Tag Archives: Mississippi Braves

05 Jul

four for the 4th

Four Mississippians in the majors made notable contributions to winning efforts on July 4, always a star-spangled day in baseball. Jordan Westburg provided plenty of fireworks for Baltimore, going 3-for-4 with a homer — his eighth — in the Orioles’ 3-2 win at Atlanta. Mississippi State alum Westburg was back in the lineup at third base for the first time since June 27 because of a nagging injury. (Ex-Braves star Charlie Morton got the win for the O’s, his fifth of the season and the 143rd of his MLB career; he is the all-time leader in wins among former Mississippi Braves hurlers, of which there are many who’ve made The Show.) … Ex-MSU star Brent Rooker, a potential All-Star pick, went 2-for-4 with two RBIs as the A’s routed San Francisco 11-2. Rooker is batting .273 with 18 homers and 48 RBIs. … Matt Wallner, former Southern Miss standout, went 1-for-3 with a walk in Minnesota’s 4-3 win against surging Tampa Bay. The Twins (42-46 overall) are 23-17 at Target Field. Wallner is batting just .201 but 19 of his 31 hits have been for extra bases, including eight home runs. … Colt Keith, the Biloxi High product, went 1-for-4 batting leadoff as Detroit beat Cleveland 2-1. Keith is hitting .258 (.338 OBP) for the Tigers, the best team in MLB at 53-34. P.S. Mississippi State’s Ace Reese — who made several All-America teams this year — and Ryan McPherson made the 26-man roster for the Collegiate National Team that will play a team from Japan in a series starting July 8. Reese hit .267 in the Stars vs. Stripes Series and McPherson posted a 0.00 ERA in two appearances. Jackson State coach Omar Johnson is on the Team USA coaching staff. … The Biloxi Shuckers drew an announced crowd of 6,098 Friday night at Keesler Federal Park, and the Southern League South first-half champs beat Pensacola 10-4. Former Magnolia Heights star Cooper Pratt went 1-for-3 with two walks and a run for the Double-A Shuckers. … The independent Mississippi Mud Monsters drew an announced crowd of 5,230 for their Friday night game against Washington at Pearl’s Trustmark Park, and the home boys rewarded the fans with a 2-1 victory, their fourth in a row in the Frontier League. Kasten Furr drove in both runs in the seventh inning.

23 Jun

and they’re back

After a long road trip that lasted two weeks and rambled through four Midwest towns, the Mississippi Mud Monsters return to the sultry South for a six-game homestand that begins Tuesday at Pearl’s Trustmark Park. The independent Frontier League club, now 18-21 on the season, went 5-7 on the trip but did finish on a high note, beating Gateway 8-7 on Sunday. Nick Hassan hit his first homer of the season and drove in four runs as part of Mississippi’s 17-hit attack. Brayland Skinner continued to fuel the offense, going 3-for-6 from the leadoff spot. Luis Devers went seven innings for the win. Skinner, former Mississippi State standout, is hitting .300 with a team-leading 28 runs and a league-best 25 steals. Kyle Booker, a DeSoto Central High product, is batting .314 with three homers, 19 RBIs and 14 bags. Travis Holt (.268) leads in homers and RBIs with six and 22. Tyree Thompson (4-0, 2.84), Brian Williams (2-2, 2.97) and Devers (4-3, 5.21) have been effective starters for manager Jay Pecci’s club. Chris Barraza, who got the save Sunday, has three and a 0.50 ERA in 13 games. Sergio Sanchez has five saves despite a 7.07 ERA. The Mud-sters, fourth in the Midwest Conference South, will face a Down East team that is 14-23 and fourth in the Atlantic Conference East. The Bird Dawgs are managed by Brett Wellman, whose dad, Phillip, managed the Mississippi Braves to a Southern League pennant back in 2008. Brett served as a bullpen catcher at times during his father’s four seasons in Pearl. … Former Mud-sters lefty Zack Morris has made two appearances (2.25 ERA) for Colorado’s rookie-level team since being signed by the Rockies on June 13. P.S. Congratulations to Conner Ware, Germantown High and Pearl River Community College product and a member of LSU’s national title team. Ware, a junior, did not pitch in the College World Series. (Of note: Former Taylorsville High pitcher Aiden Moffett was on the LSU roster when the Tigers won the 2023 CWS crown; he was at Texas this season.)

