Tag Archives: NJCAA World Series

01 Jun

names to know

Dakota Jordan: The Mississippi State sophomore slugged a two-out, two-strike, three-run homer in the bottom of the 10th inning to boost the Bulldogs to a 5-2 win against St. John’s in Friday’s opener at the Charlottesville Regional. It was the 18th homer of the season for the ex-Jackson Academy standout, who was in a 1-for-26 slump. State gets host Virginia today in a winners bracket game.
Niko Mazza: Presumably, the junior right-hander will get the start today for Southern Miss in an elimination game against Northern Kentucky at the Knoxville Regional. Mazza, former MRA star, is 8-3 with a 4.43 ERA. USM lost its opener 10-4 to Indiana.
East Central Community College pitchers: The Warriors bowed out of the NJCAA Division II World Series with a 2-1 loss to Brunswick (N.C.) on Friday despite a six-hit effort from Marbin Lezcano, Riley Passman and Rex Henderson. In four straight elimination-game wins over a three-day stretch, 10 different Warriors pitchers combined to allow just 12 runs: Bryson Goff (complete-game 3-hitter), Chris Bilingsley, Hayden Dodson, Henderson, Connor Alpin, Evan Folse, Carson Ellis, Reid Hall, Eli Smith and Parker Martin. In ECCC’s opening game loss in Enid, Okla., staff ace Luke Cooley allowed just two runs in five-plus innings, but the Warriors squandered a big lead.
Dakota Hudson: The ex-MSU standout threw seven innings, allowing one run on four hits and a walk, to pace last-place Colorado to a 4-1 win over the first-place Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium. Hudson, who has won two of his last four starts, is 2-7 with a 5.02 ERA in his first year with the Rockies.
Darryl Strawberry: The New York Mets will retire the former Jackson Mets star’s No. 18 in a ceremony today at CitiField. Old JaxMets fans will never forget Strawberry’s exploits at Smith-Wills Stadium in 1982: He hit a franchise-record 34 homers, batted .283, stole 45 bases, hit nine triples, drove in 97 runs and walked 100 times. He was named the Texas League MVP. The next year, he won National League rookie of the year honors with the big Mets. They won a World Series with him in right field in 1986, and he was an eight-time All-Star.

31 May

draft watch

Eight players with Mississippi connections — five of them at Mississippi State — are ranked among the Top 200 MLB draft prospects in MLB Pipeline’s latest chart. The top in-state prospect is still Jackson Prep’s Konnor Griffin, who — at No. 9 — is also the highest-rated high school player in the country. According to one clever scouting report, if Home Depot were a ballplayer, it would be Griffin. In other words, the 6-foot-4, 215-pound outfielder/shortstop/pitcher has all the tools. An LSU signee, he reportedly led the nation with 85 stolen bases this season while leading the Patriots to another state title. Braden Montgomery, the ex-Madison Central High star now playing outfield at Texas A&M, is ranked No. 8 on the MLB Pipeline list. MSU outfielder Dakota Jordan — the state’s Ferriss Trophy winner — is No. 29, switch-pitcher Jurrangelo Cijntje No. 31, right-hander Khal Stephen No. 87, righty Nate Dohm No. 164 and first baseman Hunter Hines No. 174. Montgomery and the Bulldogs will be on display this weekend in NCAA regionals, A&M facing Grambling State today, MSU going against St. John’s. Former Lewisburg High star Brady Tygart, a weekend starter for Arkansas this season, is rated the No. 180 draft prospect; he reportedly won’t pitch in the Razorbacks’ regional because of an injury concern. … The draft is in July. P.S. At the NJCAA Division II World Series, East Central Community College knocked off Brunswick (N.C.) 5-3 on Thursday and plays the Dolphins again today for a berth in the final. Barret Rodgers went 2-for-4 with an RBI and two runs for ECCC and Parker Martin threw five shutout innings in relief in Thursday’s win. LSU-Eunice plays St. Johns River State (Fla.) in the other semifinal. Today’s winners will play for the championship on Saturday.

