Tag Archives: Smith-Wills Stadium

22 Mar

trophy hunting

Belhaven University is humming: 13-4 with a seven-game win streak. Millsaps is sputtering at 10-10. The timing of the first Maloney Trophy Series game of 2016 certainly looks favorable for the Blazers, who’ll host the Majors today (4 p.m.) at Smith-Wills Stadium. Of course, both BU coach Hill Denson and Millsaps’ Jim Page are likely to trot out a bunch of pitchers, so anything can happen. The Blazers’ hot streak has been fueled in large part by junior outfielder Terrell Hodges, a former Northwest Rankin High and Holmes Community College star. He is batting .463 (slugging .791) with four home runs, 15 RBIs, four triples, 22 runs and 15 steals. Last week, Hodges had 11 hits, two homers, six RBIs, 10 runs and five steals — and somehow did not win American Southwest Conference player of the week honors. Millsaps lost two of three at home to Rhodes over the weekend, scoring five runs all told. The Majors have only two homers (both by Lee Ogletree) all season. Isaac Glenn, the Madison Central product, leads their attack at .360 with 11 RBIs and 17 runs. Ogletree, from Raymond High via Hinds CC, is hitting .333 with 19 RBIs. P.S. Meanwhile, at MGM Park in Biloxi, Southern Miss will hook up with longtime rival Tulane in an intriguing non-conference contest. The Golden Eagles (16-5) and Green Wave (13-7) have met 152 times, with Tulane leading 93-59. USM features a lot of power, with 26 homers as a team, six by Tim Lynch, the preseason All-C-USA pick who is batting .373 with 22 RBIs. Tulane has some thump, too: 20 homers, led by Hunter Hope with five. USM is 0-1 at MGM Park, having lost to South Alabama earlier this month.

20 Jan

something new

Outfielder Terrell Hodges and right-hander Tanner Cable, both newcomers, are the two Belhaven University players appearing on the American Southwest Conference’s 2016 Watch List. Hodges, a Holmes Community College transfer, hit .296 with four homers, 36 RBIs and 31 steals over two seasons with the Bulldogs. Cable pitched (sparingly) at Delta State last season after two years at Northwest Mississippi CC, where he was drafted in 2013. Interesting season ahead for Hill Denson’s Blazers, who have a lot of new names on the roster. BU, transitioning from NAIA, is playing an NCAA Division III schedule this season but is ineligible for the ASC title. The Blazers (33-24 in 2015) lost top hitter Emilio DeSilva (.338), stolen base fiend Reagan Rutledge (53 bags) and seven-game winner Ben Allison. Adam Kowalczyk, who hit 14 homers, and closer Zach Osha (nine saves) are back. Belhaven opens on Feb. 16 at Huntingdon in Alabama. The Blazers will play their first eight games away from Smith-Wills Stadium. The home opener is scheduled for March 1 against Huntingdon at 4 p.m.

06 Oct

back in the day

Houston makes its first appearance in the postseason in 10 years tonight when it plays New York at Yankee Stadium in the American League Wild Card Game. The Astros had been bad for so long that it seems hard to believe they were once a playoff regular. Between 1997 and 2005, they were in the playoffs six times. They won three straight National League Central championships from 1997-99 and another in 2001. And, yes, a bunch of former Jackson Generals – 26 at one time or another – played on those four teams. (For the record, ex-Jackson Mets Tim Bogar and Chuck Carr and Mississippians Dave Clark, Jay Powell and Charlie Hayes also made appearances in that period.) Houston’s Double-A club played at Smith-Wills Stadium from 1991-99, won Texas League pennants in 1993 and ’96 and produced some outstanding big league talent that aided in winning those NL Central titles. Jackson’s Houston connection included Bobby Abreu, Lance Berkman, Billy Wagner, Richard Hidalgo, Julio Lugo, Chris Holt, Shane Reynolds, Chris Truby, John Halama and Tony Eusebio, who was the first General to reach the big leagues in 1991. The Astros won only the one NL pennant during that run of success, in 2005, when they got in the playoffs as a wild card. There were only two ex-Gens left on the roster by then: Berkman and Raul Chavez. It was fun while it lasted.

