Tag Archives: Southern League

01 Jul

clearing the bases

Ex-Mississippi State standout Colton Ledbetter was named the Southern League’s player of the week on Monday and was also honored as a member of MLB Pipeline’s Prospect Team of the Week. He went 12-for-23 last week with a homer, four RBIs and eight runs for Montgomery, Tampa Bay’s Double-A club. He is batting .280 on the year. … Mississippi Mud Monsters right-hander Brian Williams was named the Frontier League pitcher of the week. He threw seven shutout innings (two hits, no walks, seven strikeouts) vs. Down East last week at Trustmark Park. A former Texas Southern star, Williams is 3-2 with a 2.49 ERA this season for the independent club. … MSU’s Ace Reese went 2-for-6 with two walks, an RBI and three runs in the Collegiate National Team’s Stars v. Stripes doubleheader on Monday at Cary, N.C. Reese played for the Stars, who won Game 1 18-4. MSU’s Ryan McPherson threw a scoreless inning for the Stripes in that game. … Ole Miss’ Patrick Galle and Taylorsville native Aiden Moffett participated in Monday’s Cape Cod League vs. MLB Draft League All-Star Game at CitiField in New York. Galle, with Wareham in the Cape, allowed a run in 2/3 innings of work, while Moffett, who pitched at Texas this past season, struck out the only batter he faced. Galle is 1-1, two saves, 1.93 ERA, in the Cape. Moffett is 1-1, one save, 4.26, in the Draft League, a prospect showcase. … Houston Green, an Itawamba Community College alum, is batting .423 with nine RBIs and 10 runs for the Tallahatchie Rascals, who lead the Cotton States League with a 9-1-1 record. The top pitcher in the New Albany-based summer circuit is Delta State’s Eli Akins, 3-0 with a 1.66 for North Delta, which is 5-5. … Andrew Gipson, the former Belhaven University coach recently hired at New Orleans, was named a regional coach of the year in NCAA Division III by ABCA/ATEC. Gipson took the Blazers to the Super Regional round in the NCAAs. East Central Community College’s Neal Holliman and Pearl River CC’s Michael Avalon shared the NJCAA D-II regional award, and Mississippi native Butch Thompson of Auburn won an NCAA D-I regional award. … Incidentally, Gipson will be UNO’s third coach in three seasons. His replacement at BU, ex-Madison Central coach Patrick Robey, will be the Blazers’ third coach in four years. … Bidding for another MLB All-Star Game invite, Ocean Springs native Garrett Crochet struck out nine batters in six innings for Boston on Monday night, running his MLB-leading K total to 144. After beating Cincinnati, Crochet is 8-4 with a 2.26 ERA. … Former MSU star J.T. Ginn, coming off a couple of wobbly outings, retired all 11 batters he faced for the A’s against Tampa Bay. Ginn entered in the fourth inning and shut down a Rays rally, struck out the side in the fifth and retired former Bulldogs teammate Jake Mangum on a grounder in the sixth. The A’s won the game late, 6-4. … The Los Angeles Angels are 5-4 under interim manager Ray Montgomery, the former Jackson Generals star who will be filling in for Ron Washington, sidelined with a medical issue, the rest of the season. The Angels are in Atlanta today to start a three-game set.

