Tag Archives: Frontier League

16 Jun

all in a day

On a day when the Rafael Devers trade shook the baseball world, other things did happen throughout the game. Here’s a snapshot of Sunday movers and shakers with Mississippi ties:
In the big leagues, former Mississippi State star Jordan Westburg went 2-for-4 with a homer, two RBIs and three runs out of the leadoff spot, driving Baltimore to its third straight win, 11-2 over the Los Angeles Angels. Westburg, who has three homers since coming off the injured list on Tuesday, has seven bombs on the year and has lifted his average to .234.
At Triple-A, Southern Miss alum Hurston Waldrep, who has had a very uneven season for Gwinnett in Atlanta’s system, allowed one run in six innings with six strikeouts as the Stripers beat Memphis. Waldrep, a 2023 first-round draftee (out of Florida) and Atlanta’s No. 2 prospect, is 5-5 with a 5.84 ERA.
At Double-A, ex-Ole Miss star Kemp Alderman went 2-for-5 with a homer, three RBIs and two runs for Miami affiliate Pensacola in a win against Rocket City. Alderman, a second-round pick in 2023 after winning the Ferriss Trophy, is batting .290 with seven homers and 30 RBIs for the Blue Wahoos.
At High-Class A, MSU product Khal Stephen improved to 3-0 with a 2.16 ERA for Vancouver, throwing five innings (one run) to beat Spokane. A second-round pick by Toronto in 2024, Stephen is 6-0, 2.10, in 13 games over two levels of A-ball in his pro debut.
At the Low-A level, former MSU standout Connor Hujsak, batting third and playing right field for Charleston, went 1-for-5 with two walks, two RBIs, two runs and two steals in a doubleheader split against Augusta. A 13th-round pick by Tampa Bay in 2024, Hujsak is batting .230 with three homers, 32 RBIs and 14 bags in 58 games this season.
In the unaffiliated Mexican League, Ole Miss product and ex-big leaguer Chris Ellis notched his 12th save with a scoreless ninth for Monterrey in a 3-1 win vs. Queretaro. Ellis, 32 and in his 11th pro season, has a 2.61 ERA over 21 appearances for the Sultans.
And in the independent Frontier League, Brayland Skinner, MSU alum from Lake Cormorant, went 3-for-5 with an RBI and a steal in the Mississippi Mud Monsters’ 11-3 loss at Schaumburg. Skinner, in his second indy ball season, is hitting .310 with a league-best 25 stolen bases.

11 Jun

out of kilter

In his first game off the injured list, Mississippi State product Jordan Westburg hit a home run for Baltimore. Unfortunately for the Orioles, the homer came in the ninth inning of Tuesday night’s 5-3 loss to Detroit. The Orioles, perhaps the most disappointing team in the big leagues, had entered the opener of this series having won seven of nine. Westburg and center fielder Cedric Mullins were activated from the IL. “I think everybody in Baltimore is excited,” O’s interim manager Tony Mansolino said pregame. Detroit, with the best record (44-24) in baseball, didn’t seem to notice, building a 5-1 lead by the fifth inning. Baltimore managed just six hits. And so it goes for the O’s. They are now 26-39, dead last in the American League East. Westburg was an All-Star at third base in 2024, when he hit .264 with 18 homers and 63 RBIs. A big season was expected of him and this team, which went 91-71 in 2024 and made the playoffs. But like many of his teammates, Westburg scuffled out of the gate. When he went down with a hamstring injury on April 28, he was hitting .217. He now has five homers but just seven RBIs. His numbers are bound to improve, but the team is in such a deep hole, and its pitching in such a fix, improvement in the standings could be a tall order. … Home runs were kind of a thing for Mississippians on Tuesday. In MLB, Nathaniel Lowe hit his ninth for Washington, Matt Wallner his fifth for Minnesota and Nick Fortes his second for Miami. In the minors, Reed Trimble (Baltimore system), Braden Montgomery (Chicago White Sox) and Brennon McNair (Kansas City) went yard. And in the independent Frontier League, Travis Holt and Karell Paz homered for the Mississippi Mud Monsters in a road win at Joliet. P.S. He didn’t hit one out, but Konnor Griffin went 2-for-5 with an RBI and a run in his High-Class A debut for Greensboro in the Pittsburgh system. Griffin, first-round pick out of Jackson Prep last summer, hit .338 with nine homers in Low-A ball and led the Florida State League in several categories before his promotion.

