Tag Archives: Ole Miss

31 May

going coastal

Round 2 of Season 2 of Mississippi Braves vs. Biloxi Shuckers starts tonight at MGM Park on the Coast. Alas, the pitching matchup that would have been so cool to see apparently won’t happen in this series. Mississippi State alum Brandon Woodruff is set to make his third Double-A start tonight for the Shuckers. Rated Milwaukee’s No. 30 prospect by mlb.com, he is 0-2, 8.00 ERA. Ole Miss product Chris Ellis, Atlanta’s No. 13 prospect, is slated to go Wednesday for the M-Braves. Ellis, after two straight uneven starts, is 6-2, 3.00. Former Southern Miss star Bradley Roney, who has pitched well out of the M-Braves’ pen (2 saves, 2.95 ERA), surely will make an appearance or two during the five games. The Shuckers took three of five from the M-Braves in Pearl in April and lead the series 15-13. Biloxi is 29-21, second to Pensacola in the Southern League South by a game; the M-Braves are 22-28 and fourth, 8 games back of first. Perhaps Biloxi will see an attendance spike for this series. The club is averaging an announced 2,596 fans per game, which ranks eighth in the 10-team loop. The M-Braves are seventh at 3,097 per game at Trustmark Park.

29 May

champs like us

The play at the plate – following two relay throws – long will be remembered in Hattiesburg. Southern Miss won its first Conference USA Tournament title since 2010 today, cutting down a Rice runner at home to preserve a 3-2 victory at Taylor Park. And so this remarkable season for Magnolia State baseball barrels ahead. USM’s tournament title is the second for the state in 2016; Delta State won the Gulf South Conference crown. Mississippi State won the regular season title in the SEC, and the Bulldogs will join the Golden Eagles and Ole Miss in the NCAA Tournament, all three possibly hosting regionals. And don’t forget that Jones County Junior College, which claimed its region tournament, is still playing in the NJCAA Division II World Series, having won its opener on Saturday. DSU reached the championship round of the NCAA Division II South Region tourney, and William Carey did the same in its NAIA regional, both coming up just short of the World Series in their divisions. P.S. In case anyone was wondering: There were 18 former Jackson Mets who played for the New York Mets during the 1986 championship season, which was celebrated at Citi Field this weekend. The Mets’ Double-A club had been in Jackson for 12 years by 1986 and would play at Smith-Wills Stadium for four more. … In case anyone hadn’t noticed: Jeff Francoeur, the former Mississippi Braves star, was batting .292 for Atlanta heading into today’s game. It’s good to see – and hear – Francoeur getting cheers again at Turner Field. … Debut alert: Former MSU standout Chris Stratton from Tupelo, now in the big leagues with San Francisco, will be the 18th Mississippian (native or college alum) to play in MLB this year when he makes his first appearance.

28 May

lonely at the top

Seven Mississippi-connected players show up in Baseball America’s latest list of the top 200 draft prospects – but only one of them rates among the top 100. Mississippi State’s Dakota Hudson checks in at No. 14, though that doesn’t necessarily mean the right-hander will be a first-round pick next month. The rankings are an assessment of talent, not a draft projection. You have to scroll all the way down to No. 113 to find George County High star Walker Robbins, a lefty-hitting first baseman. Oxford High products Thomas Dillard (catcher) and Grae Kessinger (shortstop) are listed at 141 and 144. Outfielder J.B. Woodman, who has had a huge year for Ole Miss, is No. 171, while teammate and shortstop Errol Robinson, having an off year, is rated 182. No. 199 is State outfielder/pitcher Reid Humphreys. Hudson will likely be the first Mississippian picked; an mlb.com mock draft has him going 13th to Tampa Bay. But you never know. Some team might take a shine to Kessinger’s defense — he is the grandson of ex-big leaguer Don Kessinger — or Humphreys’ power — he is the brother of erstwhile big leaguer Tyler Moore — or the athletic ability of some junior college player no one’s talking about. The surprises — that’s the coolest aspect of the MLB draft. P.S. BA’s draft prospects list runs 500 deep on its web site. Pearl River Community College’s Zach Clark (shortstop/pitcher), Itawamba CC’s Delvin Zinn (shortstop), Ole Miss’ Henri Lartigue (catcher) and State’s Daniel Brown (lefty pitcher) rank in the 200s. … The top pick from Mississippi last year was Austin Riley, taken 41st overall by Atlanta out of DeSoto Central. Riley, recently featured in BA (June 3-17 issue), is batting .229 with three homers and 19 RBIs at Class A Rome.

