Tag Archives: Southern 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.

05 Jun

draft news

Three more Mississippians have popped into Baseball America’s latest rating of the Top 500 draft prospects: Add Kirk McCarty, Cordell “C.J.” Dunn and Tyreque Reed to the list that again includes Brent Rooker and Jake Mangum. Rooker, SEC player of the year at Mississippi State, is up to No. 46 overall, while Mangum, a draft-eligible sophomore at State, dipped slightly to 170. McCarty, Southern Miss’ ace left-hander, checks in at No. 220. Dunn, a catcher at Center Hill High and a Texas Tech signee, is listed at 416, while Reed, a slugging infielder/outfielder at Itawamba Community College and a State commit, is No. 472. Dunn batted .382 with 22 RBIs in 28 games for the Mustangs. The 260-pound Reed hit .504 with 15 homers for ICC in 2017. Many more from the state could and probably will be drafted next week. Twenty-nine players from state schools were picked in 2016.

29 May

the other guys

Beyond top-seeded Southern Miss and No. 2 Mississippi State, there are other significant Magnolia State connections in the Hattiesburg Regional. South Alabama, the 3-seed and State’s first-round opponent, features a trio of Mississippians: Wells Davis from Columbus and New Hope High, Dylan Hardy from D’Iberville High and Randy Bell from Woodville, Centerville Academy and Hinds Community College. Hardy is one of the Jaguars’ top hitters with a .358 average and has 18 stolen bases. Davis is second on the team in homers with 12 and is batting .290 with 55 RBIs. Bell, who was the NJCAA Division II pitcher of the year at Hinds in 2015, is one of the Jags’ top starters. He is 6-3 with a 3.75 ERA this season after going 7-1, 2.45 (including a regional victory) in 2016. South Alabama, traditionally a strong program, is 39-19 and champion of the Sun Belt Conference.

28 May

gold rush

Southern Miss might not leave Biloxi today with a Conference USA Tournament championship, but win or lose against Rice, the Golden Eagles won’t leave feeling deflated. They’ve already packed a season’s worth of highlights into their run at MGM Park, likely cemented their bid for a regional host role and clearly established themselves as a team to watch once NCAA play begins. After suffering a shocking loss in the opening round of the tournament, USM stormed back to win four straight, including two drama-filled victories against Charlotte on Saturday, to reach the title game. The Eagles got great pitching when they needed it: See Kirk McCarty, Taylor Braley, Nick Sandlin (again and again and again). They got big hits when they needed them: See Matthew Guidry, Mason Irby, Bryant Bowen, Taylor Braley, Hunter Slater, Daniel Keating, Matt Wallner. Braley threw eight shutout innings with nine strikeouts on Friday, then hit a walk-off homer in the first game on Saturday – that’s the stuff of legend. Sandlin, who has 10 wins and seven saves out of the bullpen, got both W’s on Saturday, working 4 1/3 total innings to close out both games. At 48-13, USM already has set the school record for wins. These Eagles score 8.5 runs a game. They’ve got 84 homers, 76 steals. The pitching hasn’t been dominant (4.03 ERA), but it keeps them in games. “Right now, it’s all about attitude,” USM coach Scott Berry said in a school release after Saturday’s second game, a 10-8, come-from-behind job. The Eagles should be brimming with confidence as they move on. They’ll be a tough out in the NCAAs. P.S. The C-USA title game will be televised by CBS Sports Network at 1 p.m.

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.

19 May

pick one

Brent Rooker will probably take home the Ferriss Trophy on Monday. He has received national attention while putting up monster numbers for a nationally ranked Mississippi State team that has battled through its share of adversity. Delta State’s Zack Shannon has big numbers, too, for a conference champion – and he would be the first Statesman to win the award named for former DSU coach Boo Ferriss. All three of the Southern Miss finalists have been outstanding for a nationally ranked conference title team: Taylor Braley, Dylan Burdeaux and freshman sensation Matt Wallner. There really isn’t a wrong choice here, but in some ways, there is more to like about Braley than any of the other finalists. The junior is the only true two-way player. A third baseman/DH, he is batting .330 with a .478 on-base percentage, 12 home runs and 50 RBIs. As a pitcher, he is 5-2 with a 3.48 ERA and 64 strikeouts over 11 starts. And the Oak Grove High alum is the only Mississippi native among the finalists. That ought to count for something.