30 May

playing pepper

Three straight wins in elimination games have put East Central Community College into the semifinal round of the NJCAA Division II World Series. The third-seeded Warriors (54-8) play 2-seed Brunswick (N.C.) today at Enid, Okla. (LSU-Eunice, the top seed, is in the other semi.) A clutch two-run double by Marvin Jackson and six strong innings from Chris Bilingsley helped ECCC beat South Arkansas 6-4 on Wednesday, and Jayden Adcox went 4-for-4 with five RBIs and Reid Hall pitched a hitless final three innings in a 13-4 romp past Madison (Wisc.) later Wednesday. … Former Smithville High star Jared Johnson pitched a scoreless ninth inning for his fifth save as High-Class A Rome beat Greenville 10-8. Johnson, who has a 2.37 ERA in 14 appearances for the Atlanta affiliate, is tied for the second-most saves in the South Atlantic League. … Ole Miss alum Derek Diamond moved to 3-0 with a 2.70 after a solid five-inning outing (one run, seven strikeouts) for High-A Greensboro (Pittsburgh system). Diamond was a 2022 draftee off the Rebels’ national title team. … Anthony Alford, the ex-Petal High star, is enjoying the hitter-friendly Mexican League, having banged out nine hits in 25 at-bats (.360) in his first seven games for Campeche. Former big leaguer Alford was recently released by Cincinnati. … Jackson native James Steels, who had a brief major league career before becoming a Mexican League star, was born on this date in 1961. Steels might best be remembered as the Texas League player of the year in 1984, when he was with Beaumont in the San Diego system. The Golden Gators lost to the Jackson Mets in the league championship series. … Jackson native Jim Bivin, who had a brief major league career with Philadelphia, enjoyed his 15 minutes of MLB fame on this date in 1935, when he retired Babe Ruth on a ground out in his final at-bat. Ruth, playing for Boston, was replaced in the bottom of the first inning by Ludlow native Hal Lee.

28 May

circle the wagons

The resilience of the East Central Community College Warriors will be tested today in Enid, Okla. In its opener Monday at the NJCAA Division II World Series, ECCC squandered a 10-1 lead and lost to Madison (Wisc.) College 12-10. The third-seeded Warriors (51-8) play an elimination game today against Southeastern Iowa. Powered by home runs from Mo Little, Barret Rodgers and Cyrus Rone, ECCC led 10-1 after five innings with ace Luke Cooley on the bump. Cooley departed in the sixth after throwing 110 pitches (just 61 strikes), and six relievers were unable to close the door on Madison. The WolfPack (39-12) scored six times in the sixth, once in the seventh and four more in the ninth to steal the game. ECCC did not manage a hit over the last four innings. If there is a silver lining for the Warriors, they do have Marbin Lezcano (8-1, 3.17 ERA) available for today’s game. … Meanwhile, in San Diego, one of East Central’s most famous alums also had a rough day. Tim Anderson — who led the Warriors to a state title back in 2013 — committed two errors at shortstop in a pivotal seventh inning that cost Miami in a 2-1 loss to the Padres. Anderson also went 0-for-2 at the plate, dropping his average to .203. “I can’t be worse than that,” Anderson told mlb.com after the game. “So I can only get better, so that’s a positive.” The Marlins signed Anderson — .279 career hitter, 98 homers, 120 steals — to a one-year, $5 million deal in the off-season, hoping he could reverse a troubling trajectory. It hasn’t happened. A batting champion with the Chicago White Sox in 2019 and an All-Star in 2022, he slumped to .245 with just one homer last year. The White Sox declined an option in his contract and cut him loose. In 40 games for Miami, the 30-year-old Alabama native has yet to homer and has just three extra-base hits. Never a great fielder, he has six errors and .959 fielding percentage this season, both poor numbers.