09 Jun

in local news

At Pearl, the Mississippi Mud Monsters wrapped up a 4-1 homestand with a twinbill split Sunday against Florence (Ky.) at Trustmark Park. In the 11-2 win in Game 2, Kyle Booker homered and drove in three runs to back the strong start of Rodney Theopile. Nick Hassan went 3-for-4 with an RBI and a run for the independent Mud Monsters. Booker, a former DeSoto Central High star who spent three years at Tennessee, is batting .327 with three homers and 18 RBIs on the year. He had two of the Mud-sters’ three hits in a 4-0 loss in Sunday’s opener. Mississippi is 13-14 in its inaugural Frontier League season. After a 12-game road trip, the next homestand starts June 24.
At Biloxi, the Double-A Shuckers whipped Montgomery 6-4 at Keesler Federal Park to win the Southern League series 5 games to 1. The first-place Shuckers are 35-22. Brock Wilken, a highly rated Milwaukee prospect, hit a grand slam, and former Magnolia Heights standout Cooper Pratt, another top prospect, went 3-for-4 with an RBI, a run and two steals. Wilken leads the SL with 15 homers and 35 RBIs. The Shuckers are celebrating their 10th anniversary season as an SL club.
At New Albany, the college boys of the Cotton States League played a pair of doubleheaders in BNA Bank Park with league-leader Tallahatchie going 1-0-1 vs. Tippah County and North Delta taking two from Hill Country. Houston Green, an Itawamba Community College alum, drove in two runs for Tallahatchie to back the three-hit pitching of Jake Thomas and Sam Brumbaugh in their 5-1 win. The Rascals are 4-0-1. Green is 6-for-12 on the young season, and Thomas is 2-0 with a 1.12 ERA. For North Delta, Eli Akins, a Delta State alum, threw a one-hitter in a 2-0 win against Hill Country after Connor Edge (ICC) tossed a three-hitter and Hayden Short knocked in three runs in the Dealers’ 10-1 victory in the opener.
P.S. Madison Central High product Spencer Turnbull has been added to Toronto’s active roster. The veteran right-hander, a recent free agent signee, had a 2.65 ERA in 17 games for Philadelphia before a lat injury in June ended his 2024 season. He has a 4.26 career ERA over 78 games. … Braden Montgomery, another Madison Central alum, had a four-hit game Sunday for High-Class A Winston-Salem and boosted his average there to .263. Montgomery is a highly rated prospect in the Chicago White Sox’s chain.

20 May

at this point …

If seven games is enough to draw any conclusions about the 2025 Mississippi Mud Monsters, here’s one: They can swing the bats. As the Frontier League expansion team (4-3) begins its first road trip, four regulars are hitting .368 or better, led by Travis Holt, who went 3-for-5 in the season opener and has continued to rake. The former Butler and High Point standout is hitting .391. Davis Bradshaw, the McLaurin High and Meridian Community College alum, is batting .389. Not a shock considering he was a .300 career hitter in the affiliated minors. Karell Paz, a Cuba native who played in the New York Mets’ system, is at .381, and Victor Diaz, from the Dominican Republic via the Houston Astros’ system, is at .368. The club has hit just one homer – by former Columbia High star and pro veteran Ti’Quan Forbes – but Trustmark Park doesn’t yield a lot bombs. Forbes, Diaz and ex-DeSoto Central standout Kyle Booker lead the Mud-sters with five RBIs each. The team won the last three games of its homestand, sweeping Evansville while allowing just nine runs total. No. 1 starter James Boeree, the 7-foot-2 Australian, has a 3.38 ERA over eight innings in his two starts. Chris Barraza, an Arizona alum, has yet to allow a run in three relief appearances. … Mississippi opens a series tonight against the Down East Bird Dawgs, another FL expansion team, in Kinston, N.C. The team is managed by Brett Wellman, son of former Mississippi Braves manager Phillip Wellman.

