Tag Archives: Ferriss Trophy

06 Jul

tip your cap

Having been released by Pittsburgh, Ed Easley may have seen his playing career reach the end of the line. The Mississippi State product was batting .174 as a 30-year-old catcher getting limited playing time at Triple-A Indianapolis. Easley has played 10 years in pro ball and appeared in four MLB games, all last year with St. Louis, going 0-for-6. But don’t get the wrong idea. If indeed it is over, Easley’s career is one worth celebrating. After his senior season at Olive Branch High in 2004, he was the state’s Mr. Baseball, Gatorade player of the year and a Louisville Slugger All-America pick. At MSU, he was All-SEC and won the Ferriss Trophy and the Johnny Bench Award that goes to the nation’s best catcher in 2007. Arizona drafted Easley 61st overall in ’07, and he has batted .260 with 43 home runs in 770 minor league games. He has 683 minor league hits, including a single in what may have been his last game, on June 29.

24 May

dream team

Props to Jake Mangum for winning the Ferriss Trophy as Mississippi’s top college player for 2016. The former Jackson Prep star is the first freshman and fifth Mississippi State player to win the award named for the great Boo Ferriss. An outfielder, Mangum leads the SEC in hitting at .427 and has 25 RBIs and 36 runs for the SEC regular season champs. Mangum certainly is a fitting winner, but the Ferriss voters couldn’t have gone wrong with any of a number of other candidates. It’s been that kind of year for college ball in the state. Just imagine the all-star team you could put together from the NCAA Division I programs. A weekend rotation of Dakota Hudson, Brady Bramlett and Kirk McCarty, the aces from State, Ole Miss and Southern Miss? Wyatt Short of UM and Nick Sandlin from USM in the pen? Yes, Team Mississippi would be well-armed. Behind the plate: Henri Lartigue, batting .348 for Ole Miss. Put Southern Miss’ Tim Lynch (.367, nine homers, 53 RBIs) at first base, UM’s Tate Blackman (.332, 42 runs) at second and State’s Gavin Collins (.301, nine homers) at third. At shortstop, Jackson State’s Cornelius Copeland, who doesn’t get the recognition of players from the Big 3, hit .422 and scored 62 runs. Mangum has been a regular headliner in the outfield, but Ole Miss’ J.B. Woodman (.319, 13 homers, 49 RBIs) and USM’s Jake Sandlin (.354, 44 runs) also are wearing it out. For a DH, pick from USM’s Dylan Burdeaux (.345, 11 homers), State’s Jack Kruger (.358, seven homers) or JSU’s Jesus Santana (17 homers, 67 RBIs). Hard to find a flaw in that dream team. P.S. Delta State threw its vaunted 1-2 punch at Nova Southeastern on Monday. The Sharks survived and won the NCAA Division II South Region title, earning a berth in the D-II World Series. DSU won Game 1 of the championship round 3-1 behind Dalton Moats (12-3) but lost 3-1 in Game 2 with Tre Hobbs (13-2), the region and Gulf South Conference pitcher of the year, on the bump. The Statesmen finish 42-17.

10 May

there’s a catch

The recently released watch list for Ferriss Trophy candidates is an impressive one. The pool of players having big years at schools across the state may be as deep as it has ever been. By no coincidence, five Magnolia State colleges are currently ranked in national polls, including the Big 3 NCAA Division I schools. It’s hard not to notice that none of the players on the Ferriss Trophy watch list is a catcher from the Big 3 — but don’t get the impression that this is a position of weakness among state schools. Far from it, actually. The Big 3 wouldn’t be where they are today without the play of the men in the mask. At Mississippi State, that’s Elih Morrero. At Southern Miss, it’s Chuckie Robinson. And at Ole Miss, Henri Lartigue. Lartigue and Marrero are on the watch list for the Johnny Bench Award, which goes to the nation’s top catcher, and Robinson certainly ought to be. Lartigue leads the Rebels and ranks among the SEC’s best in hitting at .344. The former Southaven High star also has two homers and 20 RBIs. Robinson, from Illinois, is the reigning C-USA hitter of the week. He is batting .305 with five homers and 37 RBIs, seven of which came in one game against Western Kentucky over the weekend. Robinson’s father played minor league baseball, and Marrero’s father, Eli, played 10 years in the majors, including a stint with Atlanta. The younger Marrero, a true freshman from Florida, is batting .252. Behind the plate, each has been solid. Robinson has thrown out 20 base stealers at a rate of 43.4 percent. Marrero is at 28 percent, Lartigue 26. There are four pitchers on the Ferriss Trophy watch list, plus another two-way player. If one of those five should win the award on May 23, you can bet he’ll give a nod of appreciation to his catcher.