26 May

it’s crunch time

With a win today, Jackson State will be back in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2014. The Tigers (36-19) play old rival Grambling State in Atlanta for the SWAC Tournament championship. The winner — and only the winner — will get an NCAA berth. JSU has been a consistent winner under coach Omar Johnson, but getting into an NCAA regional out of a one-bid league is a tough task. The Tigers have only done it three times, twice under Johnson. The 4-seed out of the East Division this year, they got to the brink with a 4-2 victory against Bethune-Cookman on Saturday. Lenny Montesano went 3-for-4 with a homer and four RBIs, and Je-andrick Lourens and three relievers combined on a six-hitter. Do the Tigers have any pitching left for the title game? … Southern Miss goes for its second straight Sun Belt Tournament title today against Georgia Southern at Montgomery, Ala. The Golden Eagles advanced with a weather-interrupted, come-from-behind 7-5 win Saturday over Appalachian State. Nick Monistere homered and Slade Wilks had two more hits and two RBIs as USM won the marathon contest. Colby Allen got the last four outs for his seventh save. The Eagles, under first-year coach Christian Ostrander, are 40-18, having reached 40 wins for the eighth straight year. … William Carey University cruised into the NAIA World Series with an 11-game win streak but went 2-and-out in Lewiston, Idaho, falling to Cumberlands (Ky.) 6-4 in an elimination game on Saturday. Carey ends the season with a 37-16 record. … East Central Community College got off to a sensational start this season, winning its first 31 games, and will have a shot at a fantastic finish starting today in the NJCAA Division II World Series at Enid, Okla. The Warriors (51-7) lost in the Region 23 Tournament but received an at-large bid to the World Series and are seeded third. Led by All-MACCC outfielder Mo Little (.354, 11 homers, 73 RBIs) and MACCC pitcher of the year Luke Cooley (8-1, 2.20 ERA, 110 strikeouts), the Warriors will play Monday against the winner of the delayed Montgomery (Md.)-Madison (Wisc.) first-round game. … Four MHSAA champions were crowned on Saturday at Trustmark Park in Pearl: Vancleave in Class 5A, Sumrall in 4A, St. Andrew’s in 2A and Taylorsville in 1A. P.S. Landon Harper, former Southern Miss pitcher from Meridian, was promoted to the Double-A Mississippi Braves on Saturday. He joins Saucier native and Mississippi Gulf Coast CC alum Brandon Parker, a current M-Braves outfielder, on the list of Mississippians to suit up for the Pearl-based club. Others: Zack Bird, Brent Leach, Van Pope, Jay Powell, Austin Riley, Michael Rosamond and John Thomson.

28 May

worth noting

With a sixth-inning double Saturday at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City, Corey Dickerson reached a pretty cool milestone: 1,000 career hits. McComb native Dickerson, 34, got his first big league hit in 2013 with Colorado, which drafted the lefty-hitting outfielder out of Meridian Community College in 2010. Now with Washington, Dickerson has played for eight different clubs over his career and has been an All-Star and a Gold Glove winner. He has 136 career homers and 460 RBIs. The career hits leader among Mississippi natives is Dave Parker with 2,712. Three others (Buddy Myer, Ellis Burks and Frank White) reached the 2,000-hit level. … Former Southern Miss star Matt Wallner now has 18 career hits after a 4-for-4 effort for Minnesota on Saturday. Wallner, who has played in just 28 games over his young MLB career, hit his first homer of 2023 in the win against Toronto; he hit two last season. … USM will play for the Sun Belt Conference Tournament title Sunday in Montgomery, Ala., after beating Appalachian State 11-1 in an elimination game on Saturday. USM lost an earlier game to the Mountaineers. In the win, Will Armistead threw a seven-inning four-hitter and Matthew Etzel and Reece Ewing banged out three hits apiece in a 15-hit attack. … East Central Community College got run-ruled 12-2 by Southeastern Iowa on Saturday in the NJCAA Division II World Series and plays an elimination game Sunday vs. Frederick (Md.) CC in Enid, Okla. … William Carey University won its opener Friday against Bellevue (Neb.) and will play again Monday in the NAIA World Series in Lewiston, Idaho. R.J. Stinson hit an RBI double and scored on a Jake Lycette sac fly to give the Crusaders a 6-4 lead in the bottom of the eighth. Preston Ratliff pitched the ninth to nail down the win, Carey’s 48th of the season.