08 May

big reveal

After directing 13 workouts with a group of players of varying levels of experience pulled from widely diverse backgrounds, Mississippi Mud Monsters manager Jay Pecci will pull back the curtain tonight and unveil the new pro team taking up residence at Trustmark Park in Pearl. “Spring training has been good,” Pecci said Wednesday night. “We got our pitching work in, that’s a key. The team looks great … on paper, at least. You’re never sure how it’ll pan out.” The Mud Monsters, an expansion team in the independent Frontier League, make their debut tonight (6:30) against the Florence (Ky.) Y’alls. On paper, the Mud Monsters have a leadoff batter — ex-Mississippi State standout Brayland Skinner — who batted .298 and stole 41 bases in the indy Pioneer League last year. On paper, in the middle of their batting order, they have a six-year minor league veteran with a career .303 average — Florence native Davis Bradshaw — and a 10-year pro vet who belted 17 homers in this league two years ago — former Columbia High star Ti’Quan Forbes. “We’ve got some power, some veteran experience,” Pecci said. “We have some guys who can go gap-to-gap, and I think we run well as a team. We had a lot of stolen bases in camp. Guys were eager to run.” Both Bradshaw and Forbes passed through Trustmark, which plays as a pitcher’s park, when they were in Double-A. “You have to be a true hitter to put up numbers here,” Pecci said. He marvels at Bradshaw’s plate discipline and ability to make contact. The manager said he is impressed as much with Forbes’ presence as he is with his skills: “He’s excited to be here, he wants to play everyday and he’s a good guy in the clubhouse. The kids gravitate toward him.” Forbes, 28, a late addition to the roster, was a second-round MLB draft pick back in 2014 and reached the Triple-A level in affiliated ball. Tonight’s starting pitcher, James Boeree, might be more impressive on the field than he is on paper. The Australia native, 25 but light on experience, lists at 7 feet 2. And reportedly throws in the mid-90s. “He has looked really good,” Pecci said. “He started an exhibition game for us and pitched well. He was built up when he came in to camp, all in on baseball. He has those long levers, but he has good body mechanics.” Pecci is also high on his primary catchers, Victor Diaz and Andriel Lantigua, both Dominicans with experience in affiliated ball. Diaz played in the Houston organization, Lantigua in the New York Mets system when Pecci was on their minor league staff. For his part, Pecci brings plenty of experience to his job. He coached and managed in the Mets’ chain for the past several seasons. An infielder at Stanford, he was drafted by Oakland in the 11th round in 1998 and played seven years in affiliated ball, then eight more in independent and foreign leagues.

05 May

roster construction

Sunday was cut day in the Frontier League, with teams in the independent league — including the new Mississippi franchise — having to trim their training camp roster to 28. Only 24 can be active on opening day, which is Thursday. The Mud Monsters will play host to Florence (Ky.) at Trustmark Park in Pearl. One of the seven players released by Mississippi was C.J. (Cordell) Dunn, a catcher who played high school ball at Center Hill in Olive Branch several years back. Among the familiar names still on the roster are Brayland Skinner, a Lake Cormorant native and ex-Mississippi State standout who was the first player signed by the Mud Monsters; minor league veteran and ex-Columbia High star Ti’Quan Forbes; McLaurin High and Meridian Community College product Davis Bradshaw, another minor league vet; Kyle Booker out of DeSoto Central High (and Tennessee); Aubrey Gillentine, an Amory native who pitched at Southern Miss; and Jackson Smith, a Raymond native who pitched at Mississippi College and Northwest Mississippi CC. Skinner, 25, an outfielder, played at State in 2021-22 and then at Memphis. He played in the FL last season, batting .298 with eight homers and 49 RBIs in 90 games. When the signing was announced, Mud Monsters manager Jay Pecci called Skinner “the sort of player that the Mississippi Mud Monsters can build around. Fast and versatile, he brings a ton of excitement to the diamond.” Recent addition Forbes, 28, an infielder, was a second-round draft pick by Texas 11 years ago, made the Triple-A level in affiliated ball and also has played in indy and foreign leagues. “Signing Ti’Quan is big for us,” Pecci said in a team release. “He’s had great success in affiliated baseball, so to get a veteran that can help the younger guys along and add that level of professionalism to our brand new club is great.” One player sure to get a lot of attention is James Boeree, a 7-foot-2 Australia native who pitched in juco ball in the States from 2021-23 and in the Australian Baseball League before that. There is a skill to building a Frontier League team. There are parameters regarding how many players of certain ages and professional experience can fill the ranks, i.e., a team cannot simply stock up on 30-year-old Triple-A veterans. Pecci, a Stanford alum, is well aware of the dynamics of player development, having enjoyed a long career playing and coaching in both MLB-affiliated and indy ball. Winning is a priority in the independent ranks, but there is also a developmental aspect for young players seeking opportunities in affiliated ball and a possible path to the major leagues.

