Tag Archives: Trustmark Park

15 Aug

advantage, shuckers

Based on the MLB Pipeline prospect rankings, Biloxi vs. Mississippi doesn’t look like a fair fight. The Shuckers, in Pearl tonight for the start of a six-game Southern League series, feature four of the Milwaukee Brewers’ top seven prospects, including the No. 1, outfielder Jackson Chourio. Chourio is the No. 2 overall prospect in the minors, and catcher Jeferson Quero, Milwaukee’s No. 3, is 34th overall. The M-Braves have only one of Atlanta’s top 20: left-hander Luis De Avila, ranked 14th. Based on the league standings, the Shuckers also appear to have the edge. Though the M-Braves lead the season series 11-10, the Shuckers currently lead the SL South with a 21-18 second-half mark. The M-Braves are 16-22, 4.5 games back in last place. In tonight’s opener at Trustmark Park, the M-Braves will trot out Alan Rangel (2-12, 5.46 ERA) against Brewers No. 4 prospect Jacob Misiorowski (1-1, 7.80, in four Double-A starts). On Wednesday, the Shuckers will start No. 7 prospect Carlos F. Rodriguez (7-4, 2.63). De Avila (6-7, 3.01) goes for Mississippi on Friday. Of note: Jesse Franklin V, Atlanta’s No. 22 prospect, is coming in hot for the M-Braves: He went 6-for-19 with two home runs and four RBIs last week and has a 23-game on-base streak. Franklin is batting .241 with 13 homers and 38 RBIs. M-Braves slugger Drew Lugbauer leads the SL in homers with 22, four more than Shuckers leader Wes Clarke. Tyler Black, who tops the league in steals with 47, was recently promoted from Biloxi to Triple-A Nashville.

06 Aug

around the horn

The Milwaukee Brewers will get a jolt of energy today when Wheeler’s Brandon Woodruff takes the mound for the first time in four months. The Brewers, after a winning rally against visiting Pittsburgh on Saturday, are 60-52 and lead the National League Central by 1.5 games over Cincinnati and 2.5 over the Chicago Cubs. Woodruff, a two-time All-Star and a horse in the Brewers’ rotation since 2019, posted a 0.79 ERA in his first two starts this season before being shut down with a shoulder problem. Drafted out of Mississippi State in 2014, Woodruff is 42-25, 3.14, for his MLB career and typically gets deep into games. “I hold myself to a high standard and expect a lot of myself …,” he told reporters recently. “I’m happy to get to pitch.” He has dominated most of the hitters on the Pirates’ roster. Woodruff’s addition to Milwaukee’s active roster means there is a Mississippi product on every first-place club: Adam Frazier and Jordan Westburg in Baltimore, Matt Wallner in Minnesota, Nathaniel Lowe and Chris Stratton in Texas, Austin Riley in Atlanta and Lance Lynn with the Los Angeles Dodgers. P.S. Tim Anderson, the ex-East Central Community College standout now with the White Sox, engaged in a fist fight with Cleveland’s Jose Ramirez on Saturday and incited a benches-clearing brawl. Anderson, having a tough year for a disappointing team, faces a certain suspension, as do several others. He has been involved in a number of kerfuffles over the years. … Trustmark Park in Pearl is supposed to be a tough place to hit a home run. Well, try telling that to Drew Lugbauer of the Mississippi Braves. He hit three bombs in a win against Montgomery on Saturday night, the first time anyone has done that at the TeePee. With five homers in his last three games, he has 20 on the year, tied for first in the Southern League. Thirteen of those homers have come at home. He holds the Double-A club’s career record for bombs with 66, 32 at home. Of note: Left-hander Luis De Avila, an emerging prospect in the Atlanta system, threw six shutout innings against the Biscuits and improved to 6-6, 2.95, this season. … Hurston Waldrep, Atlanta’s first-round pick this year and a former Southern Miss pitcher, threw three innings in his pro debut for Low-Class A Augusta. He struck out eight and yielded one run. … Ex-Ole Miss star David Parkinson improved to 4-0 in his last five starts for Double-A Reading (Philadelphia system), going six innings (no earned runs) against Hartford. Left-hander Parkinson (6-4, 4.30) was the Phillies’ minor league pitcher of the year in 2018 before his career got off track. … Stuck in A-ball since 2018, former Pascagoula High standout Willie Joe Garry Jr. got a promotion last week to Double-A Wichita in the Minnesota chain and has looked right at home. Garry, 23, a lefty-hitting outfielder, belted a grand slam Saturday night and is 2-for-7 with six RBIs in two games. He was a .205 career hitter in 294 games in the low minors.

