Tag Archives: Southern Miss

02 Jul

a few shining moments

One small hit for Texas, one giant knock for Justin Foscue. The Mississippi State product snapped an 0-for-44 drought with a two-run double Tuesday night in the Rangers’ 10-2 win against visiting Baltimore. Foscue, a former first-round pick by the Rangers in 2020, has been up-and-down from Triple-A — where his numbers were good — the past two seasons. He had two hits early in 2024 but nothing since until Tuesday. After delivering the pinch-hit two-bagger in the eighth inning — and appearing to breathe a big sigh of relief upon reaching second base — he is now 1-for-6 in 2025. The 0-for-44 was a Rangers record. … Meanwhile, in Miami, ex-Ole Miss star Nick Fortes responded to a bit of disrespect from Minnesota’s staff by delivering a run-scoring hit in the eighth inning of the Marlins’ 2-0 victory, their eighth straight. The Twins intentionally walked Otto Lopez with two outs and a runner at third to pitch to Fortes, who had entered the game as a defensive replacement at catcher. He smacked a single to right field to cap the Miami scoring. Fortes is batting .243 with 10 RBIs. The Marlins moved to 38-45, a half-game ahead of Atlanta in third place in the National League East. … On Canada Day in Toronto, former Southern Miss standout Nick Sandlin registered his fourth hold of 2025 with a scoreless inning in the Blue Jays’ big 12-5 win over the New York Yankees. It was a 4-2 game when Sandlin entered in the sixth; he got a strikeout and, after a hit, a double-play ball, trimming his ERA to 1.98 in 16 appearances. Toronto (47-38) moved to within a game of the first-place Yankees (48-37) in the wild American League East. Tampa Bay, which lost to the A’s on Tuesday, is 1.5 games back at 47-39. … At Pittsburgh, ex-MSU star Adam Frazier delivered a pinch-hit double in the eighth inning that moved the eventual winning run to third base in the Pirates’ 1-0 win over St. Louis. Frazier’s clutch hit came off Cardinals closer Phil Maton and raised his average to .256. P.S. In MLB Pipeline’s new Top 100 minor league prospect rankings, Konnor Griffin jumped to No. 13, Braden Montgomery is 32, Cooper Pratt 44 and Jurrangelo Cijntje 79. Griffin, Montgomery and Cijntje are headed to the All-Star Futures Game in Atlanta next week. Pratt played in the game in 2024.

30 Jun

future (and current) stars

When the stars come out on July 12 at Truist Park in Atlanta, Konnor Griffin, Braden Montgomery and Jurrangelo Cijntje will be among them. The three Mississippi products were named to the rosters for the All-Star Futures Game, a showcase event for some of the game’s top prospects. Griffin, the ex-Jackson Prep star, is Pittsburgh’s No. 2 prospect and the No. 31 overall, per MLB Pipeline. The 19-year-old shortstop, a first-year pro, is batting .343 (.412 OBP) with 12 homers, 48 RBIs and 37 steals over two levels of Class A ball. Montgomery, a Madison Central High alum who played three years of college ball, is also in his first pro season, batting .274 (.352 OBP) with 10 homers and 49 RBIs over two levels of A-ball. The switch-hitting outfielder is the No. 4 prospect (32 overall) in the Chicago White Sox’s chain. Cijntje, the switch-pitcher out of Mississippi State, is 4-4 with a 4.88 ERA and 58 strikeouts in 51 2/3 innings in his pro debut at High-A in Seattle’s system. He is the Mariners’ No. 8 (84 overall). Former Atlanta Braves players will make up the on-field staff for the two teams. Chipper Jones will manage the National League squad, Marquis Grissom the AL team. Former Jackson State star Marvin Freeman is a coach on the AL staff. The game will be televised by MLB Network at 3 p.m. CDT. P.S. Dakota Jordan, another 2024 draftee from MSU (where he was the Ferriss Trophy winner last year), had a six-RBI game on Sunday for Low-A San Jose in the San Francisco system. Jordan, former Jackson Academy star, is batting .309 with six homers and 50 RBIs, tops in the California League. … Looking ahead to the 2025 MLB draft, set to start July 13, MLB Pipeline recently rated Southern Miss’ Jake Cook as the fastest runner in the 2025 class with an 80 scouting grade. A first-year starter as a redshirt sophomore for USM, the Madison Central alum played a mean center field and batted .350 (with just three steals). He goes 6 feet 3, 185 pounds. Lefty Liam Doyle, who pitched at Ole Miss in 2024 (5.73 ERA, 13.7 strikeouts per nine innings) before transferring to Tennessee, was rated as having the best fastball, a 75 on the 20-80 scale.