30 Sep

championship mettle

Can’t let September end without another nod to the 1985 Jackson Mets, who won the Texas League championship in this month 30 years ago. The ’85 JaxMets, managed by Sam Perlozzo, won the second half in the TL East, beat Arkansas 2-0 in a best-of-three division playoff and then swept El Paso four straight for the pennant. But it wasn’t a season of smooth sailing. Injuries and inconsistency marked a first half that saw the team finish 31-35, which many felt was not indicative of its talent. Perlozzo, who had won titles in 1983 at Class A Lynchburg and ’84 in Jackson, called it his “most challenging season.” The team was led by a strong core of future big leaguers: Biloxi native Barry Lyons, Dave Magadan, Kevin Elster, Mark Carreon, Randy “Moose” Milligan, Keith Miller and Stanley Jefferson. The pitching staff featured DeWayne Vaughn, Dave Wyatt, Craig Weissmann, Tom Burns, Jim Adamczak and Ed Pruitt. The El Paso team they encountered in the championship series was stocked with sluggers like Joey Meyer (37 homers that year), Billy Jo Robidoux (133 RBIs) and Glenn Braggs. Chris Bosio was the Diablos’ ace. The JaxMets went to El Paso’s hitter-friendly Dudley Field for the first three games and won them all, then came back to Smith-Wills Stadium for the clincher. The September surge was a case of a very talented team finding its form at the right time, and it produced the last of the JaxMets’ three TL championships.

31 Aug

sign of the times

The Jackson Senators live. Well, the name lives. On the billboard out front of Smith-Wills Stadium. The Senators are 10 years gone from their short stay at the old ballpark, but the independent team’s name is still out there. It’s a safe bet that a lot of folks cruising by on Lakeland Drive are given to wonder: “Who the heck are the Jackson Senators?” For the uninitiated, they were the fourth pro team to occupy Smith-Wills, following the Mets, Generals and Bandits, uh, I mean, DiamondKats. The Senators reached the Central Baseball League championship series in their inaugural season in 2002 and won the pennant in Year 2. A pall was cast over the whole operation in 2004 when news broke that Atlanta was moving its Double-A club to Pearl for the 2005 season. By this time in ’05, the Sens were history. Nothing official had been announced by the local ownership group, but it seemed inevitable. The metro isn’t big enough for two pro baseball teams. The Central League split up after the 2005 season, and the Senators quietly faded away. Hill Denson managed the last Senators team, which finished 35-58. There were some good players on the roster, including Selwyn Langaigne, Josh Tranum, Gerard McCall, Fontella Jones, Rusty Camp, Jake Dickinson … . Erick Mejias hit a walk-off homer in the Senators’ last home game, on Aug. 13, 2005. And if you saw them play at all, you surely remember Vince Faison, the right fielder. Former No. 1 draft pick by the San Diego Padres. Also a prep football star in Georgia. He could flat-out play. Hit for the cycle in ’05. Hadn’t thought about him in years. But on a drive down Lakeland, there’s that billboard. The Jackson Senators live.

02 Aug

the lost boys

To the victors go the spoils, including the flowery prose that is written when significant anniversaries of their great moments come around. Mississippi has seen its fair share of great minor league teams. Pennants from the Cotton States League, Southeastern League, Texas League, Central League and Southern League have been raised and celebrated. We have also seen at least one very bad team, which is “celebrating” its 15th anniversary this year. Yet as dismal as the 2000 campaign was for the Jackson DiamondKats, the independent club did have some bright spots during its one-year run at Smith-Wills Stadium. Some recognition is due. It should be remembered that former Delta State star Casey Myrick was named the Texas-Louisiana League rookie of the year in 2000 after batting .329 with nine homers and 56 RBIs. Two D-Kats pitchers, Ryan Creek and Jeremy McClain, finished the season in the top 10 in the league in ERA. Creek, a onetime Jackson Generals ace, put up a 3.07 and went 5-5 (for a team that was 36 games under .500) before being injured. McClain, another DSU product, had a 3.27 ERA and went 7-9. William Carey College alumnus Perry Miley stole 38 bases, third-most in the TLL. And former big leaguer and ex-Jackson Mets outfielder Mark Carreon joined the team late in the year and hit .340. The D-Kats won their home opener, 5-4 against the Alexandria Aces, before an announced 2,389 (a bit of a stretch). The crowd included Mayor Harvey Johnson and ex-big leaguer Oil Can Boyd, a cousin of D-Kats outfielder Popeye Cole. Miley scored the winning run in the eighth inning, knocked in by Tupelo native Willie Gardner. Southern Miss product Danny Shupe made the lead stand up with a 1-2-3 ninth. Mark Davis, another Carey alum, got the win. The D-Kats didn’t win many more, finishing 38-74, a league record for losses. Former Ole Miss and MLB star Steve Dillard, a good guy, managed the club, which was heavy with Mississippians and largely overmatched against teams stacked with indy league veterans. The D-Kats were outscored by almost 200 runs and struck out a league-record 836 times. They endured two 10-game losing streaks. Home attendance was sparse, averaging under 700 a game. Alas, the D-Kats never got a chance at redemption. The franchise, owned by the league, folded before the 2001 season. The Jackson Mets and Generals, MLB-affiliated clubs, churned out stars at Smith-Wills for 25 years, from 1975-99, winning five Texas League pennants. The independent Senators arrived in 2002 and won a Central League crown in 2003. They ceased operations in 2006, one year after the Atlanta-affiliated Mississippi Braves arrived in Pearl, where they won a Southern League title in 2008 and are now playing their 11th season. While all those championship-stamped teams and many of the players they produced are regularly feted, the DiamondKats tend to be forgotten. Not today.