13 Jun

aw shuckers

Fans of the Biloxi Shuckers enjoyed some vicarious thrills on Thursday. The big league debut of Jacob Misiorowski was the main attraction, and Milwaukee’s top pitching prospect did not disappoint at American Family Field. “The walk in from the bullpen was like, ‘Holy cow, this is it, we’re actually doing this.’ … It’s cool. It’s really cool,” he said postgame. The 6-foot-7 right-hander threw five hitless innings at the St. Louis Cardinals, touching 102 mph on the gun while striking out five batters and walking four. Misiorowski, who pitched for the Double-A Shuckers in 2023 and ’24, left the game in the sixth inning after experiencing leg cramps. He threw 14 pitches at 100-plus. Former Shuckers stars Jackson Chourio (12th home run), Sal Frelick (3-for-4, two RBIs) and Brice Turang (2-for-4 with an RBI) also contributed in the Brewers’ 6-0 win, which moved the team ahead of St. Louis into second place in the National League Central. At Houston, ex-Shuckers ace Josh Hader notched his 18th save — 217th career — for the first-place Astros, who put down the Chicago White Sox 4-3. At Kansas City, Shuckers alum Devin Williams, now back in the closer role, nailed down his ninth save with a clean ninth for the New York Yankees in a 1-0 win. He has four saves and a 1.93 ERA this month after some early season struggles. At Colorado, the Rockies got a walk-off hit from Orlando Arcia — a star on the original Shuckers team in 2015 — in an 8-7 victory against San Francisco. Arcia is batting .200 with a homer and four RBIs in nine games for the Rockies since Atlanta cut him loose. And in Chattanooga, the current Shuckers beat the Lookouts 6-5 in 10 innings, with former Magnolia Heights standout Cooper Pratt scoring the game-deciding run. The Shuckers, at 36-24, have the best record in the Southern League.

09 Jun

in local news

At Pearl, the Mississippi Mud Monsters wrapped up a 4-1 homestand with a twinbill split Sunday against Florence (Ky.) at Trustmark Park. In the 11-2 win in Game 2, Kyle Booker homered and drove in three runs to back the strong start of Rodney Theopile. Nick Hassan went 3-for-4 with an RBI and a run for the independent Mud Monsters. Booker, a former DeSoto Central High star who spent three years at Tennessee, is batting .327 with three homers and 18 RBIs on the year. He had two of the Mud-sters’ three hits in a 4-0 loss in Sunday’s opener. Mississippi is 13-14 in its inaugural Frontier League season. After a 12-game road trip, the next homestand starts June 24.
At Biloxi, the Double-A Shuckers whipped Montgomery 6-4 at Keesler Federal Park to win the Southern League series 5 games to 1. The first-place Shuckers are 35-22. Brock Wilken, a highly rated Milwaukee prospect, hit a grand slam, and former Magnolia Heights standout Cooper Pratt, another top prospect, went 3-for-4 with an RBI, a run and two steals. Wilken leads the SL with 15 homers and 35 RBIs. The Shuckers are celebrating their 10th anniversary season as an SL club.
At New Albany, the college boys of the Cotton States League played a pair of doubleheaders in BNA Bank Park with league-leader Tallahatchie going 1-0-1 vs. Tippah County and North Delta taking two from Hill Country. Houston Green, an Itawamba Community College alum, drove in two runs for Tallahatchie to back the three-hit pitching of Jake Thomas and Sam Brumbaugh in their 5-1 win. The Rascals are 4-0-1. Green is 6-for-12 on the young season, and Thomas is 2-0 with a 1.12 ERA. For North Delta, Eli Akins, a Delta State alum, threw a one-hitter in a 2-0 win against Hill Country after Connor Edge (ICC) tossed a three-hitter and Hayden Short knocked in three runs in the Dealers’ 10-1 victory in the opener.
P.S. Madison Central High product Spencer Turnbull has been added to Toronto’s active roster. The veteran right-hander, a recent free agent signee, had a 2.65 ERA in 17 games for Philadelphia before a lat injury in June ended his 2024 season. He has a 4.26 career ERA over 78 games. … Braden Montgomery, another Madison Central alum, had a four-hit game Sunday for High-Class A Winston-Salem and boosted his average there to .263. Montgomery is a highly rated prospect in the Chicago White Sox’s chain.