28 Jun

double-a stuff

Reed Trimble, who is having a tough season, and Colton Ledbetter, having a really nice one, got walk-off knocks on Friday, two of a bundle of Mississippi products who had an impact in Double-A games. Trimble, from Tupelo by way of Southern Miss, went 2-for-5 with a 10th-inning game-winner as Chesapeake (Baltimore system) beat Altoona 4-3. Trimble, who has four homers, is batting just .175 with seven RBIs in 24 games. Ex-Mississippi State star Ledbetter banged out four hits, scored twice and drove in the clincher in the ninth as Montgomery (Tampa Bay) topped Rocket City (Los Angeles Angels) 5-4. MSU alum Hunter Stovall hit his fifth homer for the winning Biscuits, and former Bulldogs star David Mershon went 2-for-4 with an RBI for the Trash Pandas. Ex-Ole Miss All-America Jacob Gonzalez had three hits, three RBIs and a steal for Birmingham (Chicago White Sox) in a 6-2 win vs. Knoxville. Gonzalez is batting .258 with five homers, 32 RBIs and 10 bags. Also in the Southern League, Magnolia Heights product Cooper Pratt went 1-for-5 in helping Biloxi (Milwaukee) beat Columbus (Atlanta) and USM alum Landon Harper 3-0. Harper, making his sixth start since moving from the bullpen, allowed two runs in five innings with six strikeouts and no walks. He is 2-3 with a 3.00 ERA. Former USM standout Dustin Dickerson went 2-for-4 with a run as Northwest Arkansas (Kansas City) beat Corpus Christi in the Texas League. Dickerson is batting .213. P.S. Mississippi State’s Ace Reese and Ryan McPherson have been chosen by USA Baseball to participate in the Collegiate National Team Training Camp in North Carolina. Reese, who has been playing in the Cape Cod League, hit .352 with 21 homers for the Bulldogs this season. McPherson was 4-1 with three saves and a 4.12 ERA as a freshman. Two squads will play a five-game Stars vs. Stripes series with the first game set for Sunday. The players making the cut for Team USA will be named on July 4.

24 Jun

ratings game

With the college season finally done and a national champion crowned in NCAA Division I, it’s time to close the book on the Magnolia State season, another very good one. Ranking the teams on the 80-20 scouting scale — with 50 being average, 80 exceptional and 20 the pits — there are three teams that probably deserve a 65 rating.
Start with Belhaven University, which reached a Super Regional in NCAA D-III, the only state school to get that far. The Blazers went 34-15, 13-5 (second in the CCS), won the Maloney Trophy (over Millsaps), reached the finals of their conference tournament and won a regional on the road in their first postseason appearance in 14 years.
Give a 65 also to Southern Miss and Ole Miss, ranked No. 21 and No. 19, respectively, in Baseball America’s final poll. The Golden Eagles won 47 games, finished second in the Sun Belt, reached the finals of the SBC Tournament (losing to Coastal Carolina) and reached the finals of the regional they hosted. They also produced the SBC player of the year (Nick Monistere) and two first-team All-America selections (Monistere and J.B. Middleton, the Ferriss Trophy winner). Ole Miss won 43 games (16-14 SEC), won the Governor’s Cup, reached the final of the SEC Tournament (beating national champ LSU along the way), earned a No. 10 national seed and made the finals of their regional. And they were unranked at the start of the season.
At the 55 level, there are four. William Carey University won 38 games (17 on the road), won the SSAC title (24-6) and reached the finals of the league tournament. However, the Crusaders went 2-and-out in the NAIA Opening Round tourney they hosted. Delta State went 33-20, won the Gulf South regular season championship and went to an NCAA D-II regional, where the Statesmen went 1-2. Mississippi College finished 35-23, swept Delta State in the regular season finale, went 2-2 in the GSC Tournament and upset the No. 1 team in the nation (Tampa) in their D-II regional before bowing out. Millsaps went 29-15, won the SAA regular season title and went to a D-III regional. The Majors also produced a D-III All-America pick: Bradley Pelle.
Coming in with a 50 is Mississippi State. The Bulldogs wound up 36-23, 15-15 SEC, and lost in the first round of the SEC Tournament. They got a regional bid but lost twice to host Florida State. They also endured a midseason coaching change and coaching search. Give interim coach Justin Parker some props for navigating that with a 10-4 record. Jackson State also rates a 50 after going 30-21, 16-12 SWAC, and putting together a clutch 10-game win streak late in the year. They bowed out in three games in the SWAC Tournament. Blue Mountain Christian also scores a 50; the Toppers finished 28-24, 16-14 SSAC (beating Carey two of three), and won a game in the league tourney. Give a 50 also to D-III MUW, which posted a 21-17 mark (with a win over Millsaps), went 14-4 in the SLIAC and made the league tournament finals.
Rust, of the NAIA-level HBCUAC, comes in at 40. Rust went 22-28 (13-17) and was 0-2 in the league tourney. A shade below at 35 are Tougaloo, Mississippi Valley State and Southeastern Baptist. Tougaloo was 14-32 and 9-20 HBCUAC. Valley finished 12-29, 7-23 SWAC. Southeastern Baptist, an NCCAA program in Laurel, went 20-19, beat Alcorn State and went 2-2 in a Christian college regional.
Alcorn State gets stuck with a 25. Under new coach Carlton Hardy, who got a late start with the program, the Braves finished 6-43, winning only one of 30 SWAC games (against Southern University). Hardy, who has a good track record, has a lot of work to do in Lorman.

