Tag Archives: Hinds Community College

14 Feb

for the record

It might be the answer to a great trivia question someday. Who did Sarah Hudek beat for the first win of her college career? The answer is … Hinds Community College. Happened Wednesday night at Moss Field in Raymond. Hudek, the only female playing college baseball and reportedly the first to get a scholarship in the sport, worked 2 2/3 scoreless innings for Bossier Parish (La.) CC in a 5-4 victory over the Eagles, ranked ninth in NJCAA Division II. Hudek, a lefty and the daughter of former big leaguer John Hudek, yielded three infield hits and recorded three strikeouts in her first career appearance. As her coach says, “This is not a gimmick.”

29 Jan

a rebel shout-out

Ole Miss hasn’t gotten a lotta love in the preseason polls, but Baseball America saw fit to rank the Rebels No. 24. In the preview capsule on its web site, BA notes UM’s “strong core” of returnees from 2015 and a recruiting class, rated 19th in the nation, loaded with pitchers. Ole Miss returns six regulars from a 30-28 team that made the NCAAs. One of those regulars is shortstop Errol Robinson, an All-America candidate and potential high MLB draft pick. Also back are likely Friday night starter Brady Bramlett and closer Wyatt Short. A key could be how and where the new arms factor in. “That’s very important as you enter into conference play that guys have those roles,” coach Mike Bianco told BA. P.S. Hinds Community College is ranked ninth in the NJCAA Division II preseason poll. The Eagles went 43-7, were ranked first for several weeks and won the MACJC championship in 2015.

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.

19 Nov

feeling another draft

Ole Miss product Alex Yarbrough and former Mississippi State star Chris Stratton are among a bushel of mlb.com-rated prospects who could be exposed to next month’s Rule 5 draft. MLB teams must make 40-man roster decisions by 11:59 p.m. EST Friday. Other clubs can draft – and potentially keep (it’s a bit complicated) — eligible players who aren’t protected on a big league roster. Yarbrough, drafted in 2012, had a down year in the Los Angeles Angels’ system, batting .236 with three homers, 48 RBIs and 56 runs in 128 games at Triple-A Salt Lake. The second baseman was the Texas League player of the year in 2014, when he batted .285 with five homers and 77 RBIs at Arkansas. He well could be exposed and not drafted. Stratton, a 6-foot-3 right-hander also drafted in 2012, figures to be protected by San Francisco. The Tupelo native went 4-5 with a 3.86 ERA in 17 starts at Triple-A Sacramento. P.S. Former Hinds Community College star Travious Relaford reportedly has been suspended for 50 games for a drug of abuse violation. Relaford, a 44th-round pick in 2011, played at Class A Augusta in the San Francisco system in 2015, batting .237.

11 Sep

campus notes

Wes Thigpen, a former Mississippi State catcher, was recently hired as the new pitching coach at Hinds Community College, replacing former big leaguer Chad Bradford. Thigpen was a graduate assistant at State the past two seasons. He played at Meridian CC before starting for the Bulldogs in 2010 and ’11. He also played pro ball in the Detroit Tigers’ system. … Southern Miss has announced it will play host to two games against longtime coastal rivals at MGM Park in Biloxi next season. The Golden Eagles will meet South Alabama on March 2 and Tulane on March 22. MGM Park, home of the Double-A Biloxi Shuckers, formally opened on June 6. … When fall ball starts at Mississippi State, outfielder Brent Rooker might have a little swagger in his walk. He was named the New England Collegiate Baseball League Most Valuable Player and its second-best prospect by Baseball America. He finished first in the league in home runs (10), RBIs (33) and runs (36) and third in batting (.360). Rooker hit .257 with two homers in 74 at-bats for the Bulldogs in 2015. … Ole Miss shortstop Errol Robinson is also coming off a strong summer. Playing in the top-drawer Cape Cod League, he hit .312 with 25 runs and 15 steals, made the All-Star game and was rated the No. 9 prospect. … Jackson State’s Jamal Wilson, a senior right-hander, was rated among the Valley League’s top prospects. He went 2-3 with a 5.16 ERA during the summer league’s regular season and 1-1, 2.25 in the playoffs. … William Carey may have made a key pick-up for 2016 when it added former Petal High and Jones County Junior College catcher Tyler Graves to its roster. As a sophomore at JCJC in 2014, Graves was named NJCAA D-II Spalding National Defensive Player of the Year and was a third team All-America pick. He had 28 assists and batted .371. He signed with Delta State out of JCJC but didn’t play there in 2015.