03 Jun

something to celebrate

There is no joy in Hattiesburg or Oxford today, but, hey, there should be a festive mood in Biloxi at Keesler Federal Park. The Double-A Shuckers, celebrating their 10th anniversary season, are in first place with the best record in the Southern League as they open a six-game homestand against Montgomery. The 10th anniversary of the franchise’s first home game is Friday. The Shuckers are 30-21, 2 games ahead of Montgomery in the SL South, and lead the league in scoring. Four of Milwaukee’s Top 30 prospects (per MLB Pipeline) are on the Biloxi roster, led by Cooper Pratt, the former Gatorade player of the year from Magnolia Heights. In his first Double-A season, shortstop Pratt is batting .229 with four homers, 27 RBIs and 28 runs. Ex-Mississippi State standout K.C. Hunt, the system’s No. 24 prospect, is in the Shuckers’ rotation and is 3-4 with a 4.61 ERA. No. 8 prospect Luke Adams leads the team with 34 runs, and No. 12 Brock Wilken has 12 homers and 27 RBIs. Zavier Warren has seven homers, 29 RBIs and 25 runs. On the mound, Nate Peterson is 5-4, 3.06; Tate Kuehner 4-4, 2.77; and Justin Yeager has eight saves. The Shuckers — formerly the Huntsville Stars — played their inaugural home game at what was then called MGM Park on June 6, 2015, winning 4-3 against Mobile. That Shuckers team, featuring Orlando Arcia and Tyrone Taylor among others, won a first-half championship despite playing the bulk of its games on the road. They actually clinched the title in mid-June vs. the Mississippi Braves at Trustmark Park in Pearl. … Montgomery, a Tampa Bay affiliate, comes to Biloxi with a crew of Mississippi products in tow: Ex-MSU stars Colton Ledbetter, Kamren James and Hunter Stovall and Southern Miss alum Matthew Etzel. Ledbetter and Etzel are ranked prospects for the Rays. P.S. In MLB moves, the (Sacramento) A’s have placed Gunnar Hoglund, the rookie righty out of Ole Miss, on the injured list (hip injury), and the Los Angeles Dodgers have DFA’d former MSU star Chris Stratton, who made two appearances for them.

19 Apr

weird, wild stuff

Have a double-duty day, Hunter Stovall. The 28-year-old former Mississippi State standout banged out three hits, scored a run, drove in a run and pitched a clean inning for the win as Montgomery beat visiting Rocket City 13-12 in 11 innings Friday night in the Double-A Southern League. It was the first pitching appearance in seven minor league seasons — 549 games — for Stovall, a .278 career hitter recently sent down from Triple-A by the parent Tampa Bay Rays. Four Magnolia State college alums took part in the Biscuits’ walk-off win at Riverwalk Stadium. Stovall started at shortstop before moving to the mound in the 11th. Matthew Etzel, ex-Southern Miss star, started at DH before moving to first base and went 0-for-3 with two walks and a run. MSU product Colton Ledbetter started in right field and went 0-for-5 with a game-tying sac fly in the 10th. Fellow Bulldogs alum Kamren James, an infielder by trade, pitched the ninth — his first mound appearance in four pro seasons — and blew a save, then walked (batting in Etzel’s spot) in the 10th and finished the game at third base. (Former Mississippi Braves broadcasters Chris Harris, now doing Rocket City games, and Jack Sadighian, the Biscuits’ play-by-play man, must have enjoyed calling that one.) … In the Low-Class A Carolina League, Columbia beat Kannapolis 8-7 in a game that featured six errors, four wild pitches, four hit batsmen and a whopping 13 stolen bases, one each by Mississippi prep products Braden Montgomery and Brennon McNair. Columbia, a Kansas City farm club, stole eight bases against the host Cannon Ballers, who had former Ole Miss standout Calvin Harris behind the plate. Harris did manage to throw out two would-be thieves and also went 2-for-5 with three RBIs for the Chicago White Sox affiliate. Montgomery, ex-Madison Central High star and a pro rookie, went 1-for-3 with two walks, two runs and his fifth steal for Kannapolis. For Columbia, McNair, out of Magee High, had a big two-run double in the seventh inning in addition to swiping his fourth bag. … Less wild but no less weird was a Carolina League game between Hickory and Charleston. The host RiverDogs won 1-0 despite getting no-hit by three Crawdads pitchers. Yes, there was a state connection in this one, too: Connor Hujsak, a 2024 draftee out of MSU by Tampa Bay, went 0-for-3 for the RiverDogs, whose run was unearned in the eighth inning. P.S. Kudos to M-Braves alum Drake Baldwin for his first game-winning hit, a two-run pinch knock in the eighth inning that propelled Atlanta to a 6-4 win over visiting Minnesota. Ozzie Albies and Michael Harris II, also former M-Braves stars, also had key hits as the Braves rallied from the dead for five runs in the eighth. … The Mississippi Mud Monsters have added two players to their preliminary roster: second baseman Lizandro Rodriguez and outfielder/first baseman Karell Paz. Rodriguez, from the Dominican Republic, played four years in the Kansas City system, and Paz, from Cuba, spent three seasons in the New York Mets’ system. The independent Mud Monsters will begin their inaugural season on May 8 at Pearl’s Trustmark Park.