21 Jun

big league chew

Matt Wallner’s sixth home run of the season, a rather modest 370-footer, came in the seventh inning Friday night with his team down 8-0. But it was a significant hit for the Minnesota slugger out of Southern Miss. Milwaukee rookie and former Biloxi Shuckers ace Jacob Misiorowski had a no-hitter going at the time. In fact, the 6-foot-7 right-hander had entered the seventh with a perfect game, following up the five no-hit innings he threw in his big league debut last week. A walk to Byron Buxton ended the perfecto and Wallner then took a hanging slider out of the park to end Misiorowski’s night. The Brewers won the game 17-6. … Former state prep stars Austin Riley and Colt Keith also went deep Friday in losing causes, Riley hitting his 12th for Atlanta, Keith his sixth for Detroit. … Spencer Turnbull, the ex-Madison Central standout, made his first start for Toronto — and first since last season with Philadelphia — and it did not go well: The Chicago White Sox touched him up for five runs (four earned) in two innings. Turnbull now has a 7.11 ERA in three games for the Blue Jays, who lost 7-1 Friday. Ex-USM star Nick Sandlin came off the injured list and tossed a scoreless inning in relief for the Jays in his first MLB game in two months. … Former Jackson Generals standout Ray Montgomery is serving as the Los Angeles Angels’ acting manager with Ron Washington sidelined by health concerns. It’s the second time in the four years Montgomery, the team’s bench coach, has stepped in as acting skipper. The Angels lost to Houston 3-2 on Friday. … Will Clark, the former Mississippi State star now a special assistant with San Francisco, is helping Rafael Devers learn the ropes at first base, per reports. Devers, recently acquired from Boston, has never played the position. Clark was a five-time All-Star at first base with the Giants. “He’s very eager to help,” Giants manager Bob Melvin told The Mercury News of San Jose.

16 Jun

showtime in phoenix

JoJo Parker, the Purvis High star and projected first-round draft pick, is on the list of players from Mississippi schools who have accepted invitations to attend the MLB Draft Combine, which runs Tuesday through Saturday at Chase Field in Phoenix. The Tuesday workout will be televised from 11 a.m.-5 p.m. CDT by MLB Network, with former Mississippi State standout and big league manager Buck Showalter among the crew that will provide analysis. Parker, rated the No. 10 draft prospect by MLB Pipeline, is among the players slated to participate in on-field events that will include batting practice and bullpen sessions. A game for the prep players is on tap for Tuesday night. Also scheduled to attend the showcase are Southern Miss’ Jake Cook and J.B. Middleton; Mississippi State’s Pico Kohn and Ben Davis; Ole Miss’ Mason Morris and Luke Hill; and high school grads Jacob Parker (JoJo’s twin from Purvis), Landon Harmon (East Union), Talon Haley (Lewisburg) and Griffin Enis (Corinth). Middleton, a first-team All-America pick and the state’s Ferriss Trophy winner, and Harmon, the ace of East Union’s MHSAA Class 2A state title club, are top 50 draft prospects. In 2024, per an mlb.com story, 224 of the 305 players who participated in the Combine were drafted, including 75 of the first 100 picks. P.S. Austin Riley, Colt Keith and Brent Rooker are among the top 10 vote-getters at their positions in the MLB All-Star Game ballot standings released today. Ex-DeSoto Central High star Riley is seventh in the National League third base voting, while Biloxi High product Keith is sixth and ex-MSU standout Rooker seventh in the voting for American League DH. The All-Star Game is July 15 in Atlanta.

