Tag Archives: USA Baseball

29 Jul

on the move

Former Madison Central High standout Braden Montgomery has been promoted to Double-A Birmingham in the Chicago White Sox’s system. The 12th overall pick last year (out of Texas A&M by Boston), the 22-year-old Montgomery, a switch-hitting outfielder, hit .269 with 11 homers, 57 RBIs, 50 runs and 11 stolen bases over two levels of A-ball. He is the ChiSox’s No. 2 prospect and No. 26 overall in the minors, per MLB Pipeline. … Michael Fowler, a Southern Miss product, has signed with the Milwaukee Brewers, the independent Mississippi Mud Monsters announced. Fowler, who only recently joined the Mud-sters’ roster, went 2-1 with a 1.92 ERA in seven games, striking out 15 in 9 1/3 innings. This is his first pro season. … Will Verdung, the MACCC’s player of the year for 2023 at Itawamba Community College, has been placed on the injured list at High-Class A Rome by the Atlanta Braves. The third baseman is batting .279 with no homers and 22 RBIs. Verdung mashed 25 homers in two years at ICC and went deep in his first pro at-bat in 2023 but has hit just two homers since. … Oak Grove outfielder Eric Booth Jr., Magnolia Heights infielder Cole Prosek and Jackson Prep outfielder Kevin Roberts Jr. have advanced to Phase 2 of USA Baseball’s U18 National Team Training Camp in Cary, N.C. There will be a second cut to 20 players, who will compete in the U-18 Baseball World Cup in Okinawa, Japan. … Nick Fortes, just acquired by Tampa Bay from Miami, is in the Rays’ lineup at catcher for tonight’s game at Yankee Stadium, facing New York ace Max Fried.

17 Jul

meanwhile …

While the major and minor leagues were on hiatus for the All-Star break, there were pro games on Wednesday night in the MLB Partner leagues, aka independent ball. A host of Mississippians took the field in American Association games, with former Ole Miss catcher Hayden Dunhurst enjoying the brightest moment. He went 3-for-4 with a double and a run in Lake Country’s 8-0 win against Gary SouthShore. He also called pitches for Luke Hansel’s five-hitter. (Former big leaguer Cody Reed of Horn Lake pitches out of the bullpen for Gary SouthShore but didn’t work on Wednesday.) Ole Miss product Taylor Broadway, who has a 4.45 ERA in 21 games as a reliever for Cleburne, was in the lineup Wednesday as the DH — for the first time — and went 1-for-5 in the Railroaders’ 13-4 win over Kane County. Former Hattiesburg High star Joe Gray Jr. had a hit for Milwaukee — which only had five — in an 11-1 loss to Chicago; Gray is hitting .238 with three homers and 15 RBIs since the Milkmen picked him up on waivers in late May. (Southern Miss alum J.C. Keys pitches for Chicago but didn’t get in Wednesday’s game.) Ex-Mississippi State standout and onetime big leaguer Jacob Robson was 1-for-4 for Winnipeg in a 3-2 loss to Sioux Falls; he has hit seven homers for the Goldeyes. West Point native Steffon Moore threw a scoreless inning with two strikeouts in his second appearance for Kansas City, which lost to Fargo-Moorhead 4-2. Jackson State alum Jaylyn Williams, a .298 hitter for the Monarchs, was 0-for-4 on Wednesday. (Ex-Itawamba Community College star Kyle Crigger, 5-4 with 3.05 ERA for F-M, did not pitch.) … In the Frontier League All-Star Game, the Atlantic team beat the Midwest 5-4. Travis Holt of the Mississippi Mud Monsters had a hit for the Midwest. P.S. Three Mississippi high school players are among the 88 invited by USA Baseball to the Under-18 National Team Training Camp in Cary, N.C: Oak Grove outfielder Eric Booth, Magnolia Heights infielder Cole Prosek and Jackson Prep outfielder Kevin Roberts Jr. Phase 1 of the camp starts Friday. Forty players will advance to Phase 2.

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.