12 Jul

whatever happened to …

Travious Relaford, a former juco All-America shortstop at Hinds Community College, is back on the field at Class A Augusta, where he is batting .272 with 24 RBIs and 24 runs in 48 games. Relaford went 3-for-6 with an RBI and a steal in a doubleheader on July 7, his first game action after a month on the disabled list. It’s hard to get a read on how Relaford stands in the San Francisco Giants’ grand scheme. Drafted in the 44th round in 2011, he didn’t start his pro career until 2012. He got a look in Double-A in 2013 but hit only .188 and found himself on a short-season Class A team in 2014. He batted .283 with three homers and 28 RBIs for Salem-Keizer and made the Northwest League All-Star Game. He appeared in a couple of major league spring games this year, then was assigned to the low Class A South Atlantic League. He isn’t on any of the lists of the Giants’ top prospects, but he is only 23 and he appears to be progressing. P.S. Sixteen years after the Jackson Generals last played at Smith-Wills Stadium, there are two alums of the old Houston Double-A affiliate still playing. Daryle Ward, at age 40, is in the independent Atlantic League, batting .253 with one homer for Southern Maryland (Jackson native Stan Cliburn’s club). Ward hit 90 MLB homers and has 189 others as a pro. Freddy Garcia, 38, is pitching in the Mexican League. The big right-hander, in his 21st pro season, has a 6.00 ERA in five games for Tabasco.

07 Jul

summer session

Southern Miss stars Chuckie Robinson and Tim Lynch seem to be enjoying their summer vacation. Robinson was named New England Collegiate Baseball League player of the week on Monday; he hit .643 with four homers in a four-game stretch for Ocean State. The Golden Eagles catcher is batting .317 with six home runs and 14 RBIs. Lynch, also playing for Ocean State, is leading the NECBL in homers with seven and batting .313 with 17 RBIs. … Ole Miss’ Errol Robinson has a league-leading 17 runs and Mississippi State’s Dakota Brown has posted a 1.92 ERA in six games to help the Hyannis Harbor Hawks rise to the top of the Cape Cod League’s West Division. Robinson is batting .300. State’s Reid Humphreys, playing for Bourne in the CCBL, has three home runs, tied for fourth in the loop. … Bulldogs signee Tanner Poole, who played at Itawamba Community College this past season, leads the Southern Collegiate Baseball League in steals with 20, while batting .372 with 25 runs for Piedmont. Poole hit .378 with 26 steals for ICC. … Ole Miss’ Will Stokes has a 2.07 ERA and one save in six appearances for the Baltimore Redbirds, who have the best record (20-6) in the Cal Ripken Collegiate Baseball League. Fellow Rebels Nic Perkins (.276) and Will Golsan (.270) also play for the Redbirds. P.S. Hinds CC alums Casey Echols and Matt Jones have signed with Mississippi College and Tennessee Tech, the Raymond school announced. Echols, son of ex-State star Tracy, hit .296 with four homers this season, Jones .369 with 49 runs. The signing of Jones brings to 13 the number of Eagles bound for NCAA Division I schools this fall.

