Tag Archives: Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame

19 May

on this date

On this date in 2017, Anthony Alford — one the best athletes Mississippi has ever produced — made his major league debut. Playing for Toronto, he went 0-for-2 against Baltimore. Alford’s MLB career never rally took off — .209 with eight homers in 220 at-bats over six years in two organizations — but that shouldn’t obscure his athletic talents. The Columbia native was the state’s Mr. Football and Baseball in 2012-13 at Petal High. Drafted in third round by the Blue Jays in 2013, he played football at both Southern Miss (quarterback) and Ole Miss (defensive back/kick returner) before turning his attention to pro baseball in 2015. He quickly became one of Toronto’s top prospects. His signature moment in The Show might have happened on Sept. 23, 2019, when he hit a walk-off bomb in the 15th inning for the Jays. It was just the second time in MLB history that a player’s first homer was also a walk-off. Alford has played in Australia, Korea and Mexico along the way and was toiling in the Mexican Pacific League this past winter. Only 30, he apparently isn’t currently active. P.S. The winner of the 2025 Ferriss Trophy will be announced today at the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame and Museum in Jackson. The five finalists are Southern Miss’ Nick Monistere and J.B. Middleton, Ole Miss’ Luke Hill, Mississippi State’s Ace Reese and Delta State’s Drake Fontenot. Nine of the previous winners of the award for the state’s best college player are currently in pro ball, six of them on major league rosters.

16 May

back on right track

Andrew Gipson can’t say that he predicted his Belhaven University team would crash the postseason for the first time in 14 years. But after overhauling the roster from 2024, he liked what he saw when the current Blazers first hit the field.
“As we started fall ball, I felt like, “The pieces are here to make this work,'” the second-year coach said.
The pieces came together for a second-place finish in the Collegiate Conference of the South regular season race, a runner-up finish in the league tournament and a hard-to-come-by at-large invitation to the NCAA Division III Tournament.
Belhaven plays Rhodes College today in the first round of the Webster (Mo.) Regional.
Meanwhile, just down Riverside Drive, Millsaps College is also celebrating a regional berth. For the first time in 10 years, Jim Page has the Majors back in the D-III postseason; they open today against region host East Texas Baptist in Marshall, Texas.
The Majors finished last in their conference in 2024. “It was heartbreaking game after heartbreaking game all of last year,” Page said. “I told the team afterward, people can call me crazy, but if we could just re-do this season, it’d be completely different.”
With virtually the same cast of players back for 2025, it was essentially a re-do. And it was completely different: The Majors won the league’s regular season title and earned the program’s ninth D-III regional bid in Page’s 37 seasons.
BLAST FROM PAST
Gipson was an assistant coach under Hill Denson in 2011, the last time the Belhaven made a postseason tournament. That’s when the school was in the NAIA. Gipson played under Denson during the “glory days” of Blazers baseball, when the team was routinely winning conference championships and making it to NAIA regionals. The Blazers, with Gipson on the team, made a trip to the NAIA World Series in 2010.
After the transition to non-scholarship NCAA Division III, the program endured a stale period. When Gipson took the head coaching job in the summer of 2023, coming from the staff at D-I Southeastern Louisiana, he told the administration, “I’ll get it back to where we were.”
His first team went 25-17. With 33 new players added to the roster, the current team is 31-13 and stands 19th in the D-III NPI rankings.
“This thing means a whole lot to me,” Gipson said. “Just to get it back in the manner we have … I’m proud of it. I’m proud of the guys.”
Eight Blazers were named either first- or second-team All-CCS.
Included is today’s starter, Kade May (7-1, 1.51 ERA), from Florence by way of Copiah-Lincoln Community College. “The kid can really pitch,” Gipson said.
Other arms of note are No. 2 starter Colton Sylvester (7-2, 4.37) and Lane Alack, who fills a crucial swing role.
Gipson said one key to the team’s surge early this season was the way shortstop Austin Canale and third baseman Dathan Cummings, both freshmen, solidified that side of the infield defense.
The big bat for the Blazers belongs to Tristan Pearson, from Biloxi via Jones College. He is hitting .401 (.554 on-base percentage) with 54 runs. “He and Hunter Harrell have been sparkplugs,” Gipson said, “and Blake McCarthy has been driving those guys in all year.”
The Blazers hit .321 as a team with a .439 OBP, testament to their gritty approach. They have 105 stolen bases. They hit just 16 homers — home-field Trustmark Park is a big yard — but pounded out 80 doubles.
“Big picture, I wanted us to be multiple,” Gipson said, “to be able to do whatever the particular scenario requires. We can play matchups, run different lineups out there depending on what type of pitcher we’re facing. Our ability to be multiple is probably our biggest strength.”
MAJORS ON A MISSION
The Millsaps’ players mantra this season, Page said, was “Get Some.” The veterans wanted to erase the memory of a ’24 season full of hard luck and disappointment. “It’s been a tremendous team,” Page said. “We’ve got older guys who’ve led the way and kept us on track. Going worst to first like we did, that’s a tribute to the kids. They played with a little bit of a chip on their shoulder.”
From 14-27, 4-17 Southern Athletic Association, in 2024, the Majors went 13-5 in the SAA and are 29-13, ranked 23rd in the NPI. (Two of the losses were to Belhaven in the Maloney Trophy Series.) Page won the league’s coach of the year honors, and Bradley Pelle and Nick Tarantino were honored as player and pitcher of the year.
“Almost everybody we’ve played has told us, ‘You guys are really good,'” Page said.
Tarantino, a senior who’ll go today vs. ETBU, is 10-1 with a 2.94 ERA, 85 strikeouts in 82 2/3 innings. Program veteran Wil Wood and Jackson Hood have also stood out on the bump. Pelle, a senior, is hitting .393 with 14 homers, 58 RBIs and 15 steals. “When the pitcher misses (location), he doesn’t miss,” Page said. Gray Berry, a vocal senior from West Point and East Mississippi CC, is at .407 with 64 runs. A new strength-and-conditioning program has noticeably improved the Majors’ defense, Page said.
Millsaps has built a strong tradition under Page, a recent Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame inductee with more than 850 career wins and multiple conference awards and titles. The team rose to the No. 1 ranking in D-III in 2009. In 2013, the Majors made a run to the D-III World Series. There had been a postseason drought since 2015, but that has now ended. And the current team has enough depth in arms, firepower in the lineup and playmakers on defense to make a tournament run, Page said.
“Eight teams get to the World Series, but it’s not always the top eight or the best eight,” he said. “It’s the eight that get through. We can be one of those.”