20 Jul

a july dog day

It was a good day to be a Bulldog in the big leagues. Six Mississippi State alumni played on Wednesday and all six celebrated a win. None was bigger than Baltimore’s 8-5 victory against the Los Angeles Dodgers that moved the surging Orioles into first place in the American League East. Jordan Westburg went 2-for-4 for the O’s and contributed an RBI and a run in a four-run first inning. Rookie Westburg is batting .276 with seven RBIs and nine runs in 16 games since his June 26 call-up. The Orioles begin a series at second-place Tampa Bay today. The slumping Rays fell behind Baltimore in the standings after a 5-1 loss to streaking Texas; Nathaniel Lowe was 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI for the Rangers, who’ve won six straight and lead the AL West. Lowe is hitting .280. The Los Angeles Angels completed their first three-game sweep of the last-place New York Yankees in 14 years, winning 7-3 as Hunter Renfroe drew a couple of walks and scored a run. The Angels climbed over .500 at 49-48. Brent Rooker was 0-for-2 for Oakland but did get to watch the lowly A’s beat Boston 6-5. In the National League, Dakota Hudson pitched three innings (two runs allowed) in his first start of the season for St. Louis and Chris Stratton pitched the ninth (one run) for his first save of 2023 as the Cardinals beat Miami 6-4 for their fifth straight win. Hudson has a 2.77 ERA in five games since being recalled from Triple-A; Stratton has a 4.17 in his 38 appearances. P.S. Former MSU standout Cade Smith has signed with the Yankees, becoming the fifth of the 14 players drafted out of Mississippi this year to sign. The right-hander was a sixth-round pick. … Former Southern Miss star Chuckie Robinson went 3-for-4 with four RBIs for Triple-A Louisville (Cincinnati system) and is batting .338 (sixth in the International League) with 52 RBIs. … Ole Miss product Mike Mayers gave up four runs in three innings and took the loss in his first game with Triple-A Charlotte; Mayers, an MLB veteran, was traded from Kansas City to the Chicago White Sox last week. … Jackson Prep’s Konnor Griffin has been invited to USA Baseball’s 18U national team tryout camp set for Aug. 21-25 in California. Those who make the final roster will compete for Team USA in the U-18 World Cup in Taiwan in September. … The Mississippi Baseball Congress (semi-pro) state tournament will be played this weekend at Mississippi College’s Frierson Field. Five teams, including the top-seeded Hattiesburg Black Sox and the Meridian Benchwarmers, are in the tournament, which starts Friday. Black Sox coach Trey Aby will be inducted into the state’s Semi-Pro Hall of Fame during the weekend.

28 Jun

team usa beckons

Shortstop Jacob Gonzalez, left-hander Hunter Elliott and righty Mason Nichols, fresh off winning the national championship with Ole Miss, are among the 50 players invited to Cary, N.C., to compete for 26 positions on USA Baseball’s Collegiate National Team. Also there are Southern Miss pitchers Tanner Hall and Hurston Waldrep, former Madison Central High star Braden Montgomery (an outfielder/pitcher now at Stanford) and Lewisburg High product Brady Tygart (a pitcher now at Arkansas). Ole Miss coach Mike Bianco is the manager of this Team USA. The players will play Stars vs. Stripes intrasquad games June 30-July 4, after which the roster will be pared to 26. The team will compete at the Honkbalweek Haarlem tournament in The Netherlands. The first game is against Japan on July 9. Cuba is also in the field. … St. Stanislaus High outfielder Seth Farni is also in Cary, vying for a spot with 99 other prep players on the Under-18 Team USA as part of MLB’s Prospect Development Pipeline League. Farni hit .364 with nine homers as a junior in 2022. Select players from this camp also will be invited to the MLB/USA Baseball All-America Game in Los Angeles on July 15.