26 May

minor matters

The recent 50-game suspension he served for a drug of abuse violation may have been a lesson learned for JaCoby Jones. In eight games since he returned to the field with Double-A Erie, the former Richton High standout is batting .343 with three homers (all in his last three games) and nine RBIs. Jones, a top 10 prospect in Detroit’s system, worked out in extended spring camp in Florida while serving the suspension, imposed last fall. Primarily a shortstop during his four-year pro career, he has been playing center field of late. … Ole Miss product Chris Ellis, coming off his first loss of the season, goes to the bump for the Mississippi Braves tonight against Jacksonville at Trustmark Park in Pearl. Ellis is 6-1 with a 2.89 ERA in nine starts; he has a win against the Suns under his belt. … Despite a recent slump, Bobby Bradley, the ex-Harrison Central High star, still leads the high Class A Carolina League in home runs and RBIs. Bradley, playing for Lynchburg in Cleveland’s system, is batting .228 with 10 bombs and 40 RBIs. He has hit just .167 with one homer over his last 10 games. … Longtime Jackson-area fans will remember Joe Mikulik, who starred on the first Generals team at Smith-Wills Stadium back in 1991. Now a minor league manager known for his epic tirades, Mikulik, currently in Frisco (Texas Rangers), went on another after a disputed call on Tuesday. If you haven’t seen the video, you must find it. The Washington Post called Mikulik “the Laurence Olivier of minor league freakouts.” Wonder if former M-Braves manager Phillip Wellman, also managing in the Texas League at San Antonio, is jealous?

24 May

times are tough

In a 3-for-27 skid that has dropped his average to .199, Brian Dozier was given a day off on Monday and might get extended downtime. “We’ve got to fix Brian Dozier,” Minnesota GM Terry Ryan said in a piece on mlb.com. “It’s not working right now, so we’ve got to adjust.” The Southern Miss product was an All-Star in 2015, when he batted .236, belted 28 homers, drove in 77 runs and scored 101. In 39 games this year, he has four homers, 14 RBIs and 18 runs. He hasn’t driven in a run since May 4. Dozier seems at a loss to explain the slump. “To be honest, I feel better than I probably have my whole career,” he told mlb.com after Sunday’s game. It doesn’t help that the Twins have sunk to 11-33, worst record in MLB. … This slump thing is going around among a bunch of Mississippians in the majors. Ole Miss alum Chris Coghlan is in a 1-for-21 funk that has dropped his average to .152 for Oakland. Mississippi juco products Corey Dickerson (Meridian CC) and Desmond Jennings (Itawamba CC) are scuffling for Tampa Bay. Dickerson, 4 for his last 23 heading into today’s play, is at .179; Jennings, 6 for his last 40, is hitting .178. Ex-Mississippi State star Mitch Moreland is batting .191 with one homer in his last 15 games for Texas. He’s at .230 for the year with four homers and 16 RBIs; he put up .278, 23, 85 last season. And a 3-for-17 slump has dropped former Ole Miss standout Seth Smith’s average to .236 for Seattle.

