Tag Archives: Purvis High

15 Apr

draft notice

A high school player from Mississippi went ninth overall in the 2024 MLB draft. Might another go that high this July? Keith Law, draft analyst for The Athletic and The New York Times, ranks Purvis High’s JoJo Parker No. 9 on his recently released 2025 draft prospect chart. (Jackson Prep product Konnor Griffin went at No. 9 overall to Pittsburgh last year and is currently in A-ball.) Law calls Parker “one of the best pure hitters in the draft class this year, with a very compact swing and excellent pitch recognition, unusual for a high school hitter from Mississippi.” Parker is the third-highest rated prep player on Law’s list. (Ethan Holliday of Stillwater, Okla., is No. 1 overall.) Parker is a 6-foot-2, 195-pound lefty-hitting shortstop. Per MaxPreps, he is batting .500 with eight homers, 47 runs and 27 steals. Yes, he also pitches for the Tornadoes, ranked third in the state by MaxPreps. Parker’s twin brother Jacob, also a potential 2025 draftee, is hitting .480 with nine homers and 37 RBIs and is regarded as a better pure power hitter than JoJo. Both are Mississippi State signees. … Also on Law’s Top 50 draft list are Southern Miss right-hander J.B. Middleton (No. 44) and Ole Miss righty Mason Morris (No. 50). P.S. Pearl River Community College’s Caston Thompson, from Jayess, went 7-for-11 with three homers, nine RBIs and six runs to earn MACCC player of the week honors. The second-ranked Wildcats went 3-1 last week and are 36-6, 16-2 MACCC. Jones County’s Josh Lee, from Gulfport, went eight innings, fanning 13, to beat Mississippi Gulf Coast last week and garnered conference pitcher of the week honors. He is 6-0 for the Bobcats, 29-10, 15-5, and ranked eighth in NJCAA Division II. East Central remains No. 3 in the national poll at 33-7, 15-3.

14 Jul

launch mode

Eighty-five games into his rookie campaign, Colt Keith may just have had his signature moment of 2024. The ex-Biloxi High standout launched a game-tying, two-out, two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth inning Saturday as Detroit pulled off an amazing comeback and beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 11-9 in 10 innings. “That’s one of the coolest moments yet,” Keith, 22, told mlb.com. He’ll be hard-pressed to top it. Keith’s homer, a yanked 364-footer, came off Dodgers closer Evan Phillips, the former Mississippi Braves hurler. It capped the Tigers’ five-run ninth, and they won it on a Gio Urshela bomb in the 10th. Keith went 3-for-4, raising his average to .253. The homer was his ninth. He has 37 RBIs. He arrived in the regular lineup at second base this spring as Detroit’s top prospect, having hit 38 homers over three minor league seasons since being drafted in the fifth round in 2020. He was given a big contract in January, a six-year, $28.6M deal with options and bonuses that could make it worth much more. But on May 19, he was batting .197. He didn’t have an MLB home run as of May 23. Apparently, he has figured some things out. A powerfully built left-handed hitter, Keith is batting .407 his last seven games, .311 with seven homers his last 15. If there were doubters in Detroit, they’ve been silenced. P.S. Purvis High’s Jacob Parker hit 24 homers in two rounds of Saturday’s high school home run derby at Globe Life Field in Texas and advanced to Monday’s final against Josiah Hartshorn. … Former M-Braves catcher Drake Baldwin — Atlanta’s No. 11 prospect (by MLB Pipeline) — homered in Saturday’s All-Star Futures Game at Globe Life. … And current M-Braves catcher Tyler Tolve slammed a walk-off homer in the ninth inning for a 3-2 victory over Birmingham at Pearl’s Trustmark Park.

12 Jul

star trekkin’

Buckle up. Lots of All-Star stuff coming in the next few days. The HBCU Swingman Classic is set for tonight (7 p.m., MLB Network) at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas. Jackson State had a bunch of offensive standouts this past season, and several are in the game: Joseph Eichelberger (.375 hitter), Robert Tate Jr. (.352, .458 OBP), Lenny Montesano (11 homers, 16 doubles) and Rodney Hibler Jr. (34 steals). Tigers pitchers Christian Womble and Isaiah Williams are also on the rosters, along with Mississippi Valley State’s Dreylin Holmes and Alcorn State’s Garrett Palladino. … On Saturday, there is a high school home run derby competition at Globe Life in which Jacob Parker of Purvis will compete. The 6-foot-4, 210-pound lefty hitter has slugged 24 homers the past three years at Purvis. Later Saturday (3:10 p.m., MLB Network), former Magnolia Heights star Cooper Pratt is slated to play in the All-Star Futures Game. Shortstop Pratt, a second-year pro and the state’s Gatorade player of the year in 2023, is Milwaukee’s No. 4-ranked prospect and is batting .295 with 19 bags at Low-Class A Carolina. … Sunday brings the first day of the MLB draft (4 p.m., ESPN) from Fort Worth, Texas. If Baseball America’s mock draft is accurate, four Mississippi-connected players could be chosen among the first 26 picks. Among them are three of the last four Gatorade state players of the year — Konnor Griffin, Dakota Jordan and Jordan Montgomery — plus Mississippi State switch-pitcher Jurrangelo Cijntje. Montgomery and Cijntje reportedly will attend Sunday’s event; Griffin is having a watch party at the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame and Museum. Expect several more players from the state to be called on Monday and Tuesday as the 20-round draft continues. … MLB’s Home Run Derby is set for Monday, though, regrettably, there is no Austin Riley, Brent Rooker or Hunter Renfroe in the field. … On Tuesday, it’s the main event, the 94th All-Star Game, with Ocean Springs High product Garrett Crochet (Chicago White Sox) and ex-MSU standout Jordan Westburg (Baltimore) suiting up for the American League squad.