23 May

the path ahead

East Central Community College, champion of possibly the toughest region in the country, was given the No. 3 seed in the upcoming NJCAA Division II World Series and will open tournament play on Saturday against 6-seed Southeastern (Iowa) in Enid, Okla. This is the first trip to the juco World Series for the Warriors (37-18), who would love to follow Pearl River’s lead and come home with the national championship. The Wildcats won it all in 2022. ECCC coach Neal Holliman was named the MACCC coach of the year, and two of his players, Eli Collins and Mo Little, made first-team all-conference. Itawamba’s Will Verdung, who hit .389 with 15 homers this season, was named the MACCC player of the year, and Meridian’s Cole Boswell (11-0, 2.00 ERA) was named pitcher of the year. Both have signed with Southern Miss. Meridian, which finished second to ECCC in the regular season, had four players named to the MACCC first team, with Dalton McIntyre, Blaise Priester and Gunnar Dennis joining Boswell. Pearl River had three: Logan Walters, Cooper Cooksey and Will Passeau. Hinds had two players selected: Connor Chisolm and Dylan Coleman. Also on the first team were Gulf Coast’s Sean Smith, Northeast’s Khi Holliday and Jones’ Beau Bryans. P.S. Baseball America’s latest projected NCAA Tournament field has USM going to Baton Rouge as a No. 2 seed behind LSU. The Golden Eagles (37-16) will begin their chase for the Sun Belt Conference Tournament title on Wednesday vs. James Madison at Montgomery, Ala.

05 Jun

random (but relevant) numbers

200 — Wins for Michael Avalon as coach at Pearl River Community College, No. 200 being the national championship-securing 7-2 victory over Madison (Wisc.) College on Saturday in Enid, Okla. The Wildcats got homers from Tate Parker and Alex Perry, two RBIs from World Series MVP D.K. Donaldson and 12 strikeouts from Cole Tolbert and Turner Swistak, who combined on a six-hitter. PRCC follows Jones College (2016) as NJCAA Division II national champs. William Carey University (1969), Delta State (2004) and Mississippi State (2021) have won national titles at the four-year level.
3 — Hits by Peyton Chatagnier, including a key two-run double in the eighth inning that propelled Ole Miss to a 7-4 win against Arizona in the first round of the Coral Cables Regional. The Rebels get 1-seed Miami today; the Hurricanes used a three-homer game by Yohandy Morales to beat Canisius 11-6.
4 — Runs by LSU, three after two were out, in a stunning ninth-inning rally that led to a 7-6, 10-inning win against Southern Miss in the Hattiesburg Regional winners bracket. On a day when crooked numbers were flying all over in the NCAA regionals, these teams combined for 18 hits, five homers, eight walks, three HBPs, 28 strikeouts and 357 pitches in a 3-hour, 44-minute grinder played before 5,211 emotionally drained fans at Taylor Park. USM tries to rebound today against Kennesaw State, hoping (?) for another crack at the Tigers.
6 — Combined hits by Matt Wallner (four) and Blaine Crim in Wichita’s 8-7 win vs. Frisco in a Double-A Texas League clash (see previous post). Wallner, a USM alum, hit his 11th homer and drove in three runs for Wichita. Ex-Mississippi College star Crim boosted his average to .301 with a 2-for-5 effort and scored twice for Frisco.
21 — Hits in his last 15 games by Austin Riley, the DeSoto Central High product who tripled and homered in Atlanta’s 6-2, 11-inning win against Colorado. Riley is batting .339 with six homers and 12 RBIs over his last 15 games. He has 14 bombs all told for the Braves, who have won four straight to reach 27-27 on the season.

