Tag Archives: Ole Miss

15 Jun

here and there

Draft doodles: Twenty players were picked from Mississippi schools in the three-day MLB draft, from Mississippi State’s Brent Rooker at No. 35 overall to Ole Miss’ Kyle Watson at No. 1108. Southern Miss and Ole Miss had four players drafted each. State had three and Jackson State and William Carey one each. Three juco players were selected, two from East Mississippi CC (and none from Jones County JC, which spent most of the season ranked No. 1, or Hinds, the NJCAA Region 23 champion). Four high school players were tabbed, the first being Myles Christian from Olive Branch in the 18th round by Seattle. … Milwaukee picked two prep players: Lefty Garrett Crochet from Ocean Springs in the 34th round and outfielder Davis Bradshaw from McLaurin in the 35th. … Detroit picked two college players: USM’s Dylan Burdeaux (20th round) and UM’s Colby Bortles (22nd), both infielders. The Tigers have stocked up on Mississippi connections of late. Already in the system are Ole Miss alum Alex Presley on the big league team; Richton High product JaCoby Jones in Triple-A; ex-Madison Central standout Spencer Turnbull and former UM star Will Allen at high Class A; and State alums Jake Robson and Zac Houston in low-A ball. … Atlanta Braves prospect Mike Soroka, who has won five straight starts, takes the bump for the Mississippi Braves tonight against Montgomery at Trustmark Park. The big Canadian, 19 years old, is 7-3, 2.45 ERA and hasn’t allowed a run in 15 innings in his previous two starts. … On Montgomery’s roster is former Ole Miss and Pearl River CC standout Braxton Lee, who is enjoying a resurgent second season in Double-A. After batting .209 for the Biscuits in 2016, the lefty-hitting outfielder is at .310 with two homers, 16 RBIs, 42 runs and 10 steals in 59 games this season. … In the big leagues on Wednesday: Ex-State standout Hunter Renfroe hit his 14th homer for San Diego, matching Nate Colbert’s club record for most homers by a rookie before the All-Star break. Fellow Bulldogs alum Tyler Moore continues to shine as a regular for Miami, hitting his fifth home run. He is at .288 with 17 RBIs in 66 at-bats. MSU product Kendall Graveman, on Oakland’s disabled list with a shoulder strain since May 26, reportedly has started light throwing. The A’s opening day starter is 2-2, 3.83 in eight starts. Correction: Ole Miss had a fifth player picked, right-hander Brady Feigl in the 35th round by the Los Angeles Angels. His name did not appear on Baseball America’s chart of picks from Mississippi.

14 Jun

blast off

Time to check in on the All-Mississippi Home Run Derby. Four from the Magnolia State went yard in MLB games on Tuesday: Corey Dickerson, Brian Dozier, Mitch Moreland and Jarrod Dyson. Former Meridian Community College star Dickerson, leader of the pack and a likely All-Star, hit his 15th for Tampa Bay to move two ahead of Mississippi State alum Hunter Renfroe. Southern Miss’ Brian Dozier moved into third with his 11th, one of Minnesota’s franchise-record 28 hits in a 20-7 victory over Seattle. Southwest Mississippi CC product Dyson hit his career-high third bomb for the Mariners in that crazy game at Target Field. Ex-State star Moreland belted No. 9 for Boston, matching Ole Miss alum Zack Cozart of Cincinnati for fourth on the derby chart. P.S. Milwaukee placed MSU alum Brandon Woodruff on the disabled list with the hamstring problem that caused him to miss what would have been his big league debut on Tuesday. Odd note: Ex-Petal High star Anthony Alford, shortly after debuting with Toronto, landed on the DL, where Ole Miss products Bobby Wahl, who debuted last month with Oakland, and Stuart Turner, a rookie with Cincinnati, are also stuck.