27 Jul

spotlight on …

Mississippi Braves Cal Conley and Jesse Franklin V are Atlanta’s No. 11 and No. 12 prospects, according to mlb.com’s rankings. Neither has really lived up to his billing. If the M-Braves (8-14) are to make a playoff push in the second half of the Southern League season, more production from those two would certainly be a big help. Conley, a 5-foot-8 shortstop/second baseman, is batting .214 with a .299 on-base percentage. A top-of-the-order bat, he has 42 runs and 14 RBIs in 89 games. Franklin, an outfielder regarded as one of the top power hitters in Atlanta’s system, has 10 home runs in 52 games. But he is batting .230 (.297 OBP) and has struck out 74 times (13 walks) in 196 at-bats. This is an M-Braves team with good pitching (the 4.00 ERA leads the league) and power (their 105 homers ranks third). What’s needed is more quality at-bats, more contact in clutch situations. The team ranks first in the SL in strikeouts (by batters) and last in runs. There is a correlation. The M-Braves lost to Pensacola 4-3 on Wednesday night at Trustmark Park, striking out 14 times and going 2-for-9 with runners in scoring position. That was a winnable game. The M-Braves are two games — two losses — into a 12-game homestand that presents an opportunity to make a run in the SL’s South Division. Some hitters need to step it up. Conley and Franklin, the top prospects, would seem to be logical candidates.

22 Jun

gimme some glovin’

In one of the many great scenes in the movie “Moneyball,” the Scott Hatteberg character tells Billy Beane, the Oakland A’s GM, he’s never played first base. “It’s not that hard, Scott,” says Beane. “Tell him, Wash.” To which Ron Washington, the A’s infield coach, replies: “It’s incredibly hard.” Mississippi can proudly boast of two college players who mastered that underrated position this past season, both of whom anchored the infield for championship clubs: William Carey University’s Jake Lycette and East Central Community College’s Ramie Harrison. They are among the six state college products who received ABCA/Rawlings Gold Glove honors on Wednesday. Southern Miss pitcher Tanner Hall, who was error-free in 2023 while also winning 12 games, was named to the NCAA Division I Gold Glove team. He is the first Golden Eagles player to earn this award. Lycette, a former Northwest Rankin High star, made the NAIA team; he handled 412 chances without a boot for the SSAC regular season champions who reached the NAIA World Series. Harrison, a Neshoba Central product, made one error in 308 chances, a .997 fielding percentage, for state champion and NJCAA Division II World Series participant ECCC. Pearl River CC pitcher Luke Lyon, an Oak Grove alum, and second baseman Blaise Breerwood, out of Poplarville High, also made the juco D-II team, as did Southwest CC outfielder Jerod Williams, a Gulfport High product who did not commit an error in 2023. P.S. Tonight is Southern Miss Night at Pearl’s Trustmark Park, where the Mississippi Braves will host Birmingham at 6:35. Scheduled to appear in pregame ceremonies are retired coach Scott Berry and players Dustin Dickerson and Nick Monistere, who prepped at Northwest Rankin. Basketball coach Jay Ladner is also on the guest list. Fans in USM gear can get a $5 ticket. … The M-Braves, winding down the first half of the Southern League season, are 32-32 after a 7-2 win Wednesday in which Scott Blewett threw six shutout innings and Justin Dean celebrated his return from Triple-A with an inside-the-park home run.

