Tag Archives: high school baseball

24 Jun

a helping hand?

The Pittsburgh Pirates, who are in a free fall, have called up ex-Mississippi State star Adam Frazier. The versatile Frazier, batting .333 at Triple-A Indianapolis, isn’t likely to be a difference-maker but could provide a lift to a club that has lost eight of nine and 20 of its last 26. Frazier has played mostly left field this season but also has seen time in center and at second base and shortstop, where he played at State. Pittsburgh drafted him in the sixth round in 2013. Frazier is a .299 career hitter in the minors. At 5 feet, 11 inches and 175 pounds, he doesn’t hit for power but has some speed (17 steals, four triples this year). The Pirates, managed by former Jackson Mets skipper Clint Hurdle, are 34-39, 14 games back of the Chicago Cubs in the National League Central. They host the Los Angeles Dodgers tonight at PNC Park. P.S. Eight Mississippi players were selected to the 2016 Louisville Slugger High School All-America teams, four of them from Class 5A power Oxford. Jason Barber – the two-time Gatorade player of the year – Houston Roth and Thomas Dillard were first-team picks from the Chargers, and Grae Kessinger was a second-teamer. Also on the (rather large) first team, as picked by Collegiate Baseball magazine, were Magnolia Heights products Riley Self and Dustin Skelton. Oak Grove’s Drew Boyd and Houston’s sophomore sensation Luke Hancock made the second team. … Dillard, who hit a remarkable 16 home runs this season, was pegged by Baseball America as a second-team All-America.

15 May

moving on

Buckle up. Big week ahead on many fronts. East Central Community College, continuing its ’27 Yankees impression, beat Jones County Junior College 13-12 on Saturday to win the MACJC title and will host the NJCAA Region 23 Tournament in Decatur. No. 2-ranked Jones will be there, as well as No. 1 LSU-Eunice (50-4) and Northwest Mississippi. … William Carey University is off to Santa Barbara, Calif., for NAIA regional play. The 25th-ranked Crusaders (37-19), led by All-SSAC first-team picks Adrian Brown and Tyler Odom, take on College of Idaho on Tuesday in the five-team opening round tournament. The top seed there is Westmont (Calif.). … Jackson State and Alcorn State, the Nos. 2 and 3 seeds from the SWAC East, start play on Wednesday in the conference tournament at Barrow Stadium in New Orleans. Alabama State dominated the league with a 24-0 mark, but JSU (32-24 overall) certainly has the hitters (see Cornelius Copeland, Carlos Diaz, Jesus Santana) to make a run. … Delta State will learn tonight where it is heading for NCAA Division II regional play. The Statesmen (38-15) earned an automatic bid by winning their 13th Gulf South Conference championship last week. … And the MHSAA finals matchups are set: Madison Central-George County in Class 6A, Oxford-Hattiesburg in 5A, Houston-Newton County in 4A, Kossuth-St. Andrews in 3A, East Union-Loyd Star in 2A and Tupelo Christian Prep-Ethel in 1A. The games in the best-of-3 series begin Tuesday at Trustmark Park in Pearl.

29 Mar

prep work

Oak Grove High slipped out of this week’s MaxPreps Xcellent 25 national poll, leaving the Magnolia State without a team in that poll. Oxford, the preseason No. 1, tumbled out two weeks ago. The web site’s state poll has Kossuth ranked No. 1, followed by Oxford, Brandon, Oak Grove and Hattiesburg. … Showdown alert: Oak Grove (11-2) and Brandon (13-3) are scheduled to meet today at Brandon’s field. … Baseball America’s most recent prep poll (published March 23) has Oxford at No. 13 with a 9-4 record. The Chargers are now 12-5. … Kossuth is 14-2, led by Jacob Wilcher (.529, three homers, 20 RBIs) and Hunter Swindle (4-0, 0.30 ERA). … C. J. Hughes of Terry earned USA Baseball/MaxPreps Southeast Player of the Week honors on Monday. Hughes, a senior shortstop, went 12-for-14 with 12 RBIs, nine runs and four walks last week. … Oxford’s Thomas Dillard is the only Mississippi high school player in Baseball America’s most recent ranking of the top 100 draft prospects. The catcher is No. 82. A transfer to OHS this year, Dillard is batting .389 with seven homers and 19 RBIs. … George County’s Walker Robbins is another pro prospect of note. The 6-foot-3, 220-pound left-hander is batting .387 with two homers and owns a 2-1, 0.89 pitching ledger that includes a perfect game. His brother Mason is playing in the St. Louis system.

