Tag Archives: Trustmark Park

10 Sep

eyes on prize

Having collected one championship on Thursday night, the Mississippi Braves can claim a more significant prize tonight at Trustmark Park in Pearl. A win against Montgomery would give the M-Braves the Double-A South regular season title and home-field advantage in the best-of-5 league championship series set to begin Sept. 21. The M-Braves (64-40), who have won 19 of their last 23, beat the Biscuits 4-3 on Thursday to clinch the league’s South Division title (which doesn’t mean an awful lot). The league’s top two teams by winning percentage, regardless of division, make the playoffs. The M-Braves will be one of those teams. Birmingham currently leads the North Division with a 59-52 mark, but several other teams are still in the race for the second spot. Now playing their 16th season in Pearl, the M-Braves have won one league pennant, way back in 2008, when it was known as the Southern League. The current club, which features 11 of Atlanta’s top 30 prospects (per mlb.com), leads the league in ERA and is second in home runs, a nice combo. Freddy Tarnok (No. 12 prospect) gets the start for the M-Braves tonight; he is 2-2 with a 2.86 ERA. Shea Langeliers (No. 2 prospect) figures to be behind the plate; he leads the team with 19 homers.

11 Jul

running hot

There’s hot and then there’s whatever the Mississippi Braves are right now. The top team in the Double-A South won its sixth straight game on Saturday night at Trustmark Park. The last five of those wins have come against the league’s second-best team, Pensacola. Saturday night’s win rated an exclamation point. Not only were the Blue Wahoos dismissed by a 6-0 count, Bryce Elder and Daysbel Hernandez combined on a no-hitter. On a night when top-rated prospects Shea Langeliers and Braden Shewmake went 0-for-8, two others stepped up with big hits. Justin Dean, the diminutive, dynamic leadoff batter, belted a two-run homer to dead center field, and Trey Harris, the brawny right fielder, smacked a three-run, opposite-field double. The defense was clean and even produced three double plays. Can they bottle this? Elder, Atlanta’s No. 11 prospect, threw seven innings in his third Double-A start; he is 2-0 with a 2.81 ERA. The talented arms just keep coming in the Braves’ system. The M-Braves, 37-22 and 4 games up in the Double-A South’s South Division, go for seven in a row today against Pensacola. On the bump? Spencer Strider, the No. 20 prospect who has climbed three levels this season. He is 1-1, 3.95 in three starts. P.S. Meanwhile, the season-ending injury to Ronald Acuna might open the door for former M-Braves star Cristian Pache to get another shot in Atlanta. The swift center fielder is batting .252 with three homers and 13 RBIs at Triple-A Gwinnett. Another possibility is Drew Waters, the 2019 Southern League MVP for the M-Braves who is batting .257 with five homers, 18 RBIs and 15 steals for the Stripers. He is slated to play in today’s All-Star Futures Game in Colorado.

08 Jul

maroon alert

Local high school products Tanner Leggett and Preston Johnson, stars on Mississippi State’s national championship team, will throw out ceremonial first pitches at the Mississippi Braves’ game on Friday night at Trustmark Park in Pearl. The first pitches will occur around 6:15 p.m., per the M-Braves release. The Double-A South game is scheduled for 6:35 against the Pensacola Blue Wahoos. Gates open at 5:30. Leggett, from Raymond, is a Central Hinds Academy product. Johnson, from Crystal Springs, attended Copiah Academy and Hinds Community College. … Bulldogs fans might also want to heckle Pensacola catcher Nick Fortes. He played at Ole Miss.

25 Jun

shout-out to pitching

Most of the highly rated prospects on the Mississippi Braves’ roster are position players. But the Double-A team’s rise to the top of their division can be attributed more to the arms than the bats. The M-Braves have won 19 of 25 to reach 27-18 on the season. Last in the Double-A South in hitting (.211) and next-to-last in runs, they have the best staff ERA in the league at 3.30. Opponents are hitting just .216 against them – lowest in the league – and have a league-low 20 homers in 45 games. There is some power in the M-Braves’ lineup, and they hit three home runs in Thursday night’s 6-2 win over Tennessee at Trustmark Park. But the pitching rates a shout-out, as well. Spencer Strider, Atlanta’s No. 20 prospect (with a bullet), made his Double-A debut and yielded two runs in 4 2/3 innings with eight strikeouts. He has a 1.82 ERA and 64 punchouts in 34 2/3 innings over three levels. The 2020 fourth-round pick from Clemson was followed to the bump by Kurt Hoekstra, Brooks Wilson and Brandon White, who combined to allow just two hits and fan six over the final 4 1/3. White has emerged as a reliable closer with seven saves and a 1.69 ERA. Hoekstra (3.38), Wilson (1.71), Josh Graham (2.33) and Troy Bacon (1.93) have been effective out of the pen. Bacon had a rare immaculate inning (three K’s on nine pitches) in Tuesday’s game. Nolan Kingham, a former Texas star, has emerged as the ace among M-Braves starters. The right-hander tossed 7 1/3 shutout innings Wednesday to improve to 5-1 with a 2.29 ERA. Opening day starter Hayden Deal, a lefty who’ll go tonight at the TeePee, is 1-2 with a 3.28 and has yet to allow a home run. Odalvi Javier is 3-1, 2.78 and A.J. Puckett 1-2, 2.59. The highest-rated pitching prospect on the roster is No. 14 Viktor Vodnik (0-1, 2.51), but he is currently on the injured list. If it’s true that good pitching beats good hitting, the 2021 M-Braves are in good shape.