20 Jun

that time of year

June is a time for celebration in the minor leagues. A bunch of teams will clinch half-season titles — and postseason berths — this week with the first half ending on Sunday. It’s unlikely there will be a celebration at Trustmark Park, where the Double-A Mississippi Braves begin a six-game homestand vs. Birmingham. The M-Braves are in third place at 31-31 and facing a 5.5 game deficit in the Southern League South, which Pensacola leads with a 37-26 mark. There is an anniversary to celebrate in central Mississippi, however. Thirty years ago this month — on June 10, 1993, to be exact — the Jackson Generals clinched the first-half title in the Texas League East and did so in movie-script fashion. Ray Montgomery hit a two-run walk-off homer in the bottom of the ninth to give the Gens a 6-4 win against Shreveport at Smith-Wills Stadium. That team, a Houston Astros affiliate, would go on to win the TL pennant, the fourth for the Double-A franchise in a 13-year span. Shreveport held a 4-3 lead entering the bottom of the ninth with closer — and former General — Richie Simon on the mound. Former Murrah High star Fletcher Thompson led off with a walk. He took second on a wild pitch and went to third on the fourth hit of the game by Brian Hunter. The crowd of 2,218 was engaged. Roberto Petagine, who would go on to win league MVP honors, drove in the tying run with a grounder up the middle that forced Hunter at second base. Up came Montgomery, who drove a 1-1 slider over the left-field wall for just his second homer of the season. The Generals celebrated on the field and again later in the clubhouse. The win reduced their magic number for clinching the title to 1, and when Arkansas lost at Tulsa a short time later, the title was secured. Winning in the minors doesn’t matter? “That’s bull,” Montgomery, who would reach the big leagues and is now the Los Angeles Angels’ bench coach, said after the game. “(The Astros) want to bring you along slowly, but they want you to win. We want to win.” P.S. The M-Braves are coming in hot. They won their last series at Pensacola, belting four homers in the finale, to reach .500 for the first time since mid-April and have won 22 of their last 35.

06 Jun

eye on …

Javier Valdes is one of the three catchers on the Mississippi Braves’ roster. He’s not the one on Atlanta’s Top 30 prospects list, but he is the leading hitter — at .302 — on the active roster. The M-Braves take a 24-26 record into tonight’s Southern League series opener (6:35) against rival Biloxi at Trustmark Park. The M-Braves’ slumbering bats perked up a bit during a series at Birmingham, where they won four of six and scored 36 runs. Valdes was one of the hotter hitters on that trip, going 4-for-11 with a homer and three RBIs. He has six homers, 13 RBIs and 15 runs in 29 games while sharing catching duties with Tyler Tolve (the Braves’ No. 29 prospect who is batting .170) and veteran Arden Pabst (.143). Valdes, 24, a Miami native, was a 21st-round draft pick out of Florida International in 2019. He batted .263 with 11 homers at High-Class A Rome a year ago and earned a late promotion to Mississippi, where he hit .231. Atlanta’s system is a little thin in the catching department, so Valdes’ stepped-up performance this season has no doubt been a welcome sight. Valdes is in tonight’s lineup, batting seventh as the DH, against Biloxi, which comes in with a 26-25 record. The Shuckers’ roster is loaded with top Milwaukee prospects, including outfielder Jackson Chourio, the No. 2 prospect in all of the minors. He is batting .253 with eight homers, 32 RBIs and 13 stolen bases. Biloxi leads the season series 5-4. P.S. Billy Hamilton, the ex-Taylorsville High star, is on a rehab assignment at Triple-A Charlotte. The veteran outfielder stole two bases and scored two runs in three games for the Chicago White Sox before suffering a hamstring injury.