24 May

dream team

Props to Jake Mangum for winning the Ferriss Trophy as Mississippi’s top college player for 2016. The former Jackson Prep star is the first freshman and fifth Mississippi State player to win the award named for the great Boo Ferriss. An outfielder, Mangum leads the SEC in hitting at .427 and has 25 RBIs and 36 runs for the SEC regular season champs. Mangum certainly is a fitting winner, but the Ferriss voters couldn’t have gone wrong with any of a number of other candidates. It’s been that kind of year for college ball in the state. Just imagine the all-star team you could put together from the NCAA Division I programs. A weekend rotation of Dakota Hudson, Brady Bramlett and Kirk McCarty, the aces from State, Ole Miss and Southern Miss? Wyatt Short of UM and Nick Sandlin from USM in the pen? Yes, Team Mississippi would be well-armed. Behind the plate: Henri Lartigue, batting .348 for Ole Miss. Put Southern Miss’ Tim Lynch (.367, nine homers, 53 RBIs) at first base, UM’s Tate Blackman (.332, 42 runs) at second and State’s Gavin Collins (.301, nine homers) at third. At shortstop, Jackson State’s Cornelius Copeland, who doesn’t get the recognition of players from the Big 3, hit .422 and scored 62 runs. Mangum has been a regular headliner in the outfield, but Ole Miss’ J.B. Woodman (.319, 13 homers, 49 RBIs) and USM’s Jake Sandlin (.354, 44 runs) also are wearing it out. For a DH, pick from USM’s Dylan Burdeaux (.345, 11 homers), State’s Jack Kruger (.358, seven homers) or JSU’s Jesus Santana (17 homers, 67 RBIs). Hard to find a flaw in that dream team. P.S. Delta State threw its vaunted 1-2 punch at Nova Southeastern on Monday. The Sharks survived and won the NCAA Division II South Region title, earning a berth in the D-II World Series. DSU won Game 1 of the championship round 3-1 behind Dalton Moats (12-3) but lost 3-1 in Game 2 with Tre Hobbs (13-2), the region and Gulf South Conference pitcher of the year, on the bump. The Statesmen finish 42-17.

23 May

pondering momentum

Whether momentum matters in sports is certainly subject to debate. In fact, whether it exists at all is questionable. But if it does exist, Jones County Junior College would appear to have it as the Bobcats move on to the NJCAA Division II World Series. Chris Kirtland’s club won three straight elimination games to capture the championship in the Region 23 Tournament. JCJC beat No. 1-ranked LSU-Eunice twice in the regional. The Bobcats also snapped a three-game losing skid against MACJC champion East Central with a win on Saturday and then beat the Warriors again Sunday. In Sunday’s 6-5 title clincher, Mason Strickland, a freshman out of South Jones High, worked 3 1/3 scoreless innings in relief of starter Logan Robbins. Strickland beat LSU-E on Thursday to improve to 10-0; Sunday’s save was his first. Mason Irby, Erick Hoard, Fred Franklin and Tanner Huddleston supplied big hits. So with Big Mo now seemingly on its side, Jones (49-8 and ranked third in the latest D-II poll) plays McHenry College of Illinois on Saturday in Enid, Okla. Delta State appeared to have some momentum last week when it beat top-seeded Tampa for its second straight win in the NCAA Division II South Region Tournament and sixth straight W overall. But DSU’s mo then got derailed by Nova Southeastern in a 9-4 loss. A 13-5 victory against West Georgia on Sunday – fueled by Brandon Cummins’ three-hit, two-RBI game — kept the Statesmen (41-16) alive, but they’ll have to beat Nova twice today to claim the region title and make the D-II World Series. With 11 straight wins and an SEC regular season championship in tow, Mississippi State would seem to be riding a huge wave of momentum into the SEC Tournament. Ole Miss might have picked up a little mo, too, by beating Texas A&M in the regular season finale, denying the Aggies a share of the SEC title. But also in Hoover, Ala., this week are five other teams ranked in the top 12 of Baseball America’s most recent poll. Pitching depth might be a tad more important than momentum in the SEC tourney. If there is a state school still playing that would appear to lack momentum, it’s Southern Miss, which lost its last three C-USA games at Florida International and slipped to the third seed in the conference tournament. But, the tournament is in Hattiesburg, and the Golden Eagles are 24-4 in the friendly confines of Taylor Park. Comfort might matter more than momentum – if any such thing really exists.