16 Jun

all in a day

On a day when the Rafael Devers trade shook the baseball world, other things did happen throughout the game. Here’s a snapshot of Sunday movers and shakers with Mississippi ties:
In the big leagues, former Mississippi State star Jordan Westburg went 2-for-4 with a homer, two RBIs and three runs out of the leadoff spot, driving Baltimore to its third straight win, 11-2 over the Los Angeles Angels. Westburg, who has three homers since coming off the injured list on Tuesday, has seven bombs on the year and has lifted his average to .234.
At Triple-A, Southern Miss alum Hurston Waldrep, who has had a very uneven season for Gwinnett in Atlanta’s system, allowed one run in six innings with six strikeouts as the Stripers beat Memphis. Waldrep, a 2023 first-round draftee (out of Florida) and Atlanta’s No. 2 prospect, is 5-5 with a 5.84 ERA.
At Double-A, ex-Ole Miss star Kemp Alderman went 2-for-5 with a homer, three RBIs and two runs for Miami affiliate Pensacola in a win against Rocket City. Alderman, a second-round pick in 2023 after winning the Ferriss Trophy, is batting .290 with seven homers and 30 RBIs for the Blue Wahoos.
At High-Class A, MSU product Khal Stephen improved to 3-0 with a 2.16 ERA for Vancouver, throwing five innings (one run) to beat Spokane. A second-round pick by Toronto in 2024, Stephen is 6-0, 2.10, in 13 games over two levels of A-ball in his pro debut.
At the Low-A level, former MSU standout Connor Hujsak, batting third and playing right field for Charleston, went 1-for-5 with two walks, two RBIs, two runs and two steals in a doubleheader split against Augusta. A 13th-round pick by Tampa Bay in 2024, Hujsak is batting .230 with three homers, 32 RBIs and 14 bags in 58 games this season.
In the unaffiliated Mexican League, Ole Miss product and ex-big leaguer Chris Ellis notched his 12th save with a scoreless ninth for Monterrey in a 3-1 win vs. Queretaro. Ellis, 32 and in his 11th pro season, has a 2.61 ERA over 21 appearances for the Sultans.
And in the independent Frontier League, Brayland Skinner, MSU alum from Lake Cormorant, went 3-for-5 with an RBI and a steal in the Mississippi Mud Monsters’ 11-3 loss at Schaumburg. Skinner, in his second indy ball season, is hitting .310 with a league-best 25 stolen bases.

14 Jun

hard luck

Garrett Crochet, the former Ocean Springs High star, was two outs away from a shutout against the New York Yankees. Boston’s big left-hander was one strike away from punching out Aaron Judge for the fourth time on Friday night at Fenway Park. Then the Yankees slugger did his thing, pulverizing a 3-2 fastball 443 feet over the left-field wall, out of the park, tying the score. Exit Crochet. The Red Sox won the game 2-1 in 10 innings, but Crochet was denied his first career shutout. “Crochet deserved this win, but the team needed it more,” said Boston broadcaster Lou Merloni. The Red Sox are 35-36, in fourth place and 8.5 games back of the first-place Yankees in the American League East. Crochet, in his first year with Boston, has six wins, a 2.24 ERA and a league-leading 117 K’s, seven on Friday. … It was a hard luck day also for former Ole Miss standout Drew Pomeranz. Pitching the 10th inning for the Chicago Cubs, he was on the bump when Pittsburgh’s “ghost runner” — Mississippi State alum Adam Frazier — scored the go-ahead run on a double-play ball. The Pirates held on for a 2-1 win at Wrigley Field. Pomeranz, who had not allowed a run in 18 appearances overall before Friday, gets charged with an unearned run, per the extra-inning rules, as well as the loss. … More hard luck: Gunnar Hoglund, another Ole Miss alum, is done for the season after hip surgery; the right-hander, who made his MLB debut in May after four years in the minors, had a 6.40 ERA in six starts for the A’s. … Luck didn’t smile on ex-Ole Miss ace Ryan Rolison either. Colorado’s rookie lefty gave up four hits, a walk and five runs in the eighth inning at Atlanta during the Braves’ 12-4 win. It didn’t help that the woeful Rockies committed four errors in that frame. P.S. There’s a bundle of state products on the preliminary rosters in the Cape Cod League, which launches its season today. (Note: The rosters can and will change during the summer.) Mississippi State’s Ace Reese, Charlie Foster, Dane Burns and Duke Stone are on the Chatham roster, along with ex-Jackson Prep (and current South Alabama) star Duncan Mathews. Bourne lists Ole Miss’ Campbell Smithwick and Owen Paino and Southern Miss’ Grayden Harris. USM’s Josh Och is on Hyannis’ roster and UM’s Patrick Galle on Wareham’s. Former Mississippi Braves and MLB catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia will manage Falmouth, which lists Grayson Saunier, an ex-Ole Miss pitcher, on its roster.

