Miss product Lance Lynn will start Sunday’s Game 2 for St. Louis in the National League Championship Series against San Francisco. Lynn got a no-decision in his division series start against the Los Angeles Dodgers, allowing two runs in six innings. A 15-game winner this year, the big right-hander lost his only start against the Giants on June 1, yielding four earned runs in 3 1/3 innings. Giants star Buster Posey went 3-for-3 against Lynn in that game. … Freshman Kyle Watson has made a splash during fall scrimmages at Ole Miss. The former DeSoto Central High standout, an infielder, has three home runs during the first three sets of intrasquad scrimmages. Watson hit .345 in his prep career but belted just one homer, according to his UM bio. The Rebels scrimmage again today and Saturday.