19 Jun

glove stories

Forget exit velo and spin rate for a moment and give some love to the glove. Hunter Elliott of Ole Miss and Jacob Keys of Pearl River Community College have been honored as ABCA/Rawlings Gold Glove winners for 2025. Elliott, a left-handed pitcher from Tupelo, was named in the NCAA Division I category, and Keys, a catcher from Brandon, was selected in NJCAA Division II. Elliott, a third-team All-America pick by the NCBWA, picked off 13 base runners, a modern-era record at UM, according to a school release, and allowed just seven stolen bases among 14 attempts. He had 20 assists, six putouts and three errors over 17 games and 85 2/3 innings, winning 10 games and fanning 102 batters for a Rebels team that earned a No. 10 national seed in the NCAA Tournament. Keys, a second-team NJCAA D-II All-America pick, did not make an error in 63 games behind the plate for PRCC. He registered 29 assists all told, threw out 15 of 25 would-be base stealers and yielded just six passed balls. The Wildcats, MACCC and Region 23 champions, made it all the way to the juco World Series championship game. A reverse transfer from Southern Miss, Keys is bound for Southeastern Louisiana. P.S. Former Mississippi State standout Jake Mangum had a two-run single in the third inning Wednesday as part of Tampa Bay’s amazing comeback win against Baltimore. The Rays won 12-8 after trailing 8-0 in the second inning. … Per an mlb.com poll, former Mississippi Braves catcher Drake Baldwin of Atlanta is the frontrunner to win National League rookie of the year honors. Three other M-Braves alums have won the award: Michael Harris II (2022), Ronald Acuna (2018) and Craig Kimbrel (2011). … On June 19 in baseball history, Vicksburg native Ellis Burks hit three homers in a game for Cleveland in 2001, Louisville native Marcus Thames hit two bombs for Detroit in 2009 and Greenville native George Scott homered for Boston in 1977. Burks, with 352 career homers, is the all-time leader among Mississippi natives, while Scott, with 271, ranks third. Thames, currently the Chicago White Sox’s hitting coach, clubbed 115 in just 640 career games, averaging a homer every 15.9 at-bats, comparable to David Ortiz, Frank Thomas and Willie McCovey.

10 Jun

alumni meeting

Though the Mississippi-Biloxi rivalry no longer exists in the Southern League, alumni of the Double-A clubs can still clash in the National League. The first meeting of 2025 between Atlanta and Milwaukee happened on Monday night at American Family Field — and the former M-Braves won the day and the game, 7-1, snapping a dreadful seven-game losing streak. Five M-Braves alums combined for seven hits, four walks and five runs. Notably, Ronald Acuna homered for the fifth time in his 16 games; Austin Riley went 3-for-5 to raise his average to .285; and Ozzie Albies registered career hit No. 1,000. He is the all-time hits leader among Atlanta second basemen. Three ex-Shuckers were a combined 1-for-9 with a pair of walks. (Former M-Braves catcher William Contreras, now Milwaukee’s backstop, was 1-for-4 with an RBI knock.) It was a huge win — psychologically, at least — for the Braves, now 28-37 but still mired in fourth place in the NL East. The Brewers are 35-32, third in the NL Central. Game 2 of the three-game set is tonight. … The M-Braves, who played at Trustmark Park in Pearl from 2005-24, have produced more than 180 big league players. The Shuckers, based in Biloxi since 2015, have sent more than 80 players into MLB. P.S. Mississippi State alum Jake Mangum had a four-hit, two-RBI game Monday as Tampa Bay spoiled the debut of No. 1 overall prospect Roman Anthony by beating Boston 10-8 in 11 innings at Fenway Park. … Arizona has placed ex-MSU star Kendall Graveman back on the injured list with a hip problem. He had made nine appearances, all but his last effective ones. … Chris Stratton, another ex-Bulldogs standout, declared free agency Monday. Since being designated for assignment and then released by Kansas City on May 25, the 10-year MLB vet has: signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers, been DFA’d, been outrighted to Triple-A, declared free agency, re-signed with the Dodgers, been DFA’d again, been outrighted again and declared free agency again. He made three appearances with the Dodgers during that time. … On June 10, 2019, Arizona and Philadelphia set a major league by combining for 13 homers in a game at Citizens Bank Park. The fun started when McComb native Jarrod Dyson led off with a bomb, the first of three straight by the Diamondbacks to start the game. Dyson hit only 21 homers in his 12-year career, but he’s in the home run record book.