29 May

buckle up

Trustmark Park in Pearl will be filled this week with Urchins and Hornets and Dragons and Knights. The MHSAA state championships begin Tuesday. Twelve teams from every corner of the state will decide six titles. Mr. Baseball picks from three classes are among the throng of players who will take the field. There will be players who’ll go on to bigger schools and bigger things, and there will be many for whom this is their last hurrah. Emotions will run high.
The best-of-3 battles begin Tuesday morning with a gathering of Eagles: The Class 1A finalists are West Union and Resurrection Catholic from Pascagoula. Greer Manning tops West Union with a .485 average and eight homers and a 1.62 ERA on the bump (per MaxPreps). Cole Tingle has been a sparkplug for Resurrection with a .414 average and six pitching wins.
The second feature on Tuesday is Amory-St. Stanislaus in 3A. Amory went 30-4 despite playing most of the season with no home field after the devastating March tornado. Walker Maranto and Bryce Glenn have led the Panthers through. The Rock-a-Chaws from the Coast are powered by Chesley Rhodes (.468, seven homers, 43 RBIs.)
Saltillo and East Central meet in Tuesday’s 5A nightcap. Drake Douglas and Baylor Roberts were clutch performers for Saltillo’s Tigers in the North series win against Ridgeland. Southern Miss signee T.J. Dunsford — chosen Mr. Baseball in 5A by the MHSAA and the Mississippi Association of Coaches — leads the East Central Hornets from Moss Point with .434 average.
On Wednesday, the Urchins from East Union battle the Dragons from Pisgah in 2A. East Union’s Rett Johnson, Mr. Baseball in this class, is hitting a sizzling .545. For Pisgah — just 20 miles down the road from Pearl — Colton Coleman hit .437, scored 33 runs and stole 12 bags.
In 4A on Wednesday, Mr. Baseball JoJo Parker, a Mississippi State commit, leads the Purvis Tornadoes with a .482 average, 15 homers, eight wins and a 1.66 ERA. West Lauderdale’s Knights feature Cannon Graham and Brett Busbea, who came up big in the North clincher vs. Mooreville.
The 6A final — Wednesday’s finale — matches Lewisburg and Gulfport, who knocked out Germantown and Northwest Rankin, respectively, in the North and South finals. Austin Hannigan, a .358 hitter with 20 steals, and MSU signee Gage Haley (.345) are among the leaders for Lewisburg’s Patriots. For Gulfport’s Admirals, Dawson Hall had a monster series against Northwest Rankin.
Game 2 in each series is set (in the same order) for Thursday and Friday. Any Game 3’s would start Saturday. Six celebrations are guaranteed.

26 May

main attraction

Like so many of his Mississippi Braves teammates this season, Drew Lugbauer doesn’t hit much. But when the left-handed Lugbauer does get into one, it typically goes a long way. He hit his 10th home run of the season on Thursday night, a majestic blast into the Farm Bureau Grill beyond the right-field fence at Trustmark Park. It was the third homer in as many games on this homestand for the 6-foot-3, 220-pound former Michigan star who is nicknamed “Slugbauer.” He is, at present, the main attraction on a team that is last in the Southern League in runs and last in the South Division with an 18-23 record that includes a 6-2 loss to Pensacola on Thursday. Lugbauer, 26, is batting just .217, actually one of the better averages in Thursday’s lineup. Ten of his 26 hits this season have left the yard. He leads the SL in homers and is on pace to break the M-Braves’ single-season record of 28 homers that he set last year. (For the record, the Jackson Mets/Generals record at Smith-Wills Stadium is Darryl Strawberry’s 34 in 1982.) In his third season with the M-Braves, Lugbauer is also the career homer leader with 56. Many a fearsome slugger has passed through Pearl since 2005: Jeff Francoeur, Matt Esquivel, Kala Ka’aihue, Jason Heyward, Michael Rosamond, Ernesto Mejia, Evan Gattis, Dustin Peterson, Ronald Acuna, to name a few. Lugbauer has bragging rights over all of them. … Austin Riley, another of those former M-Braves sluggers, had quite the night for Atlanta on Thursday, hitting two monstrous homers in an 8-5 win against Philadelphia at Truist Park. Riley, a former DeSoto Central standout, is just the third player to hit two homers of 455 feet-plus in one game in the last nine years; the other two did it at Coors Field in Colorado. Riley has nine homers on the season for the first-place Braves. P.S. Surprising Baltimore (second-best record in MLB) just completed a 5-1 road trip through Toronto and New York (Yankee Stadium) and ex-Mississippi State star Adam Frazier went 10-for-27 with two homers, seven RBIs and six runs in the six games. Frazier is hitting .253 with six homers and 23 RBIs in his first season with the Orioles. … Shout-out to former M-Braves ace Julio Teheran, who threw five solid innings (but took a loss) for Milwaukee on Thursday in his first big league game since 2021. Teheran, part of a combo no-hitter for the M-Braves in 2010, has 78 career MLB wins. He ranks with the best of the many standout pitchers who have come through Pearl. … Southern Miss is 2-0 in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament after Danny Lynch delivered a walk-off win against Troy. Jackson State bowed out of the SWAC Tournament with a second straight one-run defeat.