12 Jun

hey now …

Brent Rooker was an All-Star for the Oakland A’s in 2023 and might be on that path again this season. The former Mississippi State standout had a star-spangled day at the plate on Wednesday, going 4-for-5 with two home runs, a double, three RBIs and three runs. In his final at-bat, he hit a drive that was caught at the warning track. (Not surprisingly, the lowly A’s lost the game to the Los Angeles Angels 6-5.) Rooker is hitting .276 with 15 bombs and 41 RBIs on the year; he ranks in the top 10 in the American League in homers, RBIs and slugging percentage. Over his last 20 games, he is at .380 with five homers and 17 runs knocked in. But it hasn’t been a streaky kind of season. “I’ve been able to maintain a level of consistency that maybe I haven’t in the past,” Rooker said in an mlb.com article. He batted .293 with 39 homers and 112 RBIs in 2024, winning a Silver Slugger but not making the All-Star Game. He hit .246 with 30 homers in 2023, his first season with the A’s. All-Star Game voting is under way on mlb.com; the game is July 15 in Atlanta. … Elsewhere in The Show, in his season debut with Toronto, Madison Central High alum Spencer Turnbull pitched two scoreless innings in middle relief and picked up the win as the surging Blue Jays beat St. Louis 5-2. It was his first MLB game since June of last year (see previous posts). P.S. Kudos to six players from Mississippi schools who made the NCBWA Division I All-America teams. Southern Miss’ Nick Monistere and J.B. Middleton (the state’s Ferriss Trophy winner) and MSU’s Ace Reese and Noah Sullivan were named to the first team, USM’s Colby Allen and Ole Miss’ Hunter Elliott to the third team.

11 Jun

whatever happened to …

Cody Reed, 32-year-old left-hander from Horn Lake, is pitching in the independent American Association, four years after he last worked in the big leagues. He has been an effective reliever for the Gary SouthShore RailCats, putting up a 2.38 ERA in 11 2/3 innings over 12 games. Is this a path back to MLB? Teams are always looking for lefty relievers, it seems. Reed was drafted out of Northwest Mississippi Community College in the second round in 2013 by Kansas City. A highly rated prospect, he was traded to Cincinnati in 2015, reached the big leagues in 2016 and made 65 appearances (5.22 ERA) over the next six seasons. Reed was a solid reliever for Tampa Bay in 2021 before an injury (and surgery) halted his season in May. He re-signed with the Rays in 2022, then got hurt again in the spring. He pitched briefly in the minors that season, not at all in 2023 and in Mexico last year. … Scanning the pitching leaders in the AA, there is also Kyle Crigger, an Itawamba CC alum from Corinth who is 4-1 with a 2.16 for Fargo-Moorhead; J.C. Keys, a Hattiesburg native and ex-Southern Miss star who has a 3.86 and one save for Chicago; and Taylor Broadway, a former Ole Miss standout who has a 3.45 for Cleburne. All three pitched in the affiliated minors with some success. P.S. On the subject of pitching, Mississippi State product Khal Stephen made MLB Pipeline’s list of top performers from Tuesday’s games. Currently at High-Class A Vancouver in Toronto’s organization, he threw six shutout innings with nine strikeouts on Tuesday. In his first pro season, the second-round pick from 2024 is 5-0 with a 2.25 ERA, an 0.98 WHIP and 73 strikeouts in 59 1/3 innings over 12 games in A-ball.