01 Jun

on the bump

A host of starting pitchers with Mississippi ties took the bump on Saturday in games of significance all over the map. As might be expected, there was some good, some bad and even some ugly. To wit:
Start in the Oxford Regional, where Ole Miss ace Hunter Elliott, from Tupelo, was a little wobbly early but settled in to go six innings and get his 10th win in an elimination game against Western Kentucky. The Rebels hit six homers in the 8-6 victory.
In the Hattiesburg Regional, Southern Miss ace J.B. Middleton, from Yazoo City, gave up three bombs over seven innings against Alabama and stood to get the loss before the Golden Eagles rallied for a 6-5 win in an elimination game.
In the Tallahassee Regional, in an MLB scouts’ delight, Mississippi State’s Pico Kohn went against Florida State’s Jamie Arnold in a matchup of highly rated draft prospects. Kohn got roughed up: seven earned runs, including a see-ya-later grand slam, in 3 2/3 innings. Arnold battled through seven, struck out 13 and notched the W in the Seminoles’ 10-3 winners bracket victory.
In the NJCAA Division II World Series title game, Jacob Johnson, a 12-game winner from Carriere, went to the bump for the 18th time for Pearl River Community College but lasted just 2 2/3, allowing three runs on two hits and four walks. PRCC, which finishes 53-10, actually led late before a bullpen implosion gave Pasco-Hernando State an 11-7 victory and the national crown at Enid, Okla.
At Wrigley Field in Chicago, ex-Ole Miss star Drew Pomeranz opened for the Cubs — his first start since 2019 — and threw a perfect frame, his 15th scoreless appearance. The first-place Cubs rolled on to a 2-0 win against Cincinnati.
At Dodger Stadium, former Jackson Prep star Will Warren, a rookie with the New York Yankees, struggled from the jump against Los Angeles’ array of mashers. He lasted just 1 1/3 innings, allowing seven runs in the 18-2 slaughter and saw his record dip to 3-3, his ERA rise to 5.19.
At Toronto, Ole Miss product Gunnar Hoglund, an A’s rookie, got roughed up by the Blue Jays, allowing four homers and eight runs in six innings in an 8-7 loss. He is 1-3 with a 6.40 ERA.
In Atlanta, Spencer Schwellenbach, who toiled for the Mississippi Braves just last year, pitched a gem for the big Braves: 6 1/3, five hits, no walks, 11 punchouts in a 5-0 win against Boston. Schwellenbach is 4-4, 3.13, in 12 starts. (Today in Atlanta, we get Ocean Springs native Garrett Crochet, the Red Sox’s flame-throwing ace, vs. M-Braves alum Bryce Elder.)
P.S. MSU and Jackson Prep alum Jake Mangum hit his first big league homer Saturday for Tampa Bay in the 23rd game of his rookie season. He hit just 24 bombs in five minor league seasons. … Ex-USM standout Matt Wallner, just off the injured list, homered for Minnesota in his first at-bat since April 15. He has 31 career homers. … Former MSU star Chris Stratton made his Dodgers debut as a reliever and gave up one run — an Aaron Judge homer — in one inning of work. … The Dodgers claimed USM alum Chuckie Robinson off waivers from the Angels and assigned the veteran catcher to Triple-A Oklahoma City.