12 Jul

whatever happened to …

Travious Relaford, a former juco All-America shortstop at Hinds Community College, is back on the field at Class A Augusta, where he is batting .272 with 24 RBIs and 24 runs in 48 games. Relaford went 3-for-6 with an RBI and a steal in a doubleheader on July 7, his first game action after a month on the disabled list. It’s hard to get a read on how Relaford stands in the San Francisco Giants’ grand scheme. Drafted in the 44th round in 2011, he didn’t start his pro career until 2012. He got a look in Double-A in 2013 but hit only .188 and found himself on a short-season Class A team in 2014. He batted .283 with three homers and 28 RBIs for Salem-Keizer and made the Northwest League All-Star Game. He appeared in a couple of major league spring games this year, then was assigned to the low Class A South Atlantic League. He isn’t on any of the lists of the Giants’ top prospects, but he is only 23 and he appears to be progressing. P.S. Sixteen years after the Jackson Generals last played at Smith-Wills Stadium, there are two alums of the old Houston Double-A affiliate still playing. Daryle Ward, at age 40, is in the independent Atlantic League, batting .253 with one homer for Southern Maryland (Jackson native Stan Cliburn’s club). Ward hit 90 MLB homers and has 189 others as a pro. Freddy Garcia, 38, is pitching in the Mexican League. The big right-hander, in his 21st pro season, has a 6.00 ERA in five games for Tabasco.

17 Apr

coming attractions

Starkville’s Dudy Noble Field is a hot spot in the state this weekend — weather permitting, as always — with Mississippi State hosting SEC foe Florida as part of Super Bulldog Weekend. At Braddy Field in Jackson, Jackson State faces a SWAC showdown with Alabama A&M. Down in Hattiesburg at Taylor Park, Southern Miss has a big C-USA series against Florida Atlantic. Up in Cleveland, Ferriss Field will fill up for Delta State’s Gulf South Conference battle with Shorter. Mississippi Valley State will host Belhaven in Itta Bena today and then travel to Jackson’s Smith-Wills Stadium on Saturday for a twinbill against the Blazers. And on Sunday at Smith-Wills, perhaps the most compelling matchup of the weekend will see NJCAA Division II No. 1-ranked Hinds Community College take on No. 16 Northwest Mississippi CC. The doubleheader begins at 2 p.m. Hinds dropped a pair to Southwest at Smith-Wills on Thursday, falling into a tie atop the MACJC standings with Northwest at 16-4. Hinds (29-4 overall) has gotten prolific production from Jonathan Washam (.402 entering the Southwest set), Madison’s Matt Jones (.394, 34 runs), Cleveland’s Marshall Boggs (.349) and Clinton’s Chase Lunceford (.353, five home runs). Randy Bell (7-0, 2.36 ERA) of Woodville and Houston Case (6-1) of Brookhaven are the top winners on the mound for the Eagles, and Madison’s Austin Sanders has nine saves. Northwest (25-8) has won 12 straight games, including a sweep of Northeast on Tuesday in which the Rangers scored 21 runs on 29 hits. Clay Casey, the former DeSoto Central star, has swung a mighty bat, with a .358 average, eight homers, 28 RBIs and 30 runs. Ole Miss transfer Dalton Dulin leads the Rangers with a .382 average and has a school-record 36 stolen bases. Coldwater’s LeeMarcus Boyd is batting .320 with 30 runs. Myrtle’s Colt Smith is Northwest’s ace, having posted a 6-0 record with a 0.54 ERA, and Tupelo’s J.G. Lipscomb is 4-1, 1.48.