15 Mar

low battery

Oxford High, generally considered the best prep team in Mississippi, has crashed out of the new MaxPreps Xcellent 25 national poll. The Chargers, preseason No. 1 and seventh in last week’s poll, ran out of juice in the Perfect Game Showcase in Cartersville, Ga., losing twice to move their record to 8-3. Oxford went 35-1 in 2015 en route to a Class 5A championship. Next up for Oxford, which hasn’t lost to a Magnolia State school, is South Panola on Wednesday. Jason Barber, the state’s Gatorade player of the year in 2015, is off to another fine start, batting .429 with two homers, though he has lost a game on the mound. He was unbeaten with a 0.00 ERA in 2015. Grae Kessinger, like Barber an Ole Miss signee, is hitting .412, and Drew Bianco, son of UM coach Mike Bianco, has three home runs. Rest assured, the Chargers will power up again and contend for another MHSAA crown.

01 Dec

making a list

A pair of Mississippi high schoolers — one an Ole Miss signee, the other inked by Mississippi State — made Baseball America’s recently released (and somewhat premature) list of the Top 100 prep players in the Class of 2016. Thomas Dillard, a catcher at Oxford High, is ranked No. 37 by BA. A transfer from Memphis Briarcrest, Dillard is one of four current Chargers who have signed with Ole Miss for the 2017 season. Walker Robbins, a first baseman from George County who signed with State in the early period, is ranked No. 65. Robbins is the brother of former Southern Miss star Mason Robbins, currently playing in the minors. Two other UM signees, Cooper Johnson, a catcher from Illinois, and Will Ethridge, a right-hander from Georgia, also made the Top 100 at No. 23 and No. 62. Graham Ashcraft, a righty from Alabama who signed with State, is No. 98. P.S. Hinds Community College will hold a signing ceremony on Thursday for the four players on its roster for 2016 who signed with NCAA Division I schools in the early period. The four, all right-handed pitchers, are Trent Driver (USM), Trey Jolly (Mississippi State), Timothy Jordan (Louisiana Tech) and Carlisle Koestler (Southeastern Louisiana). There were 14 sophomores on Sam Temple’s 2015 club who signed with D-I schools.

15 Aug

the stars come out

A long, long time ago – well, 40 years or so – Don Kessinger roamed the infield dirt at Wrigley Field as an All-Star shortstop for the Chicago Cubs. Today, his grandson Grae Kessinger will stand in the same spot. The younger Kessinger, also a shortstop, will participate in the Under Armour All-America Game at the Friendly Confines in Chicago. Kessinger, 6 feet 2, 180 pounds, batted .354 with 36 RBIs and 45 runs as a junior in 2015 for state champion Oxford High. He is committed to Ole Miss, where both his grandfather and father, Kevin, played. … Also in the Under Armour game is Starkville’s A.J. Brown, who is just the second player to participate in both the Under Armour baseball and football all-star games. Brown, 6-2, 220, a heavily recruited wide receiver, plays center field in baseball and hit .344 with 30 runs and 12 steals for Starkville this past season. He says he want to play both sports in college. Today’s game will be televised by MLB Network at 3 p.m. … George County High’s Walker Robbins is slated to play in Sunday’s Perfect Game All-American Classic in San Diego. Robbins, a 6-foot-3, 215-pound first baseman/pitcher, batted .348 with four homers and 28 RBIs and went 8-2 with a 1.47 ERA as a junior this past season. A Mississippi State commit, Robbins was MVP of the MHSAA Juniors All-Star Game at Trustmark Park in June. Robbins is the younger brother of Mason Robbins, the ex-Southern Miss star now playing in the Chicago White Sox’s system. The All-American Classic will be televised by MLB Network at 7 p.m.

22 May

you can look it up

As the MHSAA state finals roll on at Pearl’s Trustmark Park, here are some amazing prep stats to ponder courtesy of the Mississippi Baseball Record Book, produced by John W. Smillie of Corinth. Louis Clark of Shannon High, better known for his football exploits, set the single-season record for batting average at .759 in 1983. Clark’s older brother Dave, a former big leaguer who now coaches third base for the Detroit Tigers, holds the home run record with 23, set at Shannon in 1980. Silento Sayles’ 103 steals for Port Gibson in 2013 is an eye-popping number, and so is Dillon Owens’ streak of reaching base in 16 straight plate appearances for D’Iberville in 2007. Ditto for Jeff Rutland’s 13 RBIs in a game for Enterprise in 1990 and Heath Graham’s 60 career homers for Stringer. Richy Harrelson, recently named head coach at Northeast Mississippi Community College, had 251 career hits at Iuka/Tishomingo County AND 71 career wins. The most impressive pitching feat might be Randolph Salters’ 366 strikeouts for Mooreville in 1985, when he won a state record 25 games. Then again, Chris Taranto of Notre Dame-Biloxi threw 10 no-hitters back in 1961. Former New York Mets first-round draft pick Kirk Presley of Tupelo posted a 0.60 career ERA. Hattiesburg’s Jermaine Van Buren, who pitched in the majors, and David Sanders of Columbia each fanned 21 batters in a seven-inning game, and David Stevens of Ackerman blew away 29 in a game that went 14 innings in 2002. Sure, they say records are meant to be broken, but when it comes to many of these, forget about it.

