Tag Archives: Trustmark Park

12 Jun

this ain’t good

There was big news involving the Mississippi Braves early today. Nacho Alvarez, the highly touted shortstop prospect, was promoted to Triple-A Gwinnett, becoming the fourth top 11 Atlanta prospect promoted off the Double-A roster in the last two weeks. But later today, there was even bigger news, jaw-dropping news: The M-Braves’ scheduled home series against Rocket City has been moved to Madison, Ala., home of the Trash Pandas. Unplayable field conditions is the announced reason. First, Tuesday night’s series opener at Trustmark Park was curiously cancelled. Now tonight’s game is off, as well, with a five-game series to start Thursday at Rocket City. This ain’t a good look for a franchise that is moving to Columbus, Ga., next year. This season was supposed to be a celebration of the team’s 20 years in Mississippi. The M-Braves last played a home game on June 2 (before a reported crowd of 1,344). The infield looked pretty rough then. It looks worse now. Was no maintenance done while the team was on the road? This situation surely won’t sit well with the few fans the lame-duck team has left. They won’t see the M-Braves again in Pearl until June 25. If the field if playable, of course.

11 Jun

three things

1 — On a Mississippi Braves team that lacks power, Brandon Parker has begun to supply some. The ex-Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College star homered on Saturday and Sunday at Pensacola and enters this week’s homestand with a team-leading five. The right-handed hitting outfielder, who has four homers (and a .444 average) in June, has played in only 33 of the team’s 57 games. The slumping M-Braves (25-32) — last in the Southern League with 21 home runs — host Rocket City for a six-game series starting tonight at Trustmark Park in Pearl. Parker’s power potential is likely what drew Atlanta’s interest when it drafted him in 2019. At Gulf Coast in 2018 and ’19, Parker belted 38 homers, setting the school record with 24 as a freshman, when he was the NJCAA Division II player of the year. The Saucier native entered 2024, his first full year in Double-A, with 26 bombs over four pro seasons.
2 — Former Mississippi State standout Hunter Renfroe, just beginning to swing a big bat for Kansas City, suffered a broken left big toe in Monday’s game against the New York Yankees. He is likely headed for the injured list. Renfroe took a nine-game hitting streak into Monday’s game. His recent surge — .326 over his last 15 games — has boosted his average to .200, and he has six homers and 26 RBIs. The Crystal Springs native is in his first year with the Royals and ninth MLB campaign overall. With 183 career homers, he is seventh among Mississippi natives on the all-time list.
3 — Don’t be surprised if Jackson Academy’s team batting average jumps in 2025. The Raiders have hired former big leaguer Corey Dickerson — a career .280 hitter over 11 MLB seasons — as their new coach. Dickerson, from McComb, played at Brookhaven Academy and Meridian CC before he was drafted by the Colorado Rockies. He played last season for Washington (released in August) and finished his career with 1,028 hits and 136 home runs. He made an All-Star team and won a Gold Glove. … JA went 13-20-1 under Parker Harris this season.

03 Jun

crash landings

A feel-good story involving a couple of Mississippi homeboys seemed to be developing on a sunny Sunday at Trustmark Park. Then the Montgomery Biscuits cruelly flipped the script, handing the Mississippi Braves a 13-5 defeat and putting a cap on their 1-5 homestand. Brandon Parker, the former Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College slugger from Saucier, and Landon Harper, the ex-Southern Miss pitcher from Meridian, played starring roles as the M-Braves took a 5-4 lead in the sixth inning. Parker hit two home runs, a solo shot in the second inning and then a three-run blast in the sixth that put the M-Braves ahead. Harper, making his first home appearance, came on in relief in the fifth and threw 1 2/3 scoreless innings, striking out three. But Montgomery, the first-place club in the Southern League South, piled up six runs in the seventh to take command, and the M-Braves went quietly from there. Both Parker and Harper were unlikely heroes. Parker, who doesn’t play regularly, entered the game batting .160 with one homer. Harper, recently called up from A-ball, allowed three runs in three innings in his first Double-A appearance last week. They did their part on Sunday, but little else went right for the M-Braves, who entered this homestand last Monday riding a seven-game win streak. They leave on a four-game slide and with a 23-28 record, 7 games behind the Biscuits. P.S. The college season in Mississippi came to a close on Sunday night with both Southern Miss and Mississippi State losing in their respective NCAA regionals. Both won elimination games earlier Sunday but basically ran out of pitching in the nightcaps, falling to the top seeds, USM to Tennessee, State to Virginia. The Golden Eagles finish 43-20, the Bulldogs 40-23.

