Tag Archives: Madison Central

13 Jul

pre-draft doodles

Mississippi may never have been considered a motherlode of baseball talent, but pro scouts have been mining for nuggets here since the first MLB draft. Joe DeFabio of Delta State was the 20th overall pick in 1965, and players from the state have been drafted in the first round virtually every year since. Four with state ties are projected in various mock drafts to go in Sunday’s Round 1, which, counting supplemental picks, goes 39 deep. Jackson Prep’s Konnor Griffin and former Madison Central High star Braden Montgomery, who played at Texas A&M this season, are generally regarded as top 10 prospects. Mississippi State’s Dakota Jordan and Jurrangelo Cijnjte are also expected to go in Round 1. … The highest any player from the state has been chosen is No. 2, Will Clark taken out of MSU by San Francisco in 1985. The state also has produced two No. 3’s (Ted Nicholson of Oak Park in Laurel by the Chicago White Sox in 1969 and B.J. Wallace of State by Montreal in 1992), a No. 5 (Drew Pomeranz of Ole Miss by Cleveland in 2010) and three No. 8’s (Donny Castle of Coldwater High by Washington in 1968, Kirk Presley of Tupelo High by the New York Mets in 1993 and Paul Maholm of State by Pittsburgh in 2003). Dave Clark of Jackson State was No. 11 by Cleveland in 1983. … Last year, 14 players were drafted out of Mississippi, including No. 15 Jacob Gonzalez from Ole Miss by the White Sox. In 2022, 23 players from Mississippi schools were selected over the 20 rounds of the draft, Landon Sims of MSU going 34th overall. … Back in 2018, Baseball America conducted a survey of which state produced the most pro talent per capita and Mississippi ranked fourth, with 149 high school alums appearing on affiliated rosters from 2011-17. … In Baseball America’s 2024 Draft Preview skill rankings, Griffin — the No. 1 high school athlete — is No. 2 in power, No. 2 in defense (outfield) and No. 4 in speed among all draft-eligible prep players. Montgomery — a touted prep draft prospect when he was at Madison Central — ranks No. 3 in power and as the No. 5 athlete among the college class. Jordan is No. 5 in power. … In Lindy’s 2024 Baseball preview magazine, Lewisburg High’s Samuel Richardson, a third baseman, was rated the No. 35 draft prospect, but he appears to have slipped off the radar over the course of the season. … Quite a few of the state’s best all-around athletes have chosen football over baseball: See Senquez Golson, A.J. Brown, Jerrion Ealy, Anthony Alford (who later returned to baseball and spent some time in the big leagues). Also on that list is Steve McNair, a relative unknown baseball talent when a Seattle scout first saw him in 1991. Dan Jennings, a former William Carey player, happened upon a game at Mount Olive and was mesmerized by the home team’s shortstop. “This is my day. The baseball gods are smiling on me,” he told espn.com in a story a few years ago. The Mariners drafted McNair in the 35th round and offered $15,000 plus college tuition. He chose to play football at Alcorn State — and, yes, the rest is history. … Charlie Condon, the Golden Spikes Award winner from Georgia, is a possible No. 1 overall pick (Cleveland has the choice) — and, yes, there is a Mississippi connection. Georgia’s hitting coach, who has helped Condon blossom from an unrecruited prep player to a college star, is Will Coggin, a former Mississippi State player and assistant coach. Coggin coached Brent Rooker and Jake Mangum, among other draftees, in Starkville. … A name to watch for in the later rounds of the draft, according to an MLB Pipeline article, is Landon Hairston, an Arizona high school outfielder. He is the son of ex-big leaguer Scott Hairston, who is the son of ex-big leaguer Jerry Hairston Sr., who is the son of ex-big leaguer Sam Hairston, a Crawford native who starred in the Negro Leagues in the 1940s.