28 Apr

watch list

Delta State, which has never had a Ferriss Trophy winner, has produced quite a few viable candidates over the years. The Statesmen have another solid one in 2025. Right-hander Drake Fontenot is 9-1 with a 1.96 ERA, a .208 batting average against, 78 strikeouts and 19 walks in 91 2/3 innings for the Gulf South Conference regular season champion. Fontenot’s only loss came on Friday at Mississippi College in his worst outing of the season (seven runs in six innings). The Ferriss Trophy — named in honor of Delta State coaching legend Boo Ferriss — will be awarded to the best college player in the state for the 21st time on May 19 by the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame and Museum. The finalists, who will attend the ceremony, have not yet been named. As usual, there are a bunch of players around the state who have put up mighty impressive numbers. Throwing out a few more names: Southern Miss’ J.B. Middleton, regarded as a top pro prospect, is 8-1 with a 1.92 ERA for the Golden Eagles. Teammate Nick Monistere, on a recent tear, has 16 homers, 56 RBIs, 42 runs and a .335 average for 31-13 USM. Ole Miss’ Luke Hill is batting .352 with 51 runs for the nationally ranked Rebels (31-13). Mississippi State’s Ace Reese has 16 bombs and 53 RBIs. Jackson State’s Jordan McCladdie is hitting .381 with 51 runs and 33 steals. Millsaps’ Gray Berry (.426, 61 runs) and Nick Tarantino (9-1, 2.74) have been stellar for a 28-11 conference championship club. MC’s Korey Cooper is a .376 hitter with 12 homers, 55 RBIs and 52 runs. At William Carey, also a conference champ, Rigoberto Hernandez is batting .386 with 12 homers, 51 RBIs, 63 runs and 17 bags for a 33-13 team. Blue Mountain Christian’s Hayden Redding has 46 steals and a .339 average. P.S. Mississippi College’s stunning blowout of Delta State in Clinton last weekend was the first-ever three-game sweep for the Choctaws over their longtime rival. MC (31-19, 21-12 GSC) outscored the Statesmen 40-7 and will go into the GSC Tournament next weekend as the No. 4 seed. DSU (32-16, 23-10) is the top seed, having gotten some help elsewhere over the weekend to win the regular season title. … Ole Miss jumped to No. 13 (from 22) in the new Baseball America Top 25 after taking two of three from then-No.8 Vanderbilt last week.

