Tag Archives: Golden Spikes Award

18 Mar

heat check

Among the five players with Mississippi ties who made the preseason watch list for the Golden Spikes Award, all but one have gotten off to great starts. Dakota Jordan, Mississippi State’s right fielder, is on a tear of late and is batting .408 with 10 homers and 32 RBIs, leading the Bulldogs into the national rankings this week. The Canton native already has matched his home run total from his freshman season. Former Madison Central High star Braden Montgomery, now playing outfield at Texas A&M, is hitting .368 with nine homers and 35 RBIs for the nationally ranked Aggies. Montgomery was a two-time All-Pac-12 selection at Stanford before transferring to the SEC. Jordan and Montgomery will meet when A&M hosts State this week in College Station. Brett Sanchez, the NCAA Division III pitcher of the year at Belhaven University in 2023, is 1-1 with a save and a 2.38 ERA for the Blazers this season. The right-hander has struck out 44 batters in 34 innings and has twice been named the CCS pitcher of the week. Jackson Prep senior Konnor Griffin, regarded by many as the best prep player in the nation, is outclassing his competition, batting .696 with eight doubles, five homers and 49 stolen bases, per MaxPreps. The LSU signee has been walked 26 times in 20 games. He is also 4-0, 0.00 ERA, as a pitcher. Shane Lewis, a former Warren Central High standout now playing at Troy, has scuffled, hitting .188 with four homers to date. The Sun Belt player of the year in 2023, he hit a school-record 27 bombs and drove in 77 runs for the Trojans last year. … Ex-MSU standout Will Clark won the 1985 Golden Spikes Award, given to the top amateur player in the country each year.

12 Feb

opportunity knocks

A long wait is over for Spencer Turnbull. The ex-Madison Central High standout, cut loose (non-tendered) by Detroit in November, reportedly has signed with Philadelphia, a one-year, $2 million contract with incentives. Right-hander Turnbull became, on May 18, 2021, the first Mississippian (native or school alum) to throw a no-hitter in the big leagues. He was 4-2 with a 2.88 ERA when he went down with an arm injury in June of that season. Since then, he has rarely been healthy. He missed the rest of the ’21 season and all of ’22 after Tommy John surgery and posted a 7.26 ERA for the Tigers in seven games in an injury-plagued 2023 season. Now 31, Turnbull is 12-29, 4.55, in 61 career appearances. He is expected to get a crack at the Phillies’ rotation in camp — which opens in Florida on Wednesday — but more likely will start the year in Triple-A. P.S. Five players with Mississippi ties are on USA Baseball’s Golden Spikes Award preseason Watch List: Konnor Griffin of Jackson Prep; Dakota Jordan of Mississippi State; Shane Lewis, a Warren Central alum now at Troy; Braden Montgomery, a Madison Central product now at Texas A&M; and Brett Sanchez of Belhaven University. The award goes to the top amateur player in the country. Former MSU star Will Clark won it in 1985.

23 May

green machine

The scorebook has closed on Zack Shannon’s career at Delta State, which saw its season end with a loss to Mississippi College in the NCAA Division II regionals on Tuesday. In his two years with the green-and-white, the big man from Cincinnati stuffed that scorebook with some jaw-dropping numbers. Start with his home run totals – and take a deep breath. He hit his 31st of the season in the final game (Game No. 53); that’s not only a school record but also the most all-time by any player in any division in the state. That number also leads the nation, all divisions included. Shannon’s total of 50 career homers at DSU ranks second to Dee Haynes, who hit 69 over three seasons (1998-2000) in Cleveland. For the year, Shannon hit .406 with 93 RBIs (best in the nation) and a .955 slugging percentage (also No. 1). Also noteworthy, he struck out just 27 times and walked 35 times in 202 at-bats. Though he didn’t win a Ferriss Trophy, plenty of awards and accolades have poured in the last two years and more may be coming. Earlier this week, Shannon was named one of 25 semifinalists for the Golden Spikes Award, which goes to the nation’s best player. He is the first D-II player to be named a semifinalist. He won Gulf South Conference player of the year both this year and last and received several D-II national player of the year awards in 2017. Surely he’ll get picked in the MLB draft. Regardless, he won’t soon be forgotten in the Magnolia State. P.S. Before Shannon broke it, the state’s college homer record was shared by former Mississippi State stars Rafael Palmeiro and Bruce Castoria, according to John W. Smillie’s Mississippi Baseball Record Book. Castoria hit 29 in 1981, Palmeiro in 1984. Will Clark smacked 28 for MSU in 1984 (and got 25 the next year). DSU’s Haynes hit 26 in 1999. Four Southern Miss players cranked out 23: Fred Cooley (1989), Bill Selby (1992), Jeff Cook and Clint King (2003). The Ole Miss single-season mark is 21 by Brian Pettway in 2005. … MC’s remarkable season also ended on Tuesday with a loss to Tampa in the rain-soaked South Region tourney in Lakeland, Fla. The Choctaws, who made their first D-II regional appearance, finished 36-17.