25 Jun

draft auditions

Eric Cerantola, who did not make Mississippi State’s travel roster for Omaha, headed to Cary, N.C., instead to work out in the MLB Draft Combine. According to mlb.com’s Jim Callis, it was a worthwhile trip. Cerantola reportedly hit 96 mph four times and registered the highest spin rate among 13 pitchers who threw in a Thursday session. Cerantola, a big righty from Canada, was considered a potential first-round pick headed into 2021 but had a poor year for the Bulldogs. After starting the season in the rotation, he wound up appearing in just 10 games, posting a 5.71 ERA. He struck out 24 in 17 1/3 innings but walked 11, hit six batters and threw four wild pitches. Callis writes that Cerantola “has some stiffness in his delivery that makes it tough for him to locate his pitches.” Rated No. 248 by MLB Pipeline, his work at the combine might entice an MLB club to take a chance on him. … Braden Montgomery, the star of Madison Central’s state championship team, is showcasing skills as both a hitter and pitcher at the combine. “I picked up pitching more recently, but I’ve always been a hitter,” he said in a recent interview on MLB Network. “So, there are some days where maybe I’ll turn out a poor pitching performance, but I’ll hit well and feel like I won’t have to pitch anymore or turn out a really good pitching performance, and I don’t hit well at all. So, I enjoy them both.” The 6-foot-2, 200-pound Montgomery is a switch-hitting outfielder and righty pitcher. He had nine hard-hit (95 mph-plus) balls in a BP session this week; the top number in that session was 15. He broad-jumped 11.04 feet and scored 11.31 on the agility drill, both among the best scores in his groups. He is a Stanford signee who’ll go high in the draft. He is ranked No. 65 by MLB Pipeline, just four spots behind Ole Miss’ Doug Nikhazy.

22 Apr

feeling a draft

Ole Miss right-hander Gunnar Hoglund is the top-rated draft prospect in the state, per MLB Pipeline’s new Top 150 announced Wednesday. Hoglund, 3-2 with a 2.73 ERA, is No. 10. He pitched well but took the loss in the Rebels’ 5-2 defeat against Mississippi State in Starkville last Friday. Hoglund was opposed as the starter by Bulldogs left-hander Christian MacLeod (3-2, 2.83), MLB Pipeline’s No. 66 prospect who also pitched well but got no decision. UM lefty Doug Nikhazy (4-1, 1.86), who threw the brilliant one-hitter at State on Saturday, is No. 100 in the new draft list. Will Bednar (2-1, 3.55), who took the loss for the Bulldogs in that game, is No. 34 on the list. (That’s the kind of power-packed series it was last weekend.) The only other Mississippi product on the list is Madison Central High senior Braden Montgomery, who sits at No. 54. The switch-hitting outfielder (.469, three homers) and righty pitcher (6-0, 0.22) is committed to Stanford. The draft is in July. The ratings will change before then. “This is a really tough draft,” a scout said in the mlb.com story. “It’s a year of challenges (due to COVID-19 restrictions) with mixed opinions on a lot of guys.”

22 Feb

it’s a good start

Spencer Turnbull, the former Madison Central High star, got the start in Detroit’s Grapefruit League opener today and got six quick outs against reigning NAIA national champ Southeastern University, 11-2 and averaging over 10 runs per game against its college competition. Turnbull yielded a hit to the game’s first batter, who was caught stealing, and retired the next five. Turnbull, 26, went 0-2 with a 6.06 ERA in four games as a rookie for the Tigers in 2018 and is competing for a starter’s job this spring. “I think he’d be best served, if he doesn’t make our rotation, to start in Triple-A,” Tigers manager Ron Gardenhire said in an mlb.com story. “This kid’s going to be a good one.”

11 Sep

arrival time

There were several injury-related detours along the way, but former Madison Central High star Spencer Turnbull has finally arrived in the big leagues. Turnbull was activated today by the Detroit Tigers. “Just being here is a dream come true,” Turnbull said in an mlb.com story. The 25-year-old right-hander was a second-round pick out of Alabama in 2014. He spent most of this season at Double-A Erie, going 4-7 with a 4.47 ERA — around a stint on the disabled list — before earning a promotion to Triple-A Toledo, where he put up a 2.03 in two starts. “I saw him in spring training,” Tigers manager Ron Gardenhire, the former Jackson Mets infielder, told mlb.com. “(H)e has that electric stuff that you take notice of.” … Turnbull will be the fourth Mississippi product to make his MLB debut in 2018, following Braxton Lee (Ole Miss), Dakota Hudson (Mississippi State) and Cody Carroll (Southern Miss).

19 Dec

heartbreaking

Ryan Bolden was drafted 40th overall, ahead of the likes of Taijuan Walker, Nick Castellanos, Jedd Gyorko, Drew Smyly, Andrelton Simmons and Derek Dietrich, all picked inside the first two rounds of the 2010 MLB draft. The Los Angeles Angels apparently loved the power/speed potential of the strapping 6-foot-3, 190-pound Bolden, an outfielder who starred for Madison Central’s 2010 state championship team. The pro game was a big step for Bolden, and he spent three years in the rookie Arizona League, never batting above .200. Injuries crept in. He played just seven games in 2013 and none this past season but had not yet given up the game. Bolden’s life ended shockingly and tragically on Wednesday when he was shot in Atlanta. He was only 23. “He was just a really good young man and came from a really good family. It’s heartbreaking; it really is,” Angels scouting director Ric Wilson told mlb.com.