20 May

at this point …

If seven games is enough to draw any conclusions about the 2025 Mississippi Mud Monsters, here’s one: They can swing the bats. As the Frontier League expansion team (4-3) begins its first road trip, four regulars are hitting .368 or better, led by Travis Holt, who went 3-for-5 in the season opener and has continued to rake. The former Butler and High Point standout is hitting .391. Davis Bradshaw, the McLaurin High and Meridian Community College alum, is batting .389. Not a shock considering he was a .300 career hitter in the affiliated minors. Karell Paz, a Cuba native who played in the New York Mets’ system, is at .381, and Victor Diaz, from the Dominican Republic via the Houston Astros’ system, is at .368. The club has hit just one homer – by former Columbia High star and pro veteran Ti’Quan Forbes – but Trustmark Park doesn’t yield a lot bombs. Forbes, Diaz and ex-DeSoto Central standout Kyle Booker lead the Mud-sters with five RBIs each. The team won the last three games of its homestand, sweeping Evansville while allowing just nine runs total. No. 1 starter James Boeree, the 7-foot-2 Australian, has a 3.38 ERA over eight innings in his two starts. Chris Barraza, an Arizona alum, has yet to allow a run in three relief appearances. … Mississippi opens a series tonight against the Down East Bird Dawgs, another FL expansion team, in Kinston, N.C. The team is managed by Brett Wellman, son of former Mississippi Braves manager Phillip Wellman.

14 May

three things

1 — William Carey University, 10th-ranked in NAIA, saw its season end on Tuesday with a 16-11 loss to Oklahoma Wesleyan in an elimination game in the Hattiesburg regional. A nine-run seventh inning doomed the Crusaders, who committed four errors and walked 11 batters in the game. Carey (38-14) was outscored 26-17 in its two losses. Oklahoma Wesleyan plays Indiana Southeast today with the winner then meeting British Columbia in the championship round.
2 — The Mississippi Mud Monsters finally got back on the field for the second game of their inaugural season, but the independent club fell to Gateway 8-5 at Trustmark Park. Newly activated Rodney Theopile, a 6-foot-6 Nicaragua native, pitched four strong innings before the bullpen faltered in a seven-run fifth. Kyle Booker, former DeSoto Central High star, went 3-for-4 with three RBIs for the Mud Monsters (1-1). Game 2 of the Gateway series is tonight in Pearl.
3 — Ryan Rolison, a 2018 first-round draftee, made his big league debut and Kendall Graveman, a veteran big leaguer who missed 2024 after arm surgery, made his season debut. Ole Miss alum Rolison, who has made 95 minor league appearances, got the last out for Colorado in a 4-1 loss at Texas. Graveman, ex-Mississippi State standout, pitched a scoreless inning for Arizona in a 10-6 loss at San Francisco.
P.S. In case you somehow missed it: Former Mississippi Braves star Ronald Acuna homered in his first rehab game for Atlanta’s Florida Complex League team. Former National League MVP Acuna has been out since last May because of a knee injury. On the undercard in that FCL game, Southern Miss product Dalton McIntyre went 1-for-3 with an RBI for the FCL Braves; he was a 19th-round pick last summer.

11 May

three stars

Ryan McPherson: The Mississippi State freshman right-hander entered Saturday’s game in the ninth inning with the tying and go-ahead runs on base, got a double-play ball and another ground-ball out to preserve the Bulldogs’ 6-5 win over Ole Miss in the rubber game of the series in Starkville. It was the second save of the season for McPherson. State (31-20, 12-15 SEC) improved to 6-1 under interim coach Justin Parker. Nationally ranked Ole Miss is 34-17, 14-13.
Drey Barrett: The Southern Miss freshman third baseman doubled, tripled and drove in four runs as the Golden Eagles won their 11th straight game, whipping Louisiana-Lafayette 15-5 in Hattiesburg. Barrett is hitting .261 with 27 RBIs on the season for USM (37-13, 20-6 Sun Belt)
Jacob Keys: The Pearl River Community College sophomore catcher, from Brandon via USM, hit a grand slam and knocked in five runs all told as the Wildcats (48-7) routed Northeast 17-2 in the Poplarville bracket and advanced to the NJCAA Division II Region 23 Championship Series against East Central.
Worth noting: Ole Miss product Tim Elko became the fifth Mississippian (native or school alum) to debut in the big leagues this season. The Chicago White Sox broadcasting crew sung the praises of Elko’s storybook career in Oxford, interviewed his parents in the Rate Field seats and played a video clip of his Triple-A manager, a very emotional Sergio Santos, informing Elko of his call-up. He played first base and went 0-for-3 in a 3-1 loss to Miami. … Ex-State standout Brent Rooker hit his 10th homer of the year — 89th career — as the A’s took down the New York Yankees 11-7. … Jurrangelo Cijntje, the switch-pitcher out of MSU, won his second straight start for High-Class A Everett (Seattle system), allowing one run in five innings vs. Tri-City. … Former Mississippi Braves star C.J. Alexander hit for the cycle, including his eighth homer, for Triple-A Las Vegas (A’s system). … Rhodes was declared the Southern Athletic Association Tournament champion as rain washed out Saturday’s schedule at Millsaps’ Twenty Field. Rhodes went 2-0 with wins over Millsaps and Centre, who were set to play a losers bracket game. Millsaps, SAA regular season champion, is hopeful of an NCAA Division III regional bid.