29 May

remember the eagles

As the NJCAA Division II World Series plays out in Enid, Okla., it seems a shame that Hinds Community College isn’t there for an encore. Sam Temple’s Eagles, national runners-up in 2014, won a school-record 43 games this year but couldn’t get past a strong LSU-Eunice club in Region 23. Hinds recently bid farewell to an impressive group of sophomores who went 83-28 during their career, with two state titles (regular season and tournament in 2015), a region title and a long stay at No. 1 in the national poll. Twelve Eagles made first- or second-team All-MACJC this season. Moving on are the likes of All-Region right-hander Randy Bell (HCC record-tying 21 career wins), RH Austin Sanders (record 21 career saves), first baseman Marshall Boggs (record 139 career hits), 2B Matt Jones (team-leading .369 average in 2015), catcher Jonathan Washam (team-best 68 hits in 2015), 3B/SS Chase Lunceford (team-leading nine homers in 2015, 19 career), RH Casey Sutton (7-1 this season), RH Houston Case (7-2), RH Derek Martin (6-0), OF Tyler Cox (.323), OF Quade Smith (team-leading 11 steals) and RH Keller Bradford (1.54 ERA). Shortstop Jordan Washam (.369) and RH Graham Ahlrich (1.99 ERA) played only this season, and they are among six Eagles bound for Louisiana Tech. Sanders signed with Ole Miss, Case with Southern Miss and Bell with South Alabama. Cox, Martin and Bradford will play for Louisiana-Monroe. Years from now, we may still look back with wonder on this two-year run by HCC. P.S. Austin Riley, who led DeSoto Central High to the MHSAA Class 6A championship, is rated No. 107 in mlb.com’s latest list of the Top 200 draft prospects. Mississippi State signee Riley, a 6-foot-3, 225-pound third baseman/pitcher, batted .423 with 11 homers and went 7-2 with a 2.70 ERA for the 28-9 Jaguars. Pearl River CC right-hander Jacob Taylor is No. 77 on the mlb.com draft chart.

17 May

down to two

Only two Mississippi college teams are still standing after a generally rough weekend. Hinds Community College, the No. 1-ranked team in NJCAA Division II, was eliminated Saturday night in the Region 23 championship round by No. 2 LSU-Eunice. The Eagles (43-7) lost twice to the host Bengals in the regional. East Mississippi Community College went 2-and-out in the tournament, and Northwest Mississippi was flushed in its third game, losing an elimination game to Hinds on Saturday. Meanwhile, Mississippi State’s season ended with a whimper as the Bulldogs lost three straight to Tennessee, which claimed the 12th and final berth in the SEC Tournament. Jackson State and Alcorn State bowed out Friday in the SWAC Tournament, where both went 1-2. Millsaps, after winning its opener on Thursday, went down (and out) twice on Friday in the NCAA Division III West Regional. Still playing are Southern Miss, which will take a 13-game winning streak into its Conference USA Tournament opener against UAB on Wednesday at Taylor Park in Hattiesburg, and Ole Miss, which has won six of seven heading into an SEC Tournament clash with Alabama on Tuesday in Hoover, Ala.

15 May

one, meet two

This should be good. Hinds Community College and LSU-Eunice, ranked 1-2 in the NJCAA Division II poll, will meet tonight in a winner’s bracket game in the Region 23 Tournament at Eunice, La. The Eagles (42-5) clubbed East Mississippi 12-1 on Thursday, and LSU-E (42-9) routed Northwest Mississippi 12-0. Hinds and LSU-E did not meet in the regular season, though the Bengals did play a couple of MACJC schools. Randy Bell got the win against EMCC and moved to 12-0 for Hinds. Jonathan Washam went 3-for-4 and drove in three runs, and Tyler Cox belted a two-run homer. LSU-E was powered by Steven Sensley, who hit his 18th homer, and Madison Nickens, who had three hits. The Bengals threw ace Mitch Sewald (12-1) on Thursday, so the Eagles might face lefty Ben Braymer, who has 113 strikeouts in 71 2/3 innings. P.S. Jim Page notched his 700th win as Millsaps coach on Thursday when the Majors held off Whitworth 7-6 in the first round of the NCAA Division III West Regional. Annon Etheridge and Andy Page had two RBIs apiece for Millsaps. The Majors’ next game is today against old rival Trinity (Texas) in the weather-plagued tournament at Tyler, Texas. … Omar Johnson got win No. 300 at Jackson State when the Tigers beat Prairie View 10-1 in a SWAC Tournament elimination game. Jevon Jacobs threw a six-hitter with 13 strikeouts. The Tigers play Alabama State today. Alcorn State also stayed alive on Thursday, beating Alabama A&M 13-3 behind Cedric Walker’s complete game. The Braves earned a rematch with Texas Southern, which beat them on Wednesday. … Northeast Mississippi CC announced that assistant Richy Harrelson will replace Kent Farris as head coach. Farris is now the school’s athletic director. Harrelson was a legendary prep player at Iuka and Tishomingo County before going on to star at Ole Miss. He also worked as an assistant at Southern Miss.