04 Jun

bunch of stuff

There is a lot to digest from a not-so-sleepy-or-dusty third of June: In the Hattiesburg Regional, the anticipated Southern Miss-LSU winners bracket game will take place tonight (6 p.m.) after the Golden Eagles blanked Army 2-0 and the Tigers rallied past Kennesaw State 14-11 on Friday. The Pete (Taylor Park) will be packed. … At Coral Cables, Fla., Ole Miss’ regional opener against Arizona was pushed back to today because of rain. … In Enid, Okla., Pearl River Community College pummeled Madison (Wisc.) College 19-1 to set up a decisive Game 3 in the NJCAA Division II World Series. No. 1-ranked PRCC rode the bats of Alex Perry (home run, three RBIs) and D.K. Donaldson (three RBIs) and the pitching of Dakota Lee (six innings, one run). … At Pearl’s Trustmark Park, the Mississippi Braves’ Jalen Miller reportedly hit a home run over the batter’s eye in center field — no mean feat — en route to an extra-inning win against Montgomery in the Double-A Southern League. … In Appleton, Wisc., ex-Hattiesburg High standout Joe Gray Jr. had a 4-for-5 game, including his seventh homer and ninth stolen base, for High-A Wisconsin. Gray, a highly rated Milwaukee prospect, is batting .202 in his second stint at that level. … At Chicago’s Wrigley Field, Corey Dickerson, the former Meridian CC star from McComb, hit his first two homers of the season for St. Louis in a blowout win against the Cubs. Dickerson, who chose to wear Mark McGwire’s No. 25 in his first year with the Cardinals, has 130 career homers and has hit as many as 27 in a season. He is batting .194 in sporadic playing time. … Ex-Mississippi State standout Brent Rooker has been called up by San Diego. The former Minnesota Twins outfielder, traded this spring, was hitting .242 with nine homers at Triple-A El Paso. … Ole Miss product Lance Lynn, on the injured list all year for the Chicago White Sox, made his second rehab start for Triple-A Charlotte and yielded three runs in four innings. … Colorado announced that left-hander Ryan Rolison, another former UM star, will undergo shoulder surgery and miss the remainder of the season. A highly rated prospect, Rolison has been on the IL all year. … And last but certainly not least, Jackson Academy outfielder Dakota Jordan received the state’s Gatorade Player of the Year award. The MSU signee, who aims to play football and baseball, hit .524 with 16 homers this season. He is ranked as the No. 176 MLB draft prospect by MLB Pipeline.

02 Jun

stalking a title

Pearl River Community College is two wins away from a place only one Mississippi junior college has ever been before: the national championship. The No. 1-ranked Wildcats beat Florida State College-Jacksonville 13-11 Wednesday night to advance to the best-of-3 finals in the NJCAA Division II World Series. PRCC (43-10) takes on 2-seed Madison (Wisc.) College in Game 1 tonight at Enid, Okla. Jones College is the only state juco to win a national title, bringing home the D-II crown in 2016. (Jones also has a runner-up finish on its ledger, as do Meridian, Northwest and Hinds.) PRCC, which has scored 40 runs in its three wins in Enid, put up a seven-run seventh inning for a 13-8 lead against FSCJ and then held off a late rally. D.K. Donaldson hit a big home run for the Wildcats, and Alex Perry went 3-for-3 with three RBIs. Madison College, making its fourth straight World Series appearance, is 48-9 after putting away Mercer County 3-1 on Wednesday. The WolfPack returned a large contingent of players from last year’s club, including Gunnar Doyle (a .381 hitter with 51 RBIs) and ace Jeff Thielke (8-2, 1.28), whom PRCC will certainly see in the title series.