04 Aug

that sinking feeling

Garrett Crochet, the All-Star from Ocean Springs, took the mound for the Chicago White Sox on Saturday and pitched well over his four innings, allowing just a single run. The good start did not matter. The hapless ChiSox lost for the 19th straight time, 6-2 at Minnesota. Chicago (27-86) hasn’t won since July 10. Crochet (6-8, 3.19 ERA, after a no-decision Saturday) hasn’t won since June 7. Converted from reliever to starter this spring, the left-hander is having his innings limited. He hasn’t thrown more than four in his last five starts. He is at 118 1/3 innings in 23 starts on the season. Saturday’s start was his first since the trade deadline, when the constraints he placed on his availability the rest of the way likely kept him from being dealt to a contender. So he is stuck with one of the worst teams in history, a team that is threatening the 1961 Philadelphia Phillies’ record for consecutive losses (23). The White Sox rank last in MLB in runs, batting and OPS and are 19th in homers and walks. (Though he hasn’t had much to work with this year, hitting coach Marcus Thames, the ex-East Central Community College slugger, probably won’t be back in 2025.) P.S. On a more positive note: Cheers for the late Red Barber, the Columbus native who was formally inducted into the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame on Saturday. Barber, the legendary voice of the old Brooklyn Dodgers (among others from 1934-66), is in the National Baseball Hall of Fame as one of the first recipients of the Ford C. Frick Award. … Biloxi High product Colt Keith of the Detroit Tigers was named the American League’s rookie of the month for July. He hit .322 (.404 on-base percentage) with seven homers and 17 RBIs. … The North Delta Dealers and HillCountry Generals will meet today for the Cotton States League title at Legion Field in New Albany. Avery Benson, an MUW alum, homered and drove in three runs and Sam Roy (Holmes CC) delivered the walk-off knock as the Dealers beat Tallahatchie 8-7 on Saturday. Benji Webb (Blue Mountain Christian) pitched a complete game, fanning 12 over the seven innings, and Joseph Rollins (Eupora High) drove in three runs for the Generals in a 5-2 win against Tupelo. … Davis Bradshaw, former McLaurin High and Meridian CC star, was released by Miami. In six pro seasons, he had a .303 career average with five homers in 379 games, only 45 above A-ball.

20 May

trophy time

The Ferriss Trophy has been around since 2004, and it’s become kind of a big deal to be named the best college player in a state where baseball is quite a big deal. The list of winners is impressive. Nine of them are still active in the pro game, four of them currently playing in the big leagues, two of them owning World Series rings. The 2024 award — honoring former Delta State coach Boo Ferriss and presented by the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame and Museum — will be given out today at a ceremony at the Pearl River Resort in Philadelphia. The finalists are Brett Sanchez (Belhaven), Dakota Jordan (Mississippi State), Ethan Lege (Ole Miss), Dalton McIntyre (Southern Miss) and R.J. Stinson (William Carey). The oldest active winner is Drew Pomeranz, the 2010 recipient from Ole Miss. Currently pitching in Triple-A with the Los Angeles Dodgers, the big left-hander was the fifth overall pick in the 2010 draft and has made 289 MLB appearances, winning a World Series with Boston in 2018. Nick Sandlin (Cleveland), Brent Rooker (Oakland), Hunter Renfroe (Kansas City) and Chris Stratton (KC) are in The Show. Stratton won a ring with Texas last year; Rooker was an All-Star in 2023; Renfroe has 180 career home runs; and Sandlin has a career ERA of 2.99 over four seasons. Two-time Ferriss winner Jake Mangum, the former MSU star, probably should have been in the big leagues by now; he is batting .329 in Triple-A for Tampa Bay and has a .290 career average. Last year’s winner, Kemp Alderman of Ole Miss, a second-round draft pick last July, is currently on the injured list in A-ball in Miami’s system. Tanner Hall, the 2022 winner from USM, has spent most of this season on the shelf, having made just three appearances in Minnesota’s system. Tanner Allen, the 2021 winner at MSU, is in Double-A in Miami’s chain and batting .250 as a regular outfielder. Among the 2024 finalists, Jordan is the highest rated MLB draft prospect, checking in at No. 24 on the latest mlb.com list. Each of the five is well-credentialed.