18 Apr

hits wanted

Cody Milligan, the Mississippi Braves’ leadoff batter, has been setting the table with regularity. The M-Braves are looking for some hitters to clean up after him. The M-Braves, back in town tonight to start their second homestand of 2023, are hitting just .203 as a team. They’ve scored 41 runs but 11 of those came in one game and nine in another. The result of this lack of consistent thump is a 3-6 record that they’ll take into tonight’s 6:05 contest against old Southern League rival Montgomery at Trustmark Park in Pearl. Milligan, a returnee from 2022, is hitting .367 with a .513 on-base percentage. He has touched the plate 11 times. No other regular in tonight’s lineup is batting above .233. Cal Conley, the highest rated prospect (No. 13 on Atlanta’s list), is off to a sluggish start in his Double-A debut, batting .206. Slugger Drew Lugbauer, an M-Braves vet, has three homers but only two other hits. The pitching has been decent, though only one starter (Tanner Gordon) has registered a win. Alec Barger, Victor Vodnik (the Braves’ No. 11 prospect) and Domingo Gonzalez have pitched well out of the bullpen. Montgomery (6-3) leads the league in homers (13) and is second in runs with 54. The Biscuits, a Tampa Bay affiliate, have a 4.44 staff ERA. P.S. On this date in 1946, Jackie Robinson made his debut in “organized” baseball, going 4-for-5 with a homer and four RBIs for the International League Montreal Royals, a Brooklyn Dodgers farm team managed by Mississippi native Clay Hopper. Robinson broke the major league color line the next season.

05 Apr

pennant fever

Friday is opening day No. 18 for the Mississippi Braves, who’ll take on the Biloxi Shuckers at 6:35 p.m. at Trustmark Park in Pearl. A championship is the ultimate goal, of course, for a franchise that has won two Southern League pennants (2008 and 2021). The 2023 roster is expected to be released today, when the team holds its first workout. The talent in Atlanta’s minor league system has been thinned out in recent years, but the organization has a true knack for scouting and development, so expect a competitive team. Jackson-area Double-A teams have won eight pennants all told, and this year marks a notable anniversary of two of those titles. Twenty years ago, the independent Jackson Senators won the Central Baseball League championship. In one of the most dramatic moments in Smith-Wills Stadium’s long history, Keto Anderson delivered a game-winning hit in the bottom of the 10th inning of the decisive fifth game against Amarillo. That Senators team included Jeremy McClain, Gerard McCall, Ryan Creek, Kenny Rayborn, Robbie Kison, Vernon Spearman and onetime big leaguer Lonnie Maclin. Thirty years ago, the Double-A Jackson Generals won the Texas League championship, the first for the franchise as a Houston Astros affiliate. League MVP Roberto Petagine was the star of that team, which also included Brian Hunter, Jim Dougherty, Alvin Morman, Ray Montgomery, Lance “Bam-Bam” Madsen and Jackson native Fletcher Thompson.