21 May

measuring stick

Big: Mississippi State beat Arkansas 5-1 on Friday in Starkville to keep pace with Texas A&M in the SEC. Both are 20-9, best in the West and overall with one game left in the season. State (39-14-1) last won a regular season title in the SEC in 1989. The Bulldogs go for the sweep of the Razorbacks today while also pulling for Ole Miss, which will try to salvage the series finale against Texas A&M at College Station. The Aggies are 5-0 against the Magnolia State this year.
Bigger: Delta State took down Tampa, ranked as high as No. 2 in NCAA Division II, on Friday to move to 2-0 in the South Region tournament at Tampa, Fla. There is still work to do, but DSU (40-15) is smelling what would be a 12th regional championship and a trip to the D-II World Series.
Biggest: East Central Community College topped Jones County Junior College 11-10 in the NJCAA Division II Region 23 Tournament on Friday at Decatur. The Warriors, MACJC champs, are in the championship round, awaiting the winner of an elimination game between No. 2 JCJC and No. 1 LSU-Eunice. The region champ gets a berth in the NJCAA D-II World Series.
P.S. The season ended on Friday for Jackson State and Alcorn State in the SWAC Tournament and for Northwest CC in the Region 23 tourney. William Carey’s season ended Thursday in an NAIA regional. … If you haven’t seen the catch made by former Mississippi Braves star Jason Heyward on Friday night in San Francisco, find the highlight. Playing right field for the Chicago Cubs, Heyward tracked down a fly ball into deep right-center, making what the Giants announcers on XM radio were calling the best catch they had ever seen.

20 May

standing out

With so many talented young arms now at work in the Atlanta system, it’s not easy to stand out. Chris Ellis has found a way. The Ole Miss alum goes to the mound tonight for the Mississippi Braves at Mobile with a 6-0 record and a 2.06 ERA. The 6-foot-5 right-hander, who throws three quality pitches, has 36 strikeouts and 19 walks in 48 innings. He leads the Southern League in wins, ranks eighth in ERA, ninth in WHIP and fifth in innings (an underrated stat). He is even swinging the bat: 5-for-13. Ellis, a third-round draft selection by the Los Angeles Angels in 2014, made it to Double-A last summer and went 7-4, 3.92. The Braves acquired him in the Andrelton Simmons trade, and he is rated their No. 14 prospect by mlb.com. Nine other pitchers, scattered throughout the system, are ranked above Ellis, but none is having more success this year. P.S. M-Braves catcher Willians Astudillo recently was highlighted in Baseball America for his uncanny ability to make contact. Astudillo has struck out just two times this season in 114 at-bats. (He has only walked twice while batting .272.) A minor league free agent signee by Atlanta this off-season, Astudillo has fanned just 53 times in 1,651 at-bats, with a .314 career average. … The M-Braves have hit seven home runs as a team in 20 games at spacious Trustmark Park this season, four of those by Dustin Peterson. Oxford High’s Thomas Dillard hit two bombs at the TeePee on Thursday in the Chargers’ MHSAA Class 5A championship clincher against Hattiesburg. Dillard finished the year with 16 homers.

16 May

west side story

Texas figures to be fighting – figuratively and maybe literally – for the American League West title the rest of the way. Mitch Moreland, the former Mississippi State slugger from Amory, is a key piece in the Rangers’ loaded lineup. The lefty-swinging first baseman is batting .250 with four homers and 16 RBIs for a first-place team that is 22-16. Several other Mississippians also figure to play important roles in how the West is won. For Seattle, currently second in the division standings at 21-16, Jackson native and Ole Miss alum Seth Smith is a platooning outfielder, starting mainly against right-handers. Smith is hitting .247 with four homers and 14 RBIs. In Oakland, currently running fourth at 16-22, the A’s are hoping for better stuff from ex-Rebels star Chris Coghlan and former Bulldogs ace Kendall Graveman. Coghlan, playing a utility-type role, hit his fifth home run in a win on Sunday but is batting just .174. Graveman is 1-5 with a 5.84 ERA over seven starts. He has been burned by 10 home runs. Tony Sipp, the Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College product from Pascagoula, has a 3.77 ERA in 17 relief appearances for Houston, which has had a rough start (15-24) on the heels of last year’s postseason run. The Astros are going to get better, and the AL West will likely get wilder.