29 Jul

remember the time

On this date in 2009, the Philadelphia Phillies — defending World Series champs — swung a big trade with Cleveland for left-hander Cliff Lee, the former Meridian Community College star and 2008 Cy Young Award winner. Lee went 7-4 with a 3.39 ERA down the stretch for the Phillies and 4-0 in the postseason, but the team lost to the New York Yankees in the World Series. Lee was traded to Seattle in the off-season. On July 29, 2010, the Phillies, again eyeing a postseason run, traded with Houston for Roy Oswalt, the former Holmes CC standout who had won an ERA title in 2006. Oswalt went 7-1 with a 1.74 for the Phils and 1-1 in the postseason as the team lost to San Francisco in the National League Championship Series. After the 2010 season, Philadelphia brought Lee back as a free agent. The Phils entered the 2011 season with a fantastic rotation — famously hailed as the “legion of arms” on the cover of Sports Illustrated — of Lee, Oswalt, Roy Halladay, Cole Hamels and Joe Blanton. The team won 102 games — Lee won 17, Oswalt nine — and the NL East title but fell in the division series to St. Louis. Lee and Oswalt both lost their starts. Oswalt left after the 2011 season and was soon out of the game. Lee pitched three more years in Philly with only modest success. Neither would appear in another postseason game, and the Phillies didn’t make the postseason again until last year. P.S. Props to Millsaps College coach Jim Page and former Mississippi State and big league pitcher Paul Maholm for their formal induction today into the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame, a very deserving honor for each.

12 May

five for the ferriss

Each of the state’s so-called Big 4 NCAA Division I schools is represented among the five finalists for the Ferriss Trophy, given annually to the state’s best player by the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame and Museum. The 2023 finalists are Kemp Alderman of Ole Miss, Tanner Hall from Southern Miss, Ty Hill of Jackson State, Hunter Hines from Mississippi State and Slade Wilks of USM. Hall, the only pitcher in the group, won the trophy in 2022. Previous winners include current big leaguers Chris Stratton, Hunter Renfroe, Nick Sandlin and Brent Rooker. The 2023 Ferriss Trophy, named in honor of former major leaguer and legendary Delta State coach Boo Ferriss, is sponsored by the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians and the Pearl River Resort. The ceremony is set for May 22 at the resort in Philadelphia.

28 Apr

saddle up

It’s a few days before the Lexington Counter Clocks’ season opener, and Barry Lyons’ enthusiasm is palpable. “I’m energized,” Lyons said in a phone interview as he came off the field from a team workout. “It’s given me a new sense of purpose.”
At age 62, Lyons has seized the reins as the new manager of the Kentucky-based Counter Clocks, who play in the independent Atlantic League. The former Biloxi High, Delta State and major league catcher — a recent inductee into the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame — is back in uniform some 25 years after he last managed a professional team.
“I loved managing when I did,” Lyons said. “I only got out after my daughter was born.”
Lyons stayed engaged in the game. He did some broadcasting for a minor league team in Nashville, and he has been deeply involved with the Biloxi Shuckers since the Double-A team moved from Huntsville, Ala., in 2015. He also administers summer and fall wood bat leagues for amateur players on the Coast.
Lyons has endured some personal hardships along the way, but he is in a good place now, personally and professionally.
“I missed being out on the field,” he said.
As fate would have it, Lyons’ nephew Nathan — a former Ole Miss pitcher — and Nathan’s wife Keri purchased the Lexington Legends franchise back in October. (The nickname was changed to Counter Clocks in recognition of early Kentuckians racing horses in a counter-clockwise direction, opposite of the tradition in England.)
Naturally, Barry Lyons’ interest was piqued.
“I have a lot of friends in the league — Stan Cliburn, Wally Backman, Frank Viola,” he said. “I had kept up with the league. After he bought the team, I talked with Nathan about getting the ball rolling there. He didn’t know that I had any interest in managing again. But one thing led to another, and he asked me about the job. Basically, he made me an offer I couldn’t refuse. I couldn’t be more excited and thankful for this opportunity.”
He took the job in mid-December.
Lyons was a Division II All-America catcher under Boo Ferriss at Delta State, led the Double-A Jackson Mets to the Texas League championship in 1985, made his big league debut with the 1986 world champion New York Mets and spent parts of seven years in the majors, his career curtailed by injury issues.
His first managerial job was in an independent league, the Big South, in 1996, and he worked for two seasons with a Class A team in the Cincinnati Reds’ system.
“Barry’s experiences in baseball have equipped him with a unique understanding of all aspects of the game,” Nathan Lyons said in a team release, “and we can’t wait to see what he does with the team on the field.”
In independent ball, there is no major league affiliate to supply players. You have to stock your own team and comply with a salary cap. With the help of coaches Cameron Roth and Enohel Polanco, both indy league veterans, Lyons has put together what he feels is a competitive club.
The Atlantic League is the premier independent league — aka, MLB Partner League — in the country, and many former major leaguers dot the rosters of the 10 teams. Lyons has landed a few, including pitcher Jerad Eickhoff, infielder Abiatal Avelino and outfielder Ronnie Dawson. He has recruited some players with Mississippi connections: former Ole Miss first baseman Thomas Dillard, ex-Delta State pitcher Cooper Brune and catcher Logan Brown, who played for the Double-A Mississippi Braves in 2022. Former LSU star Brandt Broussard is also on the roster.
“I’m very pleased with everything we’ve seen (in training camp),” he said. “We have a lot of experienced players and a few younger ones to balance it out.”
Lyons said he is looking forward to matching managerial wits with Cliburn, the Jackson native and ex-big league catcher now running the Southern Maryland team, and Backman, Lyons’ teammate with the New York Mets and current skipper of the Long Island Ducks.
“I saw Stan at a golf event a few weeks ago and he was beating his chest about stealing a player we wanted,” Lyons said. “I told him, ‘O.K., the stakes just went up.'”
That meeting won’t come until June. First up is today’s season opener at home against the York Revolution.
“I can’t wait to get out there,” Lyons said.