12 May

crunch time (again)

While undefeated Oxford High is the highest ranked Mississippi school in two different national polls, Northwest Rankin definitely rates attention. The Cougars, also ranked in the Top 25 by both MaxPreps and Baseball America, are 29-2 headed into the MHSAA Class 6A North championship series against DeSoto Central. The Cougars, coached by Jeff McClaskey, feature Shelton Wallace (.464, 25 steals), Ian Ladner (.409, five homers, 38 RBIs) and Hunter Smith (9-0, 0.96 ERA). They are 4-0 in the postseason and have won eight straight overall. Both of NWR’s losses were by one run. DeSoto Central (24-9) is led by the highly touted Austin Riley, hitting .456 with 11 homers and 6-2 with a 2.75 ERA as a pitcher. Keegan James hits .336, and Dallas Woolfolk is 7-1, 2.07. In the 6A South finals, defending state champion Oak Grove (24-7) meets Biloxi (21-11) in the best-of-3. The Warriors have the 1-2 pitching punch of Drew Boyd (9-0, 1.04) and J.C. Keys (8-0, 1.01) and a hot hitter in Matthew Guidry (.426). Biloxi counters with the arms of Austin Creel (7-1, 2.01) and Blake Johnson (7-2, 2.00) and the bat of Darrell Montiforte (.296, three homers). In 5A, Oxford puts its unblemished mark (32-0) on the line against New Hope in the North finals. P.S. The SWAC Tournament begins Wednesday in New Orleans. Jackson State, the two-time defending champion, meets Southern University and Alcorn State plays West Division winner Texas Southern in the opening round of the eight-team event. The tourney winner earns an automatic NCAA Tournament bid (though Southern is ineligible). With probable league MVP Melvin Rodriguez (.444, seven homers, 72 RBIs) in its lineup, JSU certainly has a shot at a three-peat. … In Tyler, Texas, on Wednesday, third-seeded Millsaps faces 4-seed Whitworth in the first round of the NCAA Division III West Regional. … At Eunice, La., on Thursday, Hinds Community College meets East Mississippi and Northwest Mississippi plays LSU-Eunice in the first round of the NJCAA Division II Region 23 Tournament. No. 1-ranked Hinds is the defending region champ.

16 Apr

unbroken — so far

Oxford High is three games away from an undefeated regular season. That’s not easy to do in any sport but particularly in baseball. Size and speed, so critical in other games, can be neutralized in baseball. A hot pitcher, a funny hop or a bad call can take you down on any given day. The Class 5A Chargers (24-0), the highest ranked Mississippi school (at No. 31) in the MaxPreps national poll, play Saltillo on Friday, Water Valley on Monday and West Point on Tuesday. Chris Baughman’s team has dominated most of its competition, outscoring opponents 207-37. Junior Jason Barber has been a two-way star, batting .339 with five homers and 29 RBIs and posting a 7-0, 0.00 pitching ledger. Ben Bianco, a sophomore, is batting .394, and junior Grae Kessinger, son of former Ole Miss star Kevin and grandson of UM and MLB great Donnie, is hitting .380. Don’t bet against the Chargers running the table. But don’t forget that baseball can be a strange game.

07 Apr

poll position

Northwest Rankin High, which is on a 17-1 roll, has broken into Baseball America’s new Top 25, checking in at No. 20. The Class 6A Cougars, who have a game tonight at Starkville, haven’t lost since March 7, when they fell 2-1 in extra innings to Germantown. They notched two big wins over rival Madison Central on March 31 and April 2. Acy Owen leads NWR in hitting at .500, and Ian Ladner is at .442 with four homers and Damione Granger .333 with 15 RBIs. On the bump, Hunter Smith is 5-0 with a 0.40 ERA and Cannon Gibbs 4-0, 0.33. … Brandon is 25th in BA’s latest poll; DeSoto Central, which lost three of four in the National High School Invitational late last month, dropped out.