13 Jun

it’s a wrap

The college season ended on a sour note: Mississippi State’s 14-4 loss to LSU in the Super Regional at Baton Rouge. But all in all, it was – once again – a pretty sweet year for the Magnolia State. Two four-year schools played in the College World Series in their division. Three teams won conference championships. Four players won conference player of the year honors, and six earned All-America recognition. Led by C-USA player of the year Dylan Burdeaux, Southern Miss enjoyed one of its best seasons, winning 50 games and hosting an NCAA regional. State upstaged the Golden Eagles in Hattiesburg, beating them twice on a manic Monday to advance to the Super Regional. Brent Rooker – first-team All-American, SEC player of the year and Triple Crown champ, Ferriss Trophy winner, 35th overall pick in the MLB draft – drove the bus for the Bulldogs, who navigated a bumpy road to a 40-27 finish. Delta State, fueled by All-American Zack Shannon’s monster year, won both the regular season and tournament titles in the Gulf South Conference en route to the Division II College World Series and a 45-13 finish. All-America slugger James Land helped power William Carey to the NAIA World Series, where the Crusaders won three games before ending their year at 45-20. Blue Mountain had its best season in the program’s short history, going 32-25 and making the SSAC Tournament for the first time. Ole Miss, Jackson State and Belhaven also had winning seasons, though the Rebels and Tigers had to be disappointed in their finish. UM, nationally ranked early in the year, went 32-25, lost in the first round of the SEC Tournament and failed to make the NCAAs. Jackson State (38-17) had the best record in the SWAC in the regular season but crashed in the league tournament, its only real avenue to the NCAAs. Belhaven, still transitioning to D-III, came in at 26-14 and saw Terrell Hodges earn NCCAA All-America honors. Mississippi College, having completed its transition back to D-II, wound up at 20-28, but a strong finish enabled the Choctaws to earn a berth in the Gulf South Tournament. There wasn’t so much to cheer about at Alcorn State (12-33), Mississippi Valley State (7-34), Millsaps (19-23) and Tougaloo (10-42), though the Braves did pull off an upset of Grambling in the SWAC Tournament and the Majors beat the Nos. 1 and 2 teams in D-III during the year. And so the book closes … but only for a while. Fall ball is just a few months away.

12 Jun

summer stock

A boatload of players from the state’s Big 3 colleges appear on the preseason rosters for the Cape Cod League, the summer circuit that starts play on Wednesday. There are seven on the Hyannis roster, though one of those is Ole Miss’ Dallas Woolfolk, who is also on the roster for Team USA’s Collegiate National Team. The others are Mississippi State’s Jake Mangum (an MLB draft-eligible sophomore), Hunter Stovall and Trystan Barlow, Ole Miss’ Ryan Olenek and Connor Green, and Southern Miss’ Nick Sandlin. Other UM players on Cape rosters include James McArthur and Will Ethridge (Falmouth), Cooper Johnson and Ryan Rolison (Orleans), Thomas Dillard (Cotuit) and Andy Pagnozzi (Brewster). State’s Luke Alexander is also listed with Cotuit. Rosters will change as the season unfolds. … State’s Konnor Pilkington is also on the Team USA roster and USM’s Matt Wallner was invited to training camp in Cary, N.C. The team’s first game is slated for June 22. … Play is under way in the Cotton States League, the six-team, wood-bat circuit based in New Albany. Tucker Childers, a Northeast Mississippi Community College alum from Ripley, is off to a sizzling start for Hill Country: 7-for-10, two homers, seven RBIs in three games. … Joe Gray, a rising senior at Hattiesburg High, participated in a major tournament in Arizona over the weekend with his summer club, the EvoShield Canes National 18 Team. EvoShield Canes coach Jeff Petty told Baseball America Gray is “a very advanced player for his age. I feel he could settle in and play in professional baseball right now. With his athleticism I feel he’s a five-tool player. He’s got everything going for him.”

07 Jun

numbers game

The number of the day on Tuesday was four, as in the MLB record-matching four home runs hit by that noted slugger (and former Huntsville Star) Scooter Gennett of the Cincinnati Reds. But here’s some more numbers, from Mississippi connections, worth noting:
13 – Home runs by Hunter Renfroe, the former Mississippi State standout who belted two in San Diego’s 10-2 loss to Arizona.
123 – Pitches, a career-high, by Ole Miss product Drew Pomeranz over five innings in Boston’s 5-4 win against the New York Yankees.
7 – Home runs by State alum Mitch Moreland, who hit a go-ahead two-run bomb for the Red Sox in the fourth inning.
5 – Strikeouts by Craig Kimbrel, the ex-Mississippi Braves star, in nailing down his 17th save for the Red Sox; he fanned Aaron Judge on a 99-mph fastball for the final out.
6 – Home runs by Seth Smith, the former Ole Miss standout whose leadoff blast was one of four by Baltimore in a 6-5 win over Pittsburgh.
9 – Home runs by Southern Miss product Brian Dozier, who went deep in Minnesota’s 12-3 loss to Seattle; it was his third homer in his last 10 games.
.353 – Batting average, second-best in the big leagues, for UM alum Zack Cozart, who went 2-for-3 in Cincinnati’s Gennett-fueled 13-1 victory against St. Louis.
.137 – Batting average for former Richton High star JaCoby Jones, sent back to the minors by Detroit.