06 Jul

in the summertime …

Ole Miss’ Hayden Dunhurst was 2-for-6 with an RBI in a three-game intrasquad series over the weekend for USA Baseball’s Collegiate National Team. Rebels teammate Jacob Gonzalez went 0-for-1 in the lone game he played in. The Mississippi State contingent on the roster – Logan Tanner, Landon Sims and Jackson Fristoe – did not appear in the box scores. The Stars will face the Stripes in another intrasquad tonight in Greeneville, Tenn. … Up in the Cape Cod League: Former Germantown High and Pearl River Community College star Bryson Ware hit his first homer of the summer on Monday for Falmouth. Ware, currently at Auburn, is just 2-for-24 with 13 strikeouts in the prestigious college summer league. Ole Miss infielder Peyton Chatagnier went 1-for-4 Monday for Orleans. He is enjoying a good summer: .286, two homers, seven RBIs and two steals. Southern Miss’ Ben Ethridge threw a clean inning Monday for Bourne, trimming his ERA to 18.00 in three games. … Jackson State’s Chenar Brown, SWAC freshman of the year, is batting .246 with eight RBIs in 19 games for Danville in the Appalachian League. … Pearl River CC product Von Seibert, a Mississippi State signee, is hitting .274 with five homers and 15 RBIs for Thomasville in the Coastal Plain League. … USM’s Will Tynes is 2-3 with a 3.92 ERA in five starts for Acadiana in the Texas Collegiate League. … In the Cotton States League North Division (based in New Albany): Peeko Townsend, of Northwest CC, is putting up big numbers for the Tippa County Tribe with a .471 average, three homers, 11 RBIs and 11 runs. Itawamba CC’s Roe Ketchum is 3-0, 1.20 in four starts for the Golden Triangle Jets.

24 Jun

show a little glove

Defense doesn’t often get the attention it deserves, but the annual announcement of the ABCA/Rawlings Gold Glove Awards shines a little light. Ole Miss catcher Hayden Dunhurst and Pearl River Community College third baseman Dalton Cummins earned that recognition on Wednesday. Dunhurst, a sophomore from Carriere and a second-team All-SEC pick, threw out 16 would-be basestealers and picked off five runners this season. He joins Stuart Turner, a former major leaguer, as Ole Miss catchers to win a Gold Glove. Dunhurst was a semifinalist for the Buster Posey Award given to the top college catcher; Turner won that award in 2013 when it was called the Johnny Bench Award. Cummins, a sophomore from Seminary and a Delta State signee, registered a .944 fielding average (while also playing some second base and shortstop) for the state champion PRCC Wildcats. The Gold Gloves were not awarded in 2020. The last Mississippi Division I player to win one was Mississippi State’s Jake Mangum in 2018. Former Southern Miss pitcher Hunter Stanley won one as a second baseman at Meridian CC that same year. Other campus notes: Dunhurst has been chosen for the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team, according to a UM release. Shortstop Jacob Gonzalez and pitcher Derek Diamond also made that squad. USA Baseball has not yet announced the full roster. … Southern Miss outfielder Reed Trimble, a Collegiate Baseball Freshman All-America pick, is one of four Golden Eagles playing for Gainesville (Ga.) in the Sunbelt Baseball League. USM pitcher Ben Ethridge is with the Bourne Braves in the Cape Cod League. Former USM star Walker Powell, the C-USA pitcher of the year in 2021, is in the MLB Draft League, a new showcase for draft-eligible players. … Jackson State’s Chenar Brown, also a CB Freshman All-America, is toiling for Danville in the Appalachian League. … Former Madison Central High star – and Stanford signee — Braden Montgomery is listed as an attendee in the MLB Draft Combine, currently under way in Cary, N.C. Montgomery, a pitcher/outfielder, is the only Mississippi high school player rated in MLB Pipeline’s top 250 draft prospects. The draft is in July.

11 Oct

going places

Former Mississippi State star Brent Rooker, now a Minnesota Twins prospect, has been named to USA Baseball’s 28-man roster for the World Baseball Softball Confederation Premier 12 tournament, set for Guadalajara, Mexico, from Nov. 2-4. Rooker, an outfielder/first baseman in his third pro season, batted .281 with 14 homers at Triple-A Rochester this season; he missed a chunk of time with injuries. Rated as the Twins’ No. 8 prospect (MLB Pipeline), Rooker has 54 homers in his pro career. Also on the Team USA squad is outfielder Drew Waters, the Mississippi Braves product who was Southern League MVP this year. The top two nations from the four in Team USA’s group will move on to the Super Round in Tokyo from Nov. 11-16. The event is a qualifier for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo.

