Tag Archives: junior college baseball

28 Apr

jucos ready to rumble

Hinds Community College, the No. 1 team in NJCAA Division II and the regular season champion in the MACJC, will open postseason play against 8-seed Southwest Mississippi. The best-of-3 series starts Friday at Moss Field in Raymond. Sam Temple’s Eagles are 36-5, 15-1 at home. The Bears, who made the postseason in Ken Jackson’s first year as coach, swept a doubleheader from the Eagles on April 16 at Smith-Wills Stadium. In the other postseason openers, league runner-up East Mississippi will host Mississippi Delta at Scooba; Northwest gets Jones County JC in Senatobia; and Meridian welcomes East Central. The four series survivors will play a double-elimination tournament for the state championship at a site TBD, then comes the Region 23 tourney at Eunice, La. P.S. The last weekend-plus of the regular season in the jucos produced quite a highlight show. To wit: Northwest’s Clay Casey belted three home runs in a twinbill split on Saturday against Meridian. … Jones County’s Will Hazen threw his second straight shutout on Saturday as the Bobcats completed a sweep of Coahoma. … East Mississippi got grand slams from David Pimentel and Chris McCullough in a victory on Saturday over Gulf Coast, which won the nightcap on a Tyler Rachel walk-off homer. … Pimentel belted two more homers (that’s 13 for the year) in an 11-1 win on Monday that capped a sweep of Delta. … But the most impressive feat was delivered by L.D. Coney, a freshman at Southwest. He hit for the cycle in Game 2 of a doubleheader sweep over Northeast on Sunday. Coney, from McComb, hit his first home run of the season as part of the cycle.

17 Apr

coming attractions

Starkville’s Dudy Noble Field is a hot spot in the state this weekend — weather permitting, as always — with Mississippi State hosting SEC foe Florida as part of Super Bulldog Weekend. At Braddy Field in Jackson, Jackson State faces a SWAC showdown with Alabama A&M. Down in Hattiesburg at Taylor Park, Southern Miss has a big C-USA series against Florida Atlantic. Up in Cleveland, Ferriss Field will fill up for Delta State’s Gulf South Conference battle with Shorter. Mississippi Valley State will host Belhaven in Itta Bena today and then travel to Jackson’s Smith-Wills Stadium on Saturday for a twinbill against the Blazers. And on Sunday at Smith-Wills, perhaps the most compelling matchup of the weekend will see NJCAA Division II No. 1-ranked Hinds Community College take on No. 16 Northwest Mississippi CC. The doubleheader begins at 2 p.m. Hinds dropped a pair to Southwest at Smith-Wills on Thursday, falling into a tie atop the MACJC standings with Northwest at 16-4. Hinds (29-4 overall) has gotten prolific production from Jonathan Washam (.402 entering the Southwest set), Madison’s Matt Jones (.394, 34 runs), Cleveland’s Marshall Boggs (.349) and Clinton’s Chase Lunceford (.353, five home runs). Randy Bell (7-0, 2.36 ERA) of Woodville and Houston Case (6-1) of Brookhaven are the top winners on the mound for the Eagles, and Madison’s Austin Sanders has nine saves. Northwest (25-8) has won 12 straight games, including a sweep of Northeast on Tuesday in which the Rangers scored 21 runs on 29 hits. Clay Casey, the former DeSoto Central star, has swung a mighty bat, with a .358 average, eight homers, 28 RBIs and 30 runs. Ole Miss transfer Dalton Dulin leads the Rangers with a .382 average and has a school-record 36 stolen bases. Coldwater’s LeeMarcus Boyd is batting .320 with 30 runs. Myrtle’s Colt Smith is Northwest’s ace, having posted a 6-0 record with a 0.54 ERA, and Tupelo’s J.G. Lipscomb is 4-1, 1.48.

14 Apr

state of the state

Both Mississippi State and Ole Miss popped up in various national preseason polls. Then the games started. Since winning its first 13 (all at Starkville) and rising in some polls, State has gone 9-16, a tailspin that seemed to start with a home loss to Arkansas-Pine Bluff on March 3. The Bulldogs are 6-9 in the SEC West, a game back of Ole Miss (7-8). State has won just one SEC series (South Carolina), UM two (Florida and Vanderbilt). The Rebels, playing one of the toughest schedules in the nation, are just 18-18 overall, apparently missing the eight MLB draftees taken from last year’s College World Series club more than some people thought they would. There is, of course, lots of baseball still to be played in the SEC. But State and Ole Miss have lots of work to do to get back in the polls and, more importantly, back in the NCAA regionals. … Southern Miss is 20-12-1 (2-0 in the Trustmark Park College Series) and 8-6 (fifth) in Conference USA. The Golden Eagles, who have the league’s top hitter in Taylor Braley (.398), have won two straight C-USA series. … In the SWAC, Jackson State is 10-5 and third in the East, with Alcorn State and Mississippi Valley State tied in the cellar at 3-14. JSU, the defending league tournament champ, is 21-14 overall. … Delta State is 17-13 and 12-8 (t-fifth) in the Gulf South Conference. The Statesmen celebrated Mike Kinnison’s 800th career win last week and then took two of three from Mississippi College in the renewal of their old rivalry. … MC, ineligible for the GSC title as it transitions to NCAA Division II, is 12-27, 4-22 in what will be coach Brian Owens’ final season in Clinton. … Millsaps, 25-7 and ranked 10th in NCAA D-III, is first in the Southern Athletic Association standings at 15-3. … In the NAIA Southern States Athletic Conference, William Carey (15-9) is third, Belhaven (10-16) seventh and Blue Mountain (7-18) 10th. Carey (24-19 overall) swept league foe Martin Methodist over the weekend. BU celebrated another Maloney Trophy Series championship by beating Millsaps last week, then got swept by No. 1-ranked Faulkner in the SSAC. … NAIA Tougaloo, under first-year coach Earl Sanders, is 5-30. … In the jucos, No. 1-ranked Hinds Community College (29-2) is tops in the MACJC at 16-2, having won its showdown with East Mississippi CC last Saturday. Northwest has moved to No. 2 in the league at 14-4, and EMCC is third at 13-5.