06 Jun

star gazing

Don’t look now, but ex-Ole Miss star Zack Cozart has climbed into the top two at shortstop in the National League All-Star voting. Cozart, batting .348 with nine home runs and 33 RBIs for Cincinnati, trails the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Corey Seager and is just ahead of the Chicago Cubs’ Addison Russell. Cozart, in his seventh big league season, has never made the All-Star Game. He said it was “a little shocking” to pass Russell, who is buoyed by Cubs fever. Cozart leads NL shortstops in most offensive categories and is also tops in Defensive Runs Saved. He went 2-for-4 on Monday night against St. Louis – extending his on-base streak to 27 games – and was in the middle of a game-winning four-run rally in the seventh inning. The Reds (26-30) are battling to stay afloat in the NL Central. P.S. Former Biloxi Shuckers standout Brett Phillips was 1-for-3 with an outfield assist (and an error) in his MLB debut for Milwaukee. Phillips is the 12th Shuckers alum to make the majors, a list that includes Orlando Arcia, Jacob Barnes and Yadiel Rivera.

05 Jun

whatever happened to …

Cody Satterwhite, the former Ole Miss star out of Hillcrest Christian, is pitching for Triple-A Syracuse in the Washington system. He is 0-2 with a 5.79 ERA in eight appearances. Satterwhite has been in pro ball since 2008, battling through injuries and still chasing the big league dream. The 30-year-old right-hander spent part of last season in Japan, signed with Baltimore in the off-season, was released at the end of spring training and caught on with the Nationals. … Also on the Syracuse roster are Pascagoula’s Joey Butler (.275 in 15 games) and UM product Aaron Barrett (on the disabled list). Butler last appeared in the majors in 2015 with Tampa Bay; he spent 2016 in the Cleveland system. Barrett, who had earned a role in the Nats’ pen in 2014-15, missed all of 2016 with an injury, became a free agent and re-signed with Washington this year. … Ex-Itawamba Community College star and veteran big leaguer Desmond Jennings is hitting .237 with six home runs and 19 RBIs at Triple-A Las Vegas in the New York Mets’ system. Released by Tampa Bay last summer, Jennings signed with Cincinnati, got released again in spring and landed with the Mets. … Murrah High alum and onetime Mississippi Braves pitcher Zack Bird is now in the Texas organization but on the disabled list at Class A Down East. Bird, who made three appearances for the M-Braves in 2015, posted an 8.87 ERA in 28 games in A-ball for the Braves in 2016. The Rangers claimed the big right-hander on waivers. … Tanner Cable, the Belhaven University alum from Southaven, signed with the Gateway Grizzlies of the independent Frontier League shortly after the Blazers’ season ended and has a 3.64 ERA over six games. Cable, who also pitched at Northwest CC and Delta State, was 9-2, 2.29 ERA in two seasons at Belhaven.