15 Jun

finding their way

Things are clicking – sort of – for the Mississippi Braves. Though manager Wyatt Toregas resigned suddenly during the Double-A club’s series at Biloxi, the team won five of six there and has taken 12 of its last 16. At 20-16, the M-Braves are second in the Double-A South South Division. A new manager has not been named; the coaching staff ran the team for the last three games at Biloxi. The M-Braves’ pitching staff leads the league in ERA, and highly rated prospect Shea Langeliers is playing like one: .265 with nine homers, 19 RBIs and 20 runs, all team-leading stats. Braden Shewmake, Atlanta’s No. 4 prospect (Langeliers is No. 3), has finally begun to swing the bat after an ice-cold start. He has hit safely in five of his last six to reach .135 with three homers and 10 RBIs. Justin Dean has 10 steals and 17 runs. Birmingham, the top scoring team in the league, comes to Trustmark Park today with a 22-13 mark, first in the North Division. The Chicago White Sox’s affiliate features the organization’s No. 6 prospect, Micker Adolfo, a 6-foot-4, 225-pound outfielder batting .244 with eight homers. Ti’Quan Forbes, the former Mississippi Mr. Baseball from Columbia High, is batting .281 with three homers for the Barons, and Mississippi State product Konnor Pilkington, from Pascagoula, is 1-1 with a 2.60 ERA in six starts.

02 Jun

starlight

More than a few atta boys are in order, starting with the stars from the MHSAA championships at Pearl’s Trustmark Park (props to SBLive for those details):
Tupelo Christian’s Daniel Reddout pitched six innings, allowing one earned run, in a 5-2 win against Resurrection Christian in Class 1A.
Magee’s Adam May went seven innings to beat Booneville 6-3 in 3A.
Pascagoula’s Brayden Scott allowed one run in six innings in a 12-1 blowout of Saltillo in 5A.
In the minors, Houlka native Tyreque Reed belted his eighth home run for High-A Greenville in the Boston system.
Harrison Central High alum Bobby Bradley hit his eighth dinger for Triple-A Columbus (Cleveland).
Ex-Mississippi State star Ethan Small struck out 11 over five shutout innings for Double-A Biloxi (Milwaukee).
Ole Miss product Will Ethridge allowed one hit over six shutout innings with eight K’s for Low-A Fresno (Colorado).
MSU product Jordan Westburg had a hit and three RBIs in his High-A debut for Aberdeen (Baltimore).
In independent ball, ex-UM standout Braxton Lee went 2-for-5 and is batting .438 in four games for Southern Maryland in the Atlantic League.
In the big leagues, DeSoto Central alum Austin Riley was 2-for-4 with two RBIs and is hitting .310 with 24 RBIs for Atlanta.
Former State star Adam Frazier put up a 2-for-4 for Pittsburgh, raising his average to .335, third-best in the National League.
Taylorsville’s Billy Hamilton went 1-for-3 (a face-planting “hustle homer”) with an RBI for the Chicago White Sox, boosting his average to .316 with five runs and five RBIs in his last seven games.
Ocean Springs’ Garrett Crochet threw two scoreless innings for the White Sox, cutting his ERA to 0.57 in 15 games.
Ex-State standout Hunter Renfroe extended his hitting streak to five games, during which he has 10 hits, eight runs and three RBIs for Boston.

28 May

ode to nevers and ball

It’s Jackson Generals Throwback Night at Trustmark Park in Pearl, a salute to the former Texas League team that occupied Smith-Wills Stadium from 1991-99. There might actually be a few cranks in the park tonight who attended Gens games back in the day, even some who might have been there on Sept. 3, 1994, when one of Smith-Wills’ most memorable events occurred. The Generals were facing archrival Shreveport in the TL East title series. The Gens were down 1-0 with two outs in the bottom of the ninth of the decisive Game 5. They had managed just two hits all night. Two lousy singles. Then lightning struck. Twice. In the same place. The Generals got back-to-back home runs from Tom Nevers and Jeff Ball to stun the Captains 2-1. The dugout went crazy. The crowd of 1,400 at cozy Smith-Wills went crazy. Up in the booth, radio play-by-play man Bill Walberg did, too. He called it “the miracle on dirt.” It felt like one. Jackson manager Sal Butera, the ex-big league catcher who had been on seven championship clubs as a player, said he had never witnessed anything more dramatic. Nevers, a Minnesota high school star in baseball and hockey, was a first-round pick by the Houston Astros who hit .267 with eight homers for the Gens in 1994. He played until 2002 but never made the majors. Californian Ball, a San Jose State product, hit .316 with 13 homers that season; he ultimately made the big leagues in 1998 with San Francisco but got just four at-bats. He played in independent ball until 2003. Alas, the ’94 Gens went on to lose to El Paso in four straight in the TL Championship Series. But that shouldn’t diminish the memory of “the miracle on dirt.” P.S. The first time the Mississippi Braves held a Generals tribute, in 2019, Ian Anderson and Jeremy Walker threw a combo no-hitter. … On Thursday night, Shea Langeliers, one of Atlanta’s top prospects, hit a grand slam to help the M-Braves top Montgomery 7-6 in the third game of the six-game Double-A South series. The M-Braves are 9-12.