13 Aug

m-braves new world

In a span of six days starting July 31, the Mississippi Braves’ prospect-packed roster was gouged. Pitcher Joey Wentz, Atlanta’s No. 9 prospect (MLB Pipeline), was traded on deadline day. On Aug. 4, No. 7 Kyle Muller, also a pitcher, went on the injured list. On Aug. 5 — the final day of the last homestand — No. 1 Cristian Pache, No. 2 Drew Waters, No. 3 Ian Anderson and No. 13 Tucker Davidson (two outfielders and two more starting pitchers) were promoted to Triple-A Gwinnett. Boom. As the M-Braves begin a 10-game homestand tonight, you might be wondering, what’s left? Well, Atlanta does have one of the strongest farm systems, and there are several intriguing top 20 prospects on the current club. Start with Trey Harris, a former SEC (Missouri) outfielder promoted from A-ball last month. The No. 18 prospect, he is batting .310 in 20 games after blowing through low-A Rome (.366, eight homers) and high-A Florida (.303, four homers). William Contreras, No. 8, the younger brother of big leaguer Willson, is regarded as a strong defensive catcher and is batting .237 in 44 Double-A games. No. 11 Greyson Jenista is a 6-foot-4, 210-pound outfielder out of Wichita State who has four homers and 20 RBIs in 55 games. Another potential power bat belongs to C.J. Alexander, No. 19, a 6-5, 215 third baseman who has two homers in 20 games as he comes back from an injury earlier in the year. And Jassell De La Cruz, No. 14, is a hard-throwing right-hander with a 3-7, 4.41 ledger over 13 games. Bradley Roney isn’t on the top prospect charts, but the former Southern Miss star has been pitching like one: one earned run allowed in his last nine appearances, 3.26 ERA in 15 games all told. The team is in a period of adjustment – they went 1-4 on their recent road trip – but has enough pieces to put together a nice run over the next 10 days at Trustmark Park.
P.S. Biloxi High’s Colten Keith was invited to the USA Baseball 18-and-Under National Team Trials and Training starting today in California. The final 20-man 18U National Team will be named on Saturday and will compete in the World Baseball Softball Confederation U-18 Baseball World Cup in Gijang City, South Korea, from Aug. 30-Sept. 8. Keith hit .527 with eight homers for Biloxi as a junior in 2019 after transferring from Arizona; he was Mississippi’s Gatorade Player of the Year. … Oxford’s Tyrus Williams competed in the 15U National Team Trials held in July at the National Training Complex in Cary, N.C. Two Mississippians took part in this summer’s 14U National Team Development Program in Cary: Keondre Fields of Nesbit and Keilon Parnell of Pascagoula.

18 Jul

tales of cape

Mississippi State’s Riley Self and Keegan James teamed up for a stifling pitching performance in the Cape Cod League on Tuesday. Self entered in the third inning and went four, allowing one hit and no runs with five strikeouts. James pitched the last three innings, giving up a run on two hits. Self got the win and James the save in Hyannis’ 8-4 victory over Bourne. Self is 2-0 with a 0.00 ERA in nine innings in the CCBL, while James is 1-0 with a save and a 1.68 in 10 2/3. They were key pieces in the Bulldogs’ bullpen during the run to the College World Series. … One of Self’s punchout victims on Tuesday was Ole Miss’ Cooper Johnson, the Bourne catcher who is batting .200 in 15 games this summer. UM’s Greer Holston is also with Bourne and is 1-2 with a save and a 3.14 ERA in eight appearances. … Thomas Dillard, who hit 13 homers for the Rebels this past season, has three in the Cape. He is batting .261 with 13 RBIs for Cotuit. … Southern Miss’ Matt Wallner is batting .250 with a homer in nine games for Falmouth. … Ole Miss’ Houston Roth has made five starts for Hyannis and posted a 3.98 ERA but has no decisions on his ledger. P.S. UM’s Parker Caracci made six appearances for the Collegiate National Team and did not allow an earned run over 9 2/3 innings. The Jackson Prep alumnus notched a win and two saves as Team USA went 12-3 on its summer tour.