01 Apr

juco jottings

East Mississippi Community College finally stubbed its toe, and we now have a tie at the top of the MACJC standings as the 28-game schedule hits the halfway point for many of the 15 schools. The Lions moved to 11-0 in league play with a 9-7 win over visiting Meridian on Tuesday but fell short in Game 2 of the doubleheader, losing 8-7. Hinds (24-1 overall, 11-1 MACJC) caught EMCC by taking a pair from Pearl River in Poplarville. The Eagles’ Chase Lunceford had a three-homer game in the opener. Looking ahead, Hinds and EMCC will tangle on April 11 in Scooba. … In the new NJCAA Division II rankings out today, Hinds remains No. 1, while EMCC is up to No. 14. Also ranked are Jones County JC at No. 10 and Meridian at 19th. … East Central and Northwest are 10-4 in the league, Meridian is 9-5 and Jones is 8-6. (The North and South divisions have been abandoned.) … EMCC’s win over Meridian was fueled by four home runs, two by Taylor Stafford. The Eagles got a homer and four RBIs from Dustin Smith in their win. … Players of the week in the league were named on Tuesday: MCC’s Goose Yates (9-for-18, six runs, five RBIs) and Itawamba’s Nick Burns (two wins, including a one-hitter against Meridian). … Northwest’s Dalton Dulin, a reverse transfer from Ole Miss, leads the nation in stolen bases with 31. He is batting .354. Clay Casey, former DeSoto Central star who previously signed with Ole Miss, is batting .346 with five homers and 16 RBIs for the Rangers.

21 Feb

on the juco watch

Not to make too much about statistics from this early in the season, but there are a few worth mentioning from the state junior colleges. Itawamba Community College’s Tanner Poole has eight stolen bases, tied for the national lead in NJCAA Division II. Poole, a sophomore from Amory, is batting .455 with two home runs and 11 RBIs for the Indians, who are 5-1. T.J. Watson is 2-0 with a 3.00 ERA. … East Mississippi’s David Pimentel, a freshman from Tennessee, tops the nation in homers with three. … Jones County’s Daniel Goff, a former George County star who is 2-0 with a 1.50, was named the NJCAA D-II pitcher of the week on Thursday. He fanned 11 in a six-inning stint against Jefferson (Mo.) College on Wednesday. Tyler Schankin has hit two homers for the 11th-ranked Bobcats (7-1). … No. 2 Hinds, off to an 8-0 start, got a seven-inning no-hitter from Derek Martin of Flora on Wednesday against Bossier Parish (La.). Austin Sanders, from Madison, has a win and three saves for the Eagles, and Jonathan Washam is batting .500 with seven RBIs.

17 Feb

happy campers

Major league camps formally open this week. As usual, a host of Mississippi-connected players will be in Florida and Arizona, some aiming to build on big years, some attempting comebacks from down years or injuries, some just trying to make an impression and land a job. A few are in new places this year, some may be anticipating a move before opening day. Rest assured, all are happy to be in an MLB camp. Who wouldn’t be? Here’s the list:

40-man roster members
Position players
Chris Coghlan (Ole Miss), Chicago Cubs; Zack Cozart (Ole Miss), Cincinnati; Brian Dozier (Southern Miss), Minnesota; Corey Dickerson (Meridian CC), Colorado; Jarrod Dyson (Southwest CC), Kansas City; Ed Easley (Mississippi State), St. Louis; Billy Hamilton (Taylorsville), Cincinnati; Desmond Jennings (Itawamba CC), Tampa Bay; Tyler Moore (MSU), Washington; Mitch Moreland (MSU), Texas; Alex Presley (Ole Miss), Houston; Seth Smith (Ole Miss), Seattle

Pitchers
Aaron Barrett (Ole Miss), Washington; Louis Coleman (Schlater/Pillow Academy), Kansas City; David Goforth (Ole Miss), Milwaukee; Kendall Graveman (MSU), Oakland; T.J. House (Picayune High) Cleveland; Cliff Lee (Meridian CC), Philadelphia; Lance Lynn (Ole Miss), St. Louis; Jonathan Papelbon (MSU), Philadelphia; Drew Pomeranz (Ole Miss), Oakland; Tony Sipp (Gulf Coast CC), Houston