21 May

setting the table

The Mississippi Braves have scratched out a 6-9 record despite being last in the Double-A South in runs, batting and on-base percentage. As fans of “Bull Durham” might ask, How’d they ever win six? One reason would be the play of Justin Dean, the diminutive leadoff batter. Dean has reached base in each of the 14 games he has played; his OBP of .426 ranks fifth in the league. He is batting .262 and has scored nine runs, driven in four and stolen five bases. Speed is the prime tool for the 24-year-old center fielder, who goes 5 feet 6, 185 pounds. He swiped 47 bases (with nine triples) at Class A Rome in 2019 and earned league All-Star honors and a trip to the Arizona Fall League. A 17th-round pick out of NCAA Division II Lenoir-Rhyne in 2018, he is batting .283 over his three pro seasons. MLB Pipeline ranks Dean 26th among Atlanta’s prospects, noting that “he has the chance to be a table-setter type, perhaps with a career as a fourth outfielder the most likely.” Dean will look to set the table tonight when the M-Braves play Chattanooga in the fourth game of a six-game set at Trustmark Park. P.S. On Chattanooga’s roster is a pair of former Southern Miss stars: Pitcher J.C. Keys, drafted by Cincinnati in 2019, and Chuckie Robinson, a catcher who was plucked by the Reds from Houston in the Rule 5 draft in December. Keys took the loss in relief on Wednesday but has a 1.69 ERA in four games. Robinson is 4-for-16 in five games this season and is a .249 career hitter over five pro seasons. Notably, he has caught two of Nick Lodolo’s starts and Hunter Greene’s last one, a 10-strikeout gem. Those are two top prospects in Cincy’s system. … There are several other Mississippi products scattered around the Double-A South. Ex-Columbia High standout Ti’Quan Forbes and Mississippi State alum Konnor Pilkington are with Birmingham, former State star Ethan Small is at Biloxi, ex-Ole Miss standout Wyatt Short is with Tennessee, UM product Nick Fortes plays for Pensacola and former Delta State star Dalton Moats is at Montgomery.

08 May

swing and a miss

Granted, the Mississippi Braves have run into some stout pitching in their season-opening series against Pensacola. But surely there is more pop in the bats than what they’ve shown so far at Trustmark Park in Pearl. The M-Braves are 0-4 and have scored just five runs. More troubling: They’ve struck out 46 times, 16 in one seven-inning game on Thursday. There are prospects aplenty at the top of the Double-A club’s lineup, but they’re not hitting their weight. Braden Shewmake, Atlanta’s No. 4 prospect, doesn’t yet have a hit. No. 3 prospect Shea Langeliers has one. Leadoff batter Justin Dean is at .167, 3-hole hitter Trey Harris .154, C.J. Alexander .143 and Greyson Jenista .200. The pitching has been OK, keeping the team in games for the most part. Victor Vodnik, the top-rated pitching prospect on the staff (No. 15), goes tonight against the Blue Wahoos’ Jeff Lindgren. Will the bats break out?

03 May

m-braves roster

Among the catchers who have passed through Mississippi on their way to the big leagues are Brian McCann, Jarrod Saltalamacchia, Evan Gattis, Willians Astudillo, Alex Jackson and William Contreras. Shea Langeliers is almost certain to join that list in the near future. The Atlanta Braves’ No. 3-rated prospect (by MLB Pipeline) is one of the many noteworthy names on the Double-A Mississippi Braves’ roster, which was announced today. The M-Braves open the 2021 season on Tuesday night at Trustmark Park in Pearl. Other Top 30 prospects on the roster are shortstop Braden Shewmake (No. 4), outfielder Trey Harris (No. 14), pitcher Victor Vodnik (No. 15), first baseman/outfielder Greyson Jenista (No. 19), third baseman C.J. Alexander (No. 20) and outfielder Justin Dean (No. 26). Shewmake, Harris, Alexander and Jenista all spent time with the M-Braves in 2019, when minor league teams last played. Langeliers was a first-round pick out of Baylor in 2019. His arm is said to be his best tool; he hit .255 with two homers and 34 RBIs in 54 games in A-ball in 2019. He was a non-roster invitee to Atlanta’s big league camp this spring, as were Shewmake, Harris and Alexander. P.S. Former Mississippi State star Ethan Small, the Milwaukee Brewers’ first-round pick in 2019, is on the Biloxi roster. Lefty Small is rated the No. 4 prospect in the Milwaukee system by both MLB Pipeline and Baseball America.