29 Apr

still grinding

Scroll through the list of the Mexican League’s current pitching leaders and you’ll run across the name Chris Ellis. Yes, it’s that Chris Ellis. The former Ole Miss star, who was drafted by the Los Angeles Angels 11 years ago, pitched for the Double-A Mississippi Braves nine years ago and appeared in 10 major league games between 2019 and ’22, is still wearing a uniform, still trying to get batters out for the Sultanes de Monterrey. The Mexican League is one of the many pro leagues not directly affiliated with Major League Baseball. Foreign leagues and independent leagues afford players who’ve been cast off by MLB clubs the opportunity to keep playing the game they love. Those leagues may also afford them the opportunity, potentially, to get back on the MLB track. Ellis, 32, has pitched in winter ball and indy ball since he last worked for a big league organization. He has pitched well this season for Monterrey; he is tied for the league lead with four saves in five appearances. Maybe an MLB scout will notice. Billy Hamilton, the former Taylorsville High star, is also playing in Mexico. At 34, he is tied for the league lead with seven steals and is hitting .281 in nine games for Jalisco. Hamilton played parts of 11 years in the majors, the last in 2023. He has spent the last two years in Mexico, playing winter ball there, as well. Clearly, he’s not ready to hang ’em up. Also still out there grinding is Cody Reed, the former Northwest Mississippi Community College standout from Horn Lake. The 32-year-old lefty, who pitched in 65 MLB games from 2016-21, is on the roster of Gary SouthShore RailCats of the independent American Association. Their season starts next week. Reed was in the Tampa Bay system in 2022, missed all of 2023 with injury and played in Mexico last summer, putting up a 4.12 ERA in 26 games for Tabasco. He may still have something left in the tank at 32. Demarcus Evans, a Petal High product, has been in pro ball since 2015 but is only 28 and has barely pitched the last two years since leaving the Texas Rangers’ system as a minor league free agent. A flame-throwing righty, Evans had a 4.75 ERA in 29 games with the Rangers in 2020-21 and a career ERA of 2.76 in the minors. He is on the roster of the American Association’s Cleburne club. … A large number of Mississippi-connected players are playing indy ball, including the likes of Davis Bradshaw, Brayland Skinner and Kyle Booker with the Mississippi Mud Monsters, the new Frontier League team that opens next week. Tyreque Reed, Regi Grace, Brett Sanchez and Banks Tolley are also on FL rosters. There’s Bobby Bradley, Errol Robinson and LeDarious Clark in the Atlantic League. Joe Gray Jr., J.C. Keys and Hayden Dunhurst are in the American Association. No doubt many of them are still yearning for The Show. P.S. Ex-Big leaguer Kirk McCarty, Southern Miss alum from Hattiesburg, had re-signed to play for CTBC Brothers in the Chinese Professional Baseball League but was released earlier this month. He previously played in Korea.