08 May

for openers

Opening day for the Mississippi Mud Monsters, the new independent team, is Thursday at Trustmark Park in Pearl. Opening day is always special. When it is punctuated with a win by the home team, it is even moreso. Over the last 50 years, there have been a lot of opening days for pro teams in central Mississippi, every year since 1975, in fact, save for 2001 (no team) and 2020 (COVID shutdown). There are some around who might recall the very first opening day, 50 years ago, at Smith-Wills Stadium, where the Double-A Jackson Mets beat Arkansas 6-4 in a Texas League game. A crowd of 2,800 turned out on a rainy day — and a love affair between city and team began. If you were there in 1984, when Lenny Dykstra put on a show for the JaxMets in a 6-0 win over Tulsa, you remember it. In 1985, Biloxi’s own Barry Lyons belted a walk-off homer for the JaxMets. Both the ’84 and ’85 Mets teams, stocked with future big leaguers, would win league titles. The Jackson Generals, the Houston affiliate that followed the Mets into Smith-Wills in 1991, won their inaugural game at Smith-Wills, 3-2 over Shreveport on a Rusty Harris pinch-hit single in the eighth inning. The 1993 Generals won their first five home games, all against Tulsa, managed by Jackson native Stan Cliburn. The ’93 Gens, featuring Roberto Petagine, Brian Hunter and Jackson’s own Fletcher Thompson, would go on to win the TL pennant. On opening day in 1995, Hattiesburg’s Kary Bridges hit a memorable walk-off bomb for the Gens. The independent Jackson DiamondKats won their first and only home opener in 2000, getting a game-winning hit in the eighth inning from Tupelo’s Willie Gardner. In 2003, the indy Jackson Senators won their opening day game, behind the pitching of Purvis native and staff ace Kenny Rayborn, and would go on to win the Central League championship. Trustmark Park formally opened 20 years ago in April, when the Double-A Mississippi Braves played their much-anticipated home opener. The game drew a crowd of 6,000-plus. That 2005 opening day lineup featured future big leaguers Brian McCann, Jeff Francoeur, Gregor Blanco, Scott Thorman, Anthony Lerew and Luis Hernandez. The manager was Brian Snitker. Alas, the M-Braves lost to Montgomery 11-6. But it was opening day, and it was still special. Thursday will be, too.

06 May

prime nine

A host of former Mississippi Braves — remember the M-Braves? — showed out in The Show on Monday. For Atlanta, topping this list, A.J. Smith-Shawver threw seven no-hit innings — and eight one-hit innings, all told — to lead the Braves to a 4-0 win over Cincinnati. Hot-hitting Austin Riley contributed an RBI knock, giving him 25 on the year, and scored a run. … Freddie Freeman, now with the mighty Los Angeles Dodgers, hit career homer No. 350 — his seventh of the season — to spark a 7-4 win against Miami. Evan Phillips — 0.00 ERA in seven games — threw a scoreless inning in relief for L.A. … For the sizzling Chicago Cubs, Dansby Swanson went 3-for-4 with two doubles, two RBIs and two runs in a 9-2 win over San Francisco. … For the rising (Sacramento) A’s, Shea Langeliers — a 2021 Double-A champ — belted his seventh homer and drove in two runs in a big 7-6 win against Seattle. … Drew Waters — Southern League player of the year in 2019 — went 1-for-3 with an RBI for Kansas City in a 3-0 victory vs. the White Sox. … For Milwaukee, catcher William Contreras went 1-for-4 with an RBI in a 5-1 win over Houston. … In Pittsburgh’s 6-3 loss to St. Louis, Joey Wentz threw two scoreless innings in relief for the Pirates.