29 Oct

riding the wave

David Mershon was the 532nd pick in the MLB draft back in July. So far, that looks like a steal for the Los Angeles Angels. Mershon, an All-SEC shortstop at Mississippi State this year, is excelling in the Arizona Fall League after a productive start to his pro career this summer at the Double-A level. The 5-foot-7, 175-pound Mershon went 2-for-3 with two walks, a triple, an RBI and two runs for Mesa on Monday. The 21-year-old South Carolina native is batting .250 with a .451 on-base percentage, ranking second in walks (13) in the star-studded AFL. He has two triples, seven RBIs, 10 runs and four stolen bases in 13 games as one of just two 2024 draftees originally assigned to the AFL. Mershon hit .347 at State this season with six homers and 27 steals. The Angels nabbed him as a sophomore-eligible and promptly sent him to Double-A Rocket City, where he answered the challenge with a hit in his first pro game. He batted .254 (.326 OBP) with five bags in 29 games overall in the Southern League. … Ex-Ole Miss star Kemp Alderman (a Miami prospect) is batting .306 with six homers in nine games for Peoria in the AFL, and UM alum Tim Elko (Chicago White Sox) has three homers and a .225 average in 10 games for Glendale. P.S. Postseason flashback: Former Mississippi State standout Hunter Renfroe’s 94.9 mph outfield assist in Game 4 of the 2020 World Series remains the hardest throw for an outfield assist in the Fall Classic since such stat-tracking began in 2015. Los Angeles’ Teoscar Hernandez made a 93.9 mph throw — third on the list — to nab New York’s Giancarlo Stanton at the plate on Monday night. Renfroe, playing for Tampa Bay in 2020, registered two assists in Game 4 of the 2020 Series against the Dodgers, cutting down runners at second and third base. He also homered in that game, which the Rays won before ultimately dropping the series.