29 May

pitching pipeline

Seems like only yesterday — technically, it was two weeks ago — that Spencer Schwellenbach was making his Double-A debut — and tossing six shutout innings — for the Mississippi Braves at Trustmark Park. Tonight, he’s scheduled to make his big league debut for Atlanta against Washington at Truist Park. The 23-year-old right-hander joins the long, long, long list of pitchers the Braves have pumped through their system, through Pearl, and into the majors over the past 20 years. It’s quite a list. Not all of them have had great success, but many have. It all started with Blaine Boyer, who jumped from the M-Braves to Atlanta in June 2005. He pitched 12 years in the majors, making 447 appearances. Charlie Morton, still pitching for the Braves, has 133 career wins. Mike Minor won 83. Julio Teheran has 81 W’s, Alex Wood 77, Max Fried 67, Matt Harrison 50, Tommy Hanson 49. Craig Kimbrel, one of the best closers of all-time, has 429 saves and 53 wins on his ledger — and still counting. In just the past few years, M-Braves fans have watched the likes of Michael Soroka, Huascar Ynoa, Ian Anderson, Spencer Strider, Bryce Elder, Jared Shuster, Dylan Dodd, Darius Vines and A.J. Smith-Shawver blow through the TeePee and crash The Show. With Strider and Smith-Shawver having hit the injured list this spring, the Braves have a need for starters. Their brass has deemed Schwellenbach, their No. 3 prospect, ready. A second-round pick out of Nebraska in 2021, he was 4-1 with a 1.80 ERA this season — 2-0, 0.00, with 17 strikeouts in 13 innings for the M-Braves. Worth noting: Former Southern Miss star Hurston Waldrep, the No. 2 prospect, may not be far behind; he is 3-4 with a 2.92 in Mississippi.

27 May

special occasion

The mood tonight at Trustmark Park in Pearl should be celebratory. It’s Memorial Day, which traditionally mixes well with baseball, and the Mississippi Braves are back home and playing as well as any team in the minors. Atlanta’s Double-A club just swept a six-game series at Chattanooga and has won seven straight overall, 11 of their last 13. The bats have perked up of late, with 30 runs over the last four games. Tonight’s starting pitcher, Hurston Waldrep, one of the Braves’ top prospects, has won three straight starts. He is 3-3 with a 2.64 ERA on a staff with a 3.36, which ranks among the best in Double-A. Recently added prospect Spencer Schwellenbach has yet to allow a run in two starts. Middle reliever Hayden Harris has been virtually untouchable with a 0.59 in 13 games. Shortstop Nacho Alvarez, the top position player prospect in Atlanta’s system, has lived up to billing with slick defense, a .278 average, 13 RBIs and 16 steals. Five M-Braves rank among the top 15 base stealers in the Southern League, led by Geraldo Quintero with 17 bags. The team will wear patriotic-themed jerseys against Montgomery tonight (6:05 first pitch) with a pregame flyover scheduled and — of course — postgame fireworks. P.S. Austin Riley, ex-DeSoto Central High standout, is back in Atlanta’s lineup today for the first time since May 12. He is batting second behind Ozzie Albies at Truist Park. Riley is hitting .245 with three homers and 18 RBIs. With Ronald Acuna down, it’s time to get going. … Something has gone horribly wrong for Will Warren, the former Jackson Prep star now in the New York Yankees’ system. Warren, who contended for a spot in the big league rotation in the spring, is 0-4 with a 15.88 ERA in four May starts for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. He gave up seven earned runs in three innings on Sunday. Warren was 3-0 with a 2.33 in five April starts.