08 Apr

so much to remember

The year 2015 brings a bonanza of significant anniversaries for Mississippi pro baseball teams.
On April 19, 1975, 40 years ago, the Jackson Mets played their first game at Smith-Wills Stadium, beating the Arkansas Travelers 6-4 before a crowd of 2,862. Managed by John Antonelli, the original JaxMets went 65-65 and did not make the Texas League postseason. It was not a club of future big league stars. It was a club of Mike Agosto, Craig Casek and Angel Cantres, the team leaders in homers, average and RBIs. There was also Craig Clark, Rich Miller, Randy Trapp and Carlos Sagredo. Jeff Grose went 13-8 with a 3.54 ERA, and Mississippian Bobby Myrick won seven games.
In 1985, 30 years ago, the Jackson Mets won a Texas League championship, the franchise’s third pennant and second in a row under manager Sam Perlozzo. The tone was set in the home opener at Smith-Wills, when Biloxi native and Delta State product Barry Lyons hit a walk-off home run. Lyons, who batted .307 with 11 bombs and 108 RBIs, was one of a bunch of future big leaguers on that club. Some others: Mark Carreon, Keith Miller, Greg Olson, Randy Milligan, Stanley Jefferson and DeWayne Vaughn.
Fifteen years later — in the year 2000 — after Jackson’s Texas League team had moved away to Round Rock, Texas, the DiamondKats took up residence at Smith-Wills for one largely forgettable campaign. The independent club, managed by ex-Ole Miss and MLB star Steve Dillard, posted a 38-74 record and was outscored by almost 200 runs. Crowds were sparse. Some players did manage to shine, however. Mark Carreon, at age 36, joined the team late in the season and hit .340 in 42 games. Casey Myrick batted .329 with nine homers and 56 RBIs, and Jeremy McClain, another Delta State product, went 7-9 with a 3.27 ERA. The roster also included Popeye Cole, Willie Gardner, Jimbo Pinnix, Perry Miley and Rusty Camp, all Mississippi natives.
And 10 years ago, a new era dawned when Double-A baseball returned to central Mississippi. The Mississippi Braves trotted out a team on opening day at brand new Trustmark Park in Pearl that would produce 10 major league players, including Brian McCann, Jeff Francoeur, Gregor Blanco, Blaine Boyer, Luis Hernandez, Scott Thorman, Macay McBride and Zack Miner. But that original group wasn’t together for very long. McCann went to Atlanta in June, and many others would also move up over the next few weeks. The ’05 M-Braves, managed by Brian Snitker, finished 64-68 overall, failing to make the Southern League postseason. Still, it was a great debut act, one that started a steady stream of talent flowing through Pearl to the big leagues.

30 Jan

beginnings

When last we saw the Belhaven Blazers — on May 14 of last year — they were walking off the Smith-Wills Stadium turf following an 8-7 loss to Oklahoma Wesleyan. That heartbreaking defeat, in an NAIA opening round regional, ended BU’s season at 42-21. Today, the Blazers turn the page. They’ll walk back onto the Smith-Wills turf to start the 2015 season against Saint Francis (Ind.). Among Belhaven’s returning cast are two key position players: NAIA All-American Paul Pickerrell, who batted .345 with 44 RBIs, 48 runs and 38 steals, and Reagan Rutledge, a .278 hitter who swiped a school-record 64 bags, batted .278 and scored 60 runs. How those two go may well determine how the team goes. … Meanwhile, in Hattiesburg, William Carey also opens its season, facing NAIA nationally ranked Missouri Baptist at Wheeler Field, and a milestone watch begins in earnest. This is Bobby Halford’s 30th year as Carey’s coach, and he has 992 wins. The Crusaders (31-26 in 2014) are led by D.J. Johnson, who hit .305 last year.