16 Dec

back in the dugout

Barry Lyons, former Delta State star and major league catcher, has been named manager of the Lexington Legends of the independent Atlantic League. Lyons, 62, who has been involved with the Double-A Biloxi Shuckers in an off-field role since the team’s inception, has managerial experience, having worked in the Cincinnati system in the late 1990s. Biloxi native Lyons is a recent inductee into the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame. After an All-America career at DSU, he was drafted by the New York Mets and played for Double-A Jackson in 1985 en route to the big leagues, where he spent parts of seven seasons. He won a World Series ring with the ’86 Mets. Lyons’ nephew, Nathan, is the owner of the Lexington club. “Barry’s experiences in baseball have equipped him with a unique understanding of all aspects of the game, and we can’t wait to see what he does with the team on the field,” Nathan Lyons said in a team release. … Jackson native and ex-big leaguer Stan Cliburn is the manager of the Atlantic League’s Southern Maryland Blue Crabs. P.S. Mississippi State product Zac Houston has signed a minor league deal with the New York Yankees and been assigned to the Double-A Somerset roster. Houston, a 6-foot-5 right-hander, went 2-7 with a 5.47 ERA between Double-A and Triple-A in the Detroit system in 2022. He missed much of the ’21 season with an injury. Drafted by the Tigers in 2016, Houston has a 2.98 career ERA in the minors.

19 Oct

called to hall

A crafty left-hander who was the eighth overall pick in the major league draft and a college slugger who has topped 800 wins as the coach at his alma mater are among the eight new selections to the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame. Paul Maholm and Jim Page are joined in the 2023 class by former NFL stars Lewis Tillman, Patrick Surtain, John Mangum and Jeff Herrod, former basketball player and coach Carol Ross and Olympic skeet shooter Tony Rosetti. They were introduced at a press conference Wednesday at the Hall of Fame and Museum in Jackson. The formal induction ceremony will be held next summer. Maholm, who grew up in Holly Springs, was an All-American at Mississippi State who won 27 games over his three seasons and was drafted No. 8 by Pittsburgh in 2003. He spent 10 years in the big leagues, winning 77 games, twice posting 10-win seasons. Page batted a school-record .487 as a senior at Millsaps College in 1985 and went on to become the Majors’ coach, a job he still holds. He is 815-554-3 all-time and has won eight coach of the year awards at the NCAA Division III school. P.S. Mangum, from Magee, is the father of Jake Mangum, the ex-MSU outfielder and two-time Ferriss Trophy winner who is an up-and-coming player in the New York Mets’ minor league system.