04 Jun

out there

In Buffalo, home of the Toronto Blue Jays’ Class AAA affiliate, former Picayune High standout T.J. House picked up his first win in five starts on Saturday, throwing six shutout innings in a 4-0 victory over Charlotte. In 10 starts overall, the 27-year-old left-hander is now 5-4 with a 3.20 ERA, perhaps serving notice to the big club that he could help if needed. Good to see him having some success. House, signed as a minor league free agent in the off-season, got a look from the Blue Jays as a non-roster player in spring training, but that ended when he was struck in the head by a line drive on March 10. He didn’t pitch again for several weeks. He went 5-3 with a 3.35 ERA for Cleveland in 2014 but was up for a total of just eight games with the Indians the past two years. … In Detroit, Ole Miss product Alex Presley went 3-for-4 with his first home run of the season for the Tigers in a 10-1 victory against the Chicago White Sox. Presley, trying to hold onto a job with the Tigers, is 5-for-15 with three RBIs, six runs and two steals since being called up on May 28. Saturday’s homer was the 27th career MLB blast for the veteran outfielder, now with his sixth team, a journey that began in Pittsburgh in 2010. … In Baltimore, ex-UM star Seth Smith came to the plate as a pinch hitter representing the tying run with two outs in the bottom of the ninth against Boston and former Mississippi Braves closer Craig Kimbrel. (Ah, the joys of channel surfing on XM radio.) Kimbrel, having a rare off night during a sensational stretch, won this battle, locking up Smith – a .270 hitter with five homers — on a breaking ball for a called third strike on a 2-2 pitch. Red Sox, 5-2. Kimbrel has 16 saves in 17 opportunities and a 1.07 ERA.

26 May

around the horn

Former Mississippi State star Adam Frazier, a Georgia boy, homered at Atlanta’s new launching pad, SunTrust Park, on Thursday to help Pittsburgh beat the Braves 9-4. Frazier also homered on Wednesday in another Pirates victory. All told, he was 4-for-13 in the four-game series with seven walks, five runs and six RBIs. Frazier is batting .361 in 28 games. … Hunter Renfroe, a Mississippi boy who also played at State, continues to swing a big bat for San Diego. Including a 2-for-4 effort on Thursday in a win against the New York Mets, the Crystal Springs native is batting .316 with three homers, seven RBIs and nine runs in his last 10 games. He’s at .232 with nine bombs. … Ex-Ole Miss star Drew Pomeranz delivered a much-needed quality start for Boston, which beat Texas 6-2 at Fenway Park. After three straight wobbly efforts, Pomeranz went six innings, allowing two runs on four hits and fanning 11. “Felt lost for a couple of starts,” Pomeranz told The Associated Press. A Red Sox broadcaster called Thursday’s outing a “clinic of curveballs.” It was also a clinic of punchouts, as the Rangers whiffed 20 times against five Boston pitchers. Former Mississippi Braves standout Craig Kimbrel struck out four – yes, four – in the ninth inning. He has retired 53 of the last 56 batters he has faced and now has 40 K’s in 20 2/3 innings with a 0.87 ERA. … Gregor Blanco, one of the three original M-Braves (2005) still playing, has filled in nicely as the center fielder and leadoff batter for Arizona with A.J. Pollock out. Blanco went 3-for-4 with a home run on Thursday in a win over Milwaukee. He is batting .293 with three steals in 16 games. … With Josh Donaldson and Troy Tulowitzki expected to be activated from the disabled list today by Toronto, Ole Miss alum Chris Coghlan’s roster spot might be in jeopardy.

25 May

speed thrills

Long, loud home runs – like the ones hit by Hunter Renfroe and Adam Frazier on Wednesday night – are exciting. Scoring from first on a single – as Billy Hamilton did – moves the needle even more. Ex-Taylorsville High standout Hamilton raced home on a two-out bloop hit by Ole Miss alum Zack Cozart in the ninth inning, giving Cincinnati a 4-3 lead – and ultimately a victory — at Cleveland. Hamilton’s ludicrous speed had already had an impact. He beat a throw to first base on a potential double play that would have ended the game. Initially called out, he was correctly ruled safe after replay review. When Cozart’s hit dropped in front of a sprawling Michael Brantley in left field, Hamilton scored easily. “Not many other guys are going to beat that ball out or score that run, but that’s Billy Hamilton,” Reds manager Bryan Price said in an Associated Press story. Despite taking an 0-for-4 Wednesday, Hamilton is hitting .295 over his last 10 games, boosting his average to .258. He leads MLB in steals with 23 and is second on the Reds in runs with 34 in 43 games. P.S. From the Didn’t See That Coming Department: Southern Miss, which had blasted Texas-San Antonio in a three-game sweep last weekend, lost to the Roadrunnners 9-2 in the first round of the Conference USA Tournament in Biloxi. Top-seeded USM (44-13) might not need to win the tournament to secure a host bid for an NCAA regional, but going 2-and-out could really hurt.