Non-roster invitees
Position players
Anthony Alford (Petal), Toronto; Tim Anderson (East Central CC), Chicago White Sox; Joey Butler (Gulf Coast CC), Tampa Bay; Hunter Renfroe (MSU), San Diego; Stuart Turner (Ole Miss), Minnesota; Alex Yarbrough (Ole Miss), Los Angeles Angels

Pitchers
Brent Leach (Delta State), Milwaukee; Jacob Lindgren (MSU), New York Yankees; Paul Maholm (MSU), Cincinnati; Cody Satterwhite (Ole Miss), New York Mets; Chris Stratton (MSU), San Francisco; Donnie Veal (Jackson), Atlanta

26 Jan

on the juco watch

Two players on Mississippi junior college rosters for this season batted over .420 in 2014. At least three reached the 10-homer plateau. Another stole 20 bases. There were several pitchers who posted an ERA under 3.00. There was a 9-game winner and a few who notched eight, including a certain right-hander who also had 10 saves. Those are some of the numbers that grab your eye from the NJCAA’s lists of top returning players in Division II Region 23. With the season fast approaching — most of the state jucos start on or about Feb. 7 — here are a few names (with numbers) to watch for from the MACJC: Trent Turner (Northeast Mississippi Community College), .423, eight homers, 50 RBIs; James Land (Gulf Coast), .422, 10 homers; Chase Hensley (Jones County JC), .373 and 8-1, 2.60 ERA; Marshall Boggs (Hinds), .366; Dalton Thomas (Meridian), .349, seven homers; Chad McNeil (Holmes), .341, 20 steals; Will Simon (Jones), 2.59 ERA; Goose Yates (Meridian), 6-2, 2.73; J’Daylin Jackson (East Mississippi), 8-1, 3.77; Austin Sanders (Hinds), 8-2, 2.95, 10 saves; Randy Bell (Hinds), 9-4; Brady Badon (Southwest), 3.18, seven saves.

24 Dec

no. 2 with a bullet

Hinds Community College will start the 2015 season where it finished 2014 – and that’s not a bad place to be. The Eagles, who finished runner-up in the NJCAA Division II World Series last season, are ranked No. 2 in the Collegiate Baseball preseason poll. No. 1 is Mesa (Ariz.), the team that beat Hinds in the title game. The Eagles have 11 NCAA Division I signees on their roster. They return the top five hitters from 2014, led by Luke Reynolds (.376), Marshall Boggs (.366) and Quade Smith (.331). Also back are home run leaders Chase Lunceford and Matt Jones, who blasted 10 apiece. Austin Sanders (8-2, 10 saves) returns on the mound, along with Randy Bell (9-4) and Casey Sutton (8-3). “We should be good. We should at least get back to the World Series,” Lunceford said in an interview last summer. “I know that’s tough to do, but we’ll have high expectations.” Hinds certainly is a team to watch, and the watch will start on Feb. 7, when the Eagles open against Mineral Area (Mo.) at Moss Field in Raymond. … East Mississippi was No. 18 in the preseason poll and Northwest checked in at No. 20.

30 Jul

in transition

The search is on for a new coach at Southwest Mississippi Community College, where Lee Kuyrkendall resigned earlier this week after six seasons in Summit. One has to wonder if Kuyrkendall’s top assistant during his tenure, Ken Jackson, might be a logical candidate to replace him. Jackson is, like Kuyrkendall, a former Bears player and had a good track record as head coach at Parklane Academy. Southwest, which produced current Kansas City Royals outfielder Jarrod Dyson, went 15-27 overall in 2014 and was 9-15 in the MACJC South Division, missing the postseason. Kuyrkendall previously coached at Mississippi College.

28 May

standing tall

It’s getting very interesting for Hinds Community College in the NJCAA Division II World Series. Only two unbeatens remain in the double-elimination tournament – and the Eagles are one of them. Half of the original 10-team field has been sent home, and another will be eliminated in today’s first game at Enid, Okla., when Mercer County (N.J.) plays Pasco-Hernando (Fla.). Hinds (38-19 overall, 3-0 in Enid) meets fellow unbeaten Madison (Wis.) in the second game. Hinds beat Pasco-Hernando 9-4 on Tuesday behind the brilliant pitching of freshman Houston Case (five-hit complete game) and homers from Matt Jones (his 10th) and Marshall Boggs. Madison, which has played only two games, had Tuesday off. The Wolfpack is 44-15. Keith Browning leads the hitters with a .372 average and 42 RBIs. The pitching staff has a 2.84 ERA for the season and has yielded just three runs in the tournament. For what it’s worth, Madison also has a lot of impressive history: eight juco World Series appearances and three national titles (the last in 1997). The Wolfpack finished third last year. Win or lose tonight, Hinds will play again on Thursday. Mesa (Ariz.) will play the Hinds-Madison winner.