23 Sep

on center stage

The spotlight is a little brighter in the postseason, and Jacob Gonzalez is showing out in the Southern League playoffs. The ex-Ole Miss standout went 3-for-5 Sunday, including a three-run double that broke the game open in the seventh inning, as Birmingham beat Montgomery 7-2 in the opener of the SL Championship Series. Gonzalez, a lefty-swinging shortstop, is batting .538 with a homer, five RBIs and two steals in four postseason games for the Chicago White Sox’s Double-A club. The 15th overall pick ($3.9 million signing bonus) in the 2023 draft, Gonzalez was promoted from High-Class A Winston-Salem in late May and started hot for Birmingham before cooling down to a .225 average. On the year, he batted .238 with eight homers, 57 RBIs and 17 steals. He’s considered a good glove, but speculation is he’ll eventually move off shortstop. The California native had a stellar career at Ole Miss, helping the Rebels win the 2022 College World Series. Game 2 of the best-of-3 title series is Tuesday in Birmingham. … In the Double-A Eastern League Championship Series, Erie beat Somerset 9-5 in Game 1. Former Mississippi State product Colby White is a bullpen piece for Somerset (New York Yankees affiliate) and ex-William Carey star Patrick Lee a reserve infielder for Erie (Detroit). Neither played in the opener. … The Triple-A postseason begins on Tuesday. Ole Miss alum Doug Nikhazy pitches for Columbus (Cleveland) and MSU product Eric Cerantola for Omaha (Kansas City), who meet in the International League title series. Former State standout Konnor Pilkington pitches for Reno (Arizona), which takes on Sugar Land for the Pacific Coast League crown. P.S. In MLB, All-Star infielder Jordan Westburg returned to Baltimore’s lineup on Sunday, the ex-MSU star going 1-for-4 with an RBI in a loss to surging Detroit. … Emblematic of Kansas City’s struggles, MSU product Hunter Renfroe went 0-for-4 with four strikeouts as the Royals lost for the seventh straight time, 2-0 to San Francisco. The Royals managed three hits and fanned 13 times as they fell into a tie for the second American League wild card with Detroit. Renfroe, who has 13 homers, is in a 1-for-21 slump in his last seven games. … Southern Miss alum Matt Wallner had a hit in each game but couldn’t prevent Minnesota from being swept in a twinbill by Boston (8-1 and 9-3) and tumbling out of a wild card berth in the AL. … On Sept. 23, 2009, former Shannon High and Jackson State standout Dave Clark notched his first win as interim manager for Houston, which beat St. Louis 3-0. A longtime big league slugger and current first-base coach for the Astros, Clark went 4-9 in his lone managerial stint.

21 Sep

odds and ends

Garrett Crochet’s 2024 numbers, most of them, are pretty good. The Ocean Springs native, starting for the first time since his college days four years ago, has a 3.68 ERA, a 1.06 WHIP, a .220 batting average against and 203 strikeouts with just 32 walks in 142 innings. The tall left-hander, an All-Star back in July, struck out eight with no walks in a four-inning scoreless outing on Friday. His team, the mournful Chicago White Sox, lost again to fall to 36-118. Crochet’s record is 6-12. How’d he ever win six? … Ex-Southern Miss standout Matt Wallner went 2-for-6 with an RBI knock in the 12th inning as Minnesota beat Boston 4-2 at Fenway Park to climb to within a game of slumping Kansas City for second place in the American League wild card race. Detroit, which lost Friday to wild card leader Baltimore, is a game back of the Twins, and Seattle is a game back of the Tigers. Three wild card teams make the postseason. … Madison Central High alum Spencer Turnbull is slated for a rehab appearance at Triple-A Lehigh Valley on Sunday; the right-hander, on the injured list since late June, is 3-0 with a 2.65 ERA in 17 games for Philadelphia, which clinched a postseason berth on Friday. When he might return to the active roster remains unclear. … J.T. Ginn, the former Mississippi State pitcher from Brandon, worked five innings, allowing one run, for Oakland against the New York Yankees Friday but got a no-decision in a game the A’s would lose 4-2 in 10 innings. Rookie Ginn is 0-1 with a 4.40 ERA in seven games. … Ex-USM star Matthew Etzel went 1-for-3 and scored a run as Montgomery beat Biloxi to claim the Southern League South Division title. Former Magnolia Heights standout Cooper Pratt homered for the Shuckers. Birmingham won the North Division title over Tennessee with Ole Miss product Jacob Gonzalez going 2-for-3 with an RBI and a run. The SL Championship Series starts Sunday at Montgomery. … USM alum and erstwhile big leaguer Kirk McCarty is 5-2 with a 2.61 ERA in 11 starts for CTBC Brothers, which has the best overall record in the Chinese Professional Baseball League.