08 Apr

one month out

One month from today, Mississippi’s new pro team — the Mississippi Mud Monsters — is scheduled to launch its 2025 season. The independent club, owned by Joseph Eng, will play Florence (Ky.) on May 8 at Pearl’s Trustmark Park, former home of the Mississippi Braves. The Mud Monsters will play a 96-game schedule — 48 home dates spread over nine homestands — in the 18-team Frontier League, an MLB Partner League. The team’s manager is Jay Pecci, the hitting coach Jamie McOwen and the pitching coach Robert Carson, a former Hattiesburg High star who pitched in the big leagues.
Here’s a look at the Mud Monsters’ unofficial, very preliminary roster, based on the Frontier League’s transactions page:

Pitchers
Chris Barraza, RH
Gage Bihm, LH (Hinds CC)
James Boeree, RH
Tahj Cunningham, RH/OF
Luis Devers, RH
Jalen Evans, RH
Aubrey Gillentine, RH (USM)
Josh Lanham, RH
Brandon Mitchell, LH
Zack Morris, LH
Josh Paulina, RH
Jeremy Peguero, LH
Michael Reed, RH
Sergio Sanchez, RH
Jackson Smith, RH (Northwest CC, MS Coll)
Rodney Theopile, RH
Tyree Thompson, RH
Brian Williams, RH

Catchers
Victor Diaz
C.J. Dunn (Olive Branch HS)
Nick Hassan
Andriel Lantigua

Infielders
Ryan Cash, 3B
Samil De La Rosa, 2B
Kasten Furr, SS
Travis Holt, SS
Dane Simon, UT

Outfielders
Kyle Booker (DeSoto Cent)
Davis Bradshaw (McLaurin, Meridian CC)
Basiel Roberts
Brayland Skinner (MSU)

01 Mar

roster growth

The Mississippi Mud Monsters added five players to the roster in the last week of February, including a Hinds Community College alum and a former Olive Branch High standout. New members of the independent team, set to begin play in the Frontier League in May, are utility man Dane Simon, who played five years at Nicholls State; shortstop Kasten Furr, a former UNO and Louisiana Tech star; left-hander Gage Bihm, who pitched at Hinds and NAIA LSU-Shreveport; right-hander Brian Williams, a Texas Southern product; and catcher C.J. Dunn, an Olive Branch alum. Dunn, Williams and Bihm have indy ball experience, and Bihm also pitched briefly in the New York Mets’ system last summer. … The Mud Monsters’ opener is May 8 at Trustmark Park in Pearl.

19 Feb

juco snapshot

And then there were none. East Central Community College, the last unbeaten team in the state juco ranks, lost to Northeast CC 10-8 in a round-robin event Tuesday at Decatur. ECCC, No. 2 in the NJCAA Division II poll, is now 8-1, including a 13-5 win over No. 12 Jones College earlier Tuesday. Jayden Adcox hit a big home run for ECCC against Jones, and Langston Cotten went yard against Northeast. But the visiting Tigers prevailed as Drake Douglas and Carter Wells combined for five RBIs and Wells notched the save. Fifth-ranked Pearl River (10-2) beat Holmes and East Miss in a three-way at Poplarville. Jackson Hood homered in both games for PRCC, and Carson Fair closed out the win against Holmes for his fifth save, which leads the nation. Meridian, ranked 20th, moved to 10-3 with a sweep of Gulf Coast and Southwest on Monday at Summit. Chris Fox got a walk-off hit in a 1-0 win against Gulf Coast and Hampton Ross drove in four runs vs. Southwest. At Jackson’s Smith-Wills Stadium on Tuesday, Northwest (9-3) beat Hinds and Coahoma. … Gulf Coast’s Samuel Marsh was named the MACCC pitcher of the week after throwing a 13-strikeout complete game last week vs. Northwest Florida State. East Miss’ Hugh LeMasters (Bay Springs) took hitter of the week honors; he batted .429 (6-for-14) with eight RBIs and four runs in a 4-0 week for the Lions. P.S. Have a day, Judd Utermark. The Ole Miss junior stole home and hit a walk-off bomb in the 10th inning Tuesday as the Rebels (3-1) beat Arkansas State at Swayze Field. … Mississippi State (3-1) had as many errors as hits (four) in a 3-0 loss at Southern Miss (5-0). Joey Urban homered for the Golden Eagles, and five pitchers combined on the shutout. … Left-hander Brandon Mitchell, who won 22 games over five seasons at New Orleans, is the latest addition to the Mississippi Mud Monsters’ inaugural roster. He was 5-2 with a 7.28 ERA in the indy Pioneer League in 2024. The Mud-sters, of the indy Frontier League, have announced 17 player signings to date. The season starts in May.