19 May

tournament time

The dust has settled — on the regular season, at least — and the conference tournament brackets are set for the state’s NCAA Division I schools. Dust will fly again on Tuesday in Hoover, Ala. As fate would have it, Mississippi State and Ole Miss will meet Tuesday in the one-game elimination round of the SEC tourney. Game time is 9 p.m. State (36-19) is the 5-seed, Ole Miss (27-28) the 12th. Texas A&M awaits the winner in the double-elimination phase. The SEC Tournament means a lot more to the Rebels, who’ll need to win the whole thing to get an NCAA bid. But rest assured, the Bulldogs would love to send the Rebels home. … Surging Southern Miss (37-18) is the No. 2 seed and will open Sun Belt Conference Tournament play Wednesday against an as yet undetermined winner from the single-elimination games on Tuesday. The tournament is in Montgomery, Ala. … Jackson State (33-18) is the No. 4 seed in the SWAC East and will begin tournament play Wednesday in Atlanta against the No. 1 team from the West, apparently either Texas Southern or Grambling State. … There’s more: In the NAIA World Series, William Carey is the seventh seed and will open Friday against 10-seed Indiana Southeast at Lewiston, Idaho. No. 2 Georgia Gwinnett awaits the winner. … The MHSAA State Championships schedule features four Game 1’s on Tuesday at Trustmark Park in Pearl and three on Wednesday. On Tuesday, starting at 10 a.m., it’s Class 2A St. Andrew’s-East Union; followed by Class 3A West Marion-East Webster; Class 4A Sumrall-Ripley; and Class 7A Brandon-Hernando. On Wednesday, starting at 1 p.m., it’s Class 1A Taylorsville-Pine Grove; followed by Class 6A George County-Warren Central; and Class 5A Vancleave-Lafayette. Game 2’s are Thursday and Friday (in the same order), with any Game 3’s on May 25. … Delta State’s season ended on Saturday with a 17-6 loss to West Florida in the NCAA D-II South Region at St. Leo, Fla. The Statesmen finish 33-24.

18 May

out of the blue

Former Ole Miss catcher Nick Fortes hangs his hat on his work behind home plate. A game like he had at the plate on Friday night for the Miami Marlins was an unexpected but welcome bonus. Fortes went 3-for-3 with a walk, a home run and three RBIs as the Marlins routed the New York Mets 8-0 at loanDepot Park. The fourth-year big leaguer, who shares catching duties with Christian Bethancourt, entered the game with just 10 hits and one homer all season. Miami, the worst team in the National League at 14-32, has won three in a row, all by shutout, all with Fortes behind the plate. “Definitely most proud of the shutouts,” he told mlb.com. “(It’s) the No. 1 priority of my job.” Fortes was a .319 hitter — and a Johnny Bench Award semifinalist — at Ole Miss in 2018, when Miami drafted him in the fourth round. He reached the big leagues in 2021, singled in his first at-bat and homered in his second. He has hit just .212 since, but his defense has kept him in The Show. … Colt Keith’s first trip as a big leaguer to his old stomping grounds seemed to do something to perk up his bat. The former Biloxi High star, who lived in Arizona for several years as a kid, went 4-for-5 with two RBIs and three runs as Detroit whipped Arizona 13-0 at Chase Field. A large group of family and friends reportedly were there to see it. Keith, who signed a huge contract in the off-season before playing a single MLB game, entered Friday’s contest batting .171 with just 20 hits but playing regularly at second base. The Mississippi Gatorade player of the year in 2019, Keith was drafted in the fifth round by the Tigers in 2020. He hit .306 with 27 homers as one of their top prospects in 2023. … Ian Mejia is not among the highly rated pitching prospects on the Mississippi Braves’ staff, but the right-hander is certainly gaining his share of attention. He threw the fifth no-hitter in Trustmark Park history on Friday night, beating Biloxi 2-0 in a seven-inning nightcap to a doubleheader. Mejia, 24, was drafted out of New Mexico State in 2022 and is in his first Double-A campaign. After Friday’s gem, which included 11 strikeouts, he is 4-0 with 1.69 ERA and 54 punchouts, leading the Southern League in the latter two categories. His no-no was the first solo job for the M-Braves since Tommy Hanson’s in 2008.