20 Sep

southern exposure

Behind a gem of an outing from former Mississippi State pitcher K.C. Hunt, Biloxi squared its Southern League Division Series at a game apiece with a 5-1 win against Montgomery on Thursday night. Hunt threw 7 2/3 innings, allowing just the one run on three hits and no walks with five strikeouts. A member of State’s 2021 national title team, Hunt was 8-3 with a 2.03 ERA over three levels in Milwaukee’s minor league system in 2024. Joining the Shuckers on Thursday was Cooper Pratt, the ex-Magnolia Heights star who celebrated his first game in Double-A by going 1-for-4 with an RBI. Shortstop Pratt, the Brewers’ No. 2 prospect, hit .277 with eight homers, 45 RBIs and 27 steals over two Class A levels this season. Southern Miss product Matthew Etzel drove in the only run for Montgomery, a Tampa Bay affiliate. The decisive Game 3 of the series is tonight at Montgomery’s Riverwalk Stadium. … In the other Southern League series, former Ole Miss standout Jacob Gonzalez went 2-for-4 with a homer and scored twice as Birmingham (Chicago White Sox) beat Tennessee (Cubs) 12-5 to even that series at 1-1. Gonzalez, a 2023 first-round pick, hit .238 with eight homers, 57 RBIs and 17 bags over two levels this year. P.S. MSU alum Jordan Westburg went 1-for-4 with a walk and an RBI for Triple-A Norfolk as he began a rehab assignment in the Baltimore system. A 2024 All-Star, Westburg (.269, 18 homers, 58 RBIs) has been on the injured list (hand) since Aug. 1. The Orioles are battling the New York Yankees for the American League East title. … Ex-USM star Nick Sandlin got the final two outs (via strikeout) in the fifth inning, halting a Minnesota rally, and Cleveland went on to beat the Twins 3-2 in 10 innings and clinch a playoff berth in the AL. Sandlin has a 3.93 ERA in 66 games. … Ole Miss alum Nick Fortes had a good view of a history-making event on Thursday. He was catching for Miami as the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani went 6-for-6 with three homers, two steals and 10 RBIs, becoming the first player to record a 50-homer/50-steal season. BTW, Fortes hit his fourth homer of the year in the ninth inning of the Marlins’ 20-4 loss.

09 Sep

remember that time …

It wasn’t the kind of finale the Mississippi Braves would have hoped for. In the team’s last game at Trustmark Park, they lost 10-3. The last batter of the last game struck out. A crowd announced at 4,111 on a breezy, sun-splashed Sunday groaned at that last out but then gave the home boys a final round of applause. Just like that, 20 years — 19 seasons — of Double-A baseball in Pearl ended. The Atlanta affiliate sent scores of players to the big leagues. Won two league championships. Produced five no-hitters, a Southern League MVP, a pitcher of the year and a bunch of league All-Stars. There were shutouts and grand slams and walk-offs aplenty. Sunday’s game might not have been one for the scrapbook of memories, but there were plenty of those through the years for the more than 3 million fans who passed through the gates. Here’s one: On April 30, 2005 — the inaugural season — Brian McCann, the 21-year-old catching prospect just weeks from his first big league call-up, stepped to the plate in the bottom of ninth with the M-Braves down 1-0. West Tenn’s Rich Hill — yes, that Rich Hill — and three relievers had no-hit the M-Braves for 8 2/3 innings. Lefty Yorkin Ferraras was on the bump to face the lefty-hitting McCann with a man on first. As West Tenn manager — and Laurel native — Bobby Dickerson said after the game: “McCann is the one guy we didn’t want to face right there.” On a 2-2 pitch, Ferraras left a fastball out over the plate and McCann smacked it high and deep over the right-field wall for a 2-1 victory. “I’ve never had a feeling like that as long as I’ve been playing sports,” McCann said afterward. Nineteen years later, it still resonates. Baseball does that.