23 Mar

second time around

The early leader for comeback player of the year from among Magnolia State colleges is, without a doubt, Tate Blackman of Ole Miss. The Florida native, a Louisville Slugger All-American as a prep senior, hit just .197 with nine RBIs in 39 games (36 starts) as a freshman for the Rebels in 2015. He had some moments – a game-winning run against Mississippi State, a walk-off hit vs. Arkansas-Pine Bluff, a good series against LSU – but overall, it was a rough first year. The second baseman has come back with a vengeance this spring: He went 2-for-4 with a home run on Tuesday as the Rebels (20-2) rolled to an 8-2 win over UT-Martin. Blackman leads Ole Miss with a .347 average and is tied for the team lead with 21 RBIs. He also has scored 20 runs. He’ll surely be in the Ferriss Trophy conversation down the road. P.S. Down went the heavyweights in the MACJC on Tuesday. Both Jones County Junior College and Meridian Community College lost for the first time in league play. Jones (now 5-1 and 22-2 overall) split a twinbill with Southwest (3-3), and MCC (5-1 and 20-2) split with Delta (3-1). Of note: In Southwest’s 4-1 win in Game 2 at Ellisville, Brady Anderson hit a game-turning grand slam off JCJC ace Calder Mikell, and Bears pitchers Braden Smith and Kaleb Clarke checked the slugging Bobcats on seven hits.

24 Aug

touching the bases

Sikes Orvis, the power-hitting prospect out of Ole Miss, has belted two home runs in his last three games at rookie-level Great Falls in the Chicago White Sox’s system. He now has four homers for the season in 34 games and is batting .240. … Mississippi State product Chris Stratton, a first-round pick by San Francisco in 2012, has won three of his last five starts at Triple-A Sacramento. He is 3-4 with a 3.78 ERA. … Silento Sayles, the record-setting base stealer from Port Gibson High, recently earned a promotion from Cleveland, moving up to Class A Lake County in the Midwest League. Sayles is 2-for-8 with a steal in three games. … Jackson State alum and 2015 SWAC player of the year Melvin Rodriguez is batting .211 through 29 games at Auburn in the short season Class A New York-Penn League in Washington’s system. … West Lauderdale High product Blake Anderson, the first Mississippian drafted in 2014, is 3-for-11 since coming off the disabled list for Miami’s Batavia club in the NYPL. He is batting .226. … James McMahon, the 2015 Ferriss Trophy winner from Southern Miss, has a 3.60 ERA over his last 10 appearances, all in relief, at Grand Junction in the rookie Pioneer League. He has four holds and a 6.55 ERA on the season for the Colorado farm team. … JaCoby Jones, a former Mr. Baseball from Richton, has six homers in 21 games (76 at-bats) for Double-A Erie in the Detroit system. … Alcorn State alum Angel Rosa, in his third pro season, is getting a look at Triple-A in the Los Angeles Angels’ system. The infielder is 2-for-6 in two games for Salt Lake; he was hitting .252 in A-ball. … Auston Bousfield, one of the stars of Ole Miss’ strong 2014 team, is 1-for-18 at Double-A San Antonio since San Diego promoted him. Bousfield was batting .273 in A-ball.

16 Jun

here and there

Ex-Southern Miss right-hander Christian Talley has signed as a free agent with the Colorado Rockies, the school announced today. USM had three pitchers drafted last week: Cody Carroll, Ryan Milton and Ferriss Trophy winner James McMahon, who was picked by the Rockies. … Stan Cliburn, the former Forest Hill High star from Jackson, recently notched his 1,500th win as a professional baseball manager. Cliburn’s Southern Maryland Blue Crabs are currently tied for first in the independent Atlantic League’s Freedom Division. One of his regulars is ex-big leaguer Fred Lewis, the Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College product who is batting .238 with 13 RBIs and 18 runs in 44 games. Cliburn, who also played in the big leagues, managed his first team in 1988 and has been working in pro ball ever since. His twin brother Stu, also an MLB vet, is the pitching coach for Chattanooga in the Southern League. … Former Hattiesburg High standout and onetime big leaguer Robert Carson has signed with Bridgeport of the Atlantic League. The big left-hander, 26, was recently released by the Los Angeles Dodgers on the heels of a 50-game drug suspension that cost him an invite to major league spring training. … Itawamba CC alum Tim Dillard is soldiering on in his 13th pro season. The onetime big leaguer, now 31, has a 4.24 ERA in 12 games for Triple-A Colorado Springs in the Milwaukee system. Dillard recently moved into the Sky Sox starting rotation. … Here’s a young player to watch: Mason Irby. The lefty-hitting catcher, a Southeast Lauderdale High product, was a second-team NJCAA Division II All-America pick as a freshman at Jones County Junior College this past season after batting .395 with three homers and 51 RBIs. He is playing for Niagara in the New York Collegiate Baseball League and at last look was hitting .359 with five doubles and six RBIs in 11 games.