16 May

double feature

They combined to throw 14 innings and allowed just one run on nine hits and a walk while striking out 17 batters. The Nos. 2 and 3 prospects in Atlanta’s organization, Hurston Waldrep and Spencer Schwellenbach, started Wednesday’s doubleheader for the Mississippi Braves and showed off the stuff that may land them in the major league club’s bullpen in the not-too-distant future. Waldrep, the former Southern Miss standout and a first-round pick in 2023, pitched all eight innings in Game 1 in his seventh start for the Double-A M-Braves. Regularly hitting 93-94 mph (per the Trustmark Park scoreboard), the right-hander (now 2-3, 3.32 ERA) scattered six hits in a 2-1 win against Biloxi. He struck out eight, including the side in the seventh inning, and skillfully pitched around some trouble, benefitting from a terrific defensive play by shortstop Nacho Alvarez that ended the fifth inning. The M-Braves won on a walk-off sac fly by Tyler Tolve in the first extra inning. Then came Schwellenbach, a second-round pick out of Nebraska (where he also played shortstop) in 2021 whose start in pro ball was delayed by injury. Making his Double-A debut, the right-hander threw six shutout innings, touching 97 mph while allowing three hits, one walk and punching out nine. He struck out two of the first three batters he faced. Schwellenbach was 2-1, 2.53, in six starts at High-Class A Rome before Wednesday’s promotion. He went 5-2 in A-ball in 2023 after not pitching (following Tommy John surgery) in 2021 and ’22. The light-hitting M-Braves scored the lone run of Game 2 on an RBI single by Yolbert Sanchez in the second inning. P.S. Congratulations to William Carey University, which punched its ticket to the NAIA World Series on Wednesday by winning the NAIA regional in Hattiesburg. The NAIA World Series begins May 24 in Lewiston, Idaho.

01 May

on memory lane

It was a familiar sight when he was wearing the uniform of the Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College Bulldogs, Brandon Parker circling the bases after a home run. The Saucier native made the trip for the first time as a Mississippi Brave today, though his first career Double-A bomb couldn’t help the run-starved team beat Pensacola. The visiting Blue Wahoos spanked the M-Braves 5-3 in 10 innings for the second straight game, dropping the home team’s record to 7-16. At Gulf Coast in 2018 and ’19, Parker belted 38 homers, setting the school record with 24 as a freshman. He was the NJCAA Division II player of the year that season, when he also batted .424 with 81 RBIs. He hit 14 more homers as a sophomore and even swiped 12 bases. Atlanta drafted him in the 10th round in 2019. He hasn’t hit a ton in pro ball, with 27 homers and a .224 average over 257 games. He is 8-for-45 (.178) this year as the M-Braves’ fourth outfielder. Parker reached Double-A at the end of 2023 and made the M-Braves’ opening day roster this season. He called it “an honor” to play in his home state and for a team he grew up rooting for as a kid. P.S. Justin Steele, the ex-George County High star from Lucedale, threw 63 pitches in a rehab assignment for Triple-A Iowa in the Chicago Cubs’ system. Steele has been on the MLB injured list since opening day with a hamstring strain. The 2023 All-Star, a 16-game winner for the Cubs, worked 3 1/3 innings today, yielding six hits, a walk and three runs.

01 May

big wednesday

The Mississippi Braves play an 11 a.m. matinee today at Trustmark Park in Pearl, the pro game against Pensacola serving as an appetizer of sorts for tonight’s Ole Miss-Mississippi State clash at the same venue. The televised non-conference game (6:30 p.m./ESPN2) between the Rebels (23-20, 27th in ncca.com’s RPI) and Bulldogs (29-15, 28th in RPI) could have implications for their NCAA Tournament chances. UM took two of three from State in their SEC series last month. … Meanwhile, in Jackson, Tenn., William Carey University and Blue Mountain Christian will begin play today in the SSAC Championship. Carey (30-14) is the No. 2 seed and will open Pool B play against Thomas U. BMC (29-19) is the 8-seed and draws top-seeded Faulkner to start Pool A play. The winners of the two four-team pools will meet for the championship, with both getting bids to the NAIA Tournament. … The Belhaven University-MUW game originally scheduled for tonight in Clinton has been cancelled. The Blazers (23-15) have finished their regular season and will compete in the CCS postseason next week. P.S. The pairings are set for the MACCC’s best-of-3 play-in series, which begin Friday: East Central, ranked No. 1 in NJCAA Division II, hosts Northeast; No. 12 Northwest hosts Hinds; No. 13 Jones hosts East Mississippi; and Meridian hosts Copiah-Lincoln. The series winners advance to the NJCAA Division II Region 23 Tournament next week in Poplarville, home of regular season champion Pearl River, ranked No. 2 nationally. … Eli Huebner of Meridian was named the MACCC hitter of the week after batting .500 with three homers, including two grand slams in one inning, in four games, while PRCC’s Caleb Dyess earned pitcher of the week honors following his six-hitter in the championship-clinching 7-1 win against Northwest on Saturday.