18 May

regional appeal

Ole Miss needs to beat Alabama on Tuesday to stay alive in the SEC Tournament. Whether the Rebels need to beat Alabama to stay in contention for an NCAA Tournament bid is less clear. UM has won six of its last seven to get to 30-25 against one of the nation’s toughest schedules. Still, a one-and-done performance in the SEC tourney at Hoover, Ala., might not look so good. The sixth-seeded Rebels will throw Scott Weathersby (4-1, 2.39 ERA), a recent addition to the rotation who got the last five outs in a 4-0 win over Alabama in Oxford in late April. Ole Miss took two of three from the Crimson Tide in that series, winning the opener 10-2 and losing the finale 13-4. The Tide (30-26) showed its offensive potential in that one, with 17 hits and seven two-out RBIs. … Southern Miss (35-16-1) has won 13 straight games to play its way into the NCAA regional picture and has a legitimate shot at winning the C-USA Tournament and claiming the automatic bid. USM is the 3-seed in the double-elimination event that it is hosting at Taylor Park in Hattiesburg. The Golden Eagles open Wednesday with UAB (30-24), which it beat two of three at “The Pete” in early April. In the rubber game of that series, James McMahon – the likely starter on Wednesday – got the W in the 3-2 victory with relief help from Luke Lowery and Cody Livingston. USM is flush with good arms. P.S. As we eagerly await today’s announcement of the 2015 Ferriss Trophy recipient, a check on last year’s winner, Auston Bousfield, shows the Ole Miss product batting .308 with a homer, 15 RBIs and 14 steals for Class A Lake Elsinore in the San Diego system. Bousfield was a fifth-round pick last June.

06 Aug

tracking trophy winners

The Ferriss Trophy, awarded annually to the state’s best college player, has been around since 2004, and of the 11 winners to date, only one — Ole Miss product Drew Pomeranz (the 2010 winner) — has reached the major leagues and six of them are out of the game. Odd, isn’t it? Among those no longer playing is Southern Miss alumnus Tyler Koelling, the 2011 winner who played only 34 pro games. But note, too, that former Mississippi State standouts Chris Stratton (2012) and Hunter Renfroe (2013) have reached Double-A and appear on track to make The Show in the next couple of years. And this year’s Ferriss winner, ex-UM star Auston Bousfield, is off to a promising start in pro ball. A fifth-round pick by San Diego, Bousfield is batting .267 with two homers, five RBIs and eight stolen bases in 25 games for Eugene in the short season Northwest League. He played in Tuesday night’s NWL All-Star Game (along with ex-Hinds Community College standout Travious Relaford, now a third-year pro). Bousfield batted .336 with six homers, 50 RBIs, 61 runs and 19 steals in 69 games for the Rebels this year, helping them make a deep run in the College World Series.

13 May

that’s more like it

Though it has notched another 30-win season and currently holds third place in the Conference USA standings, Southern Miss has not had a good year with the bats. The team is hitting .244 and no individual is batting above .280. But the Golden Eagles and their fans have to be encouraged by the recent performance of Connor Barron, the one-time prized recruit who has scuffled for most of his three seasons in Hattiesburg. Barron is riding a career-best eight-game hit streak. The center fielder/leadoff batter has lifted his average to .259, second on the club to Matt Durst’s .279. Barron has four homers, nine doubles, 19 RBIs and 28 runs. During his injury-hampered freshman and sophomore seasons, Barron batted .250 and .198; he had no homers and 19 RBIs total. This was not what was expected of a player drafted in the third round (by the Florida Marlins) in 2011. This was not what was expected of a player who batted .490 with eight homers as a senior at powerhouse Sumrall High. But maybe things have turned for Barron, and it would be good timing. USM finishes regular season play with a three-game C-USA series at Charlotte starting Thursday, then hosts the C-USA Tournament next week. Its postseason fate likely will be determined there. P.S. In what could be the event’s pivotal game, Belhaven (41-19) meets top-seed Oklahoma Wesleyan (53-6) today at 2:30 in the winners bracket of the NAIA regional at Smith-Wills Stadium. … Of the five finalists for the Ferriss Trophy, you could build a good case for BU’s Tyler Akins, who is batting .340 and has 17 saves. Akins is joined by Ole Miss’ Auston Bousfield and Chris Ellis and Mississippi State’s Ross Mitchell and Jacob Lindgren as finalists for the award that goes to the state’s best college player.

23 Apr

blazing a trail

Belhaven University’s 2-1 win Tuesday over Mississippi College, which wrapped up the Maloney Trophy for the Blazers, was punctuated by yet another Tyler Akins save. Here are the key numbers on the impressive season being registered by the senior from Madison: 17-for-17 on save opportunities; 0.92 ERA; 36 strikeouts in 29 1/3 innings; .351 batting average; and a team-leading three home runs and 43 RBIs. Sounds like Ferriss Trophy kind of stuff. Akins, a Hinds Community College and Madison Central High product, is just two saves shy of the NAIA single-season saves record, according to the school. The Blazers play a three-game series at Auburn-Montgomery this weekend and then will enter postseason play.