Tag Archives: William Carey University

30 May

almost perfekt

The Kansas City Royals took a flier in the off-season on Mike Mayers, signing the former Ole Miss standout to a minor league deal after he had posted a 6.88 ERA in Triple-A last season. It is beginning to look like a smart move. In his third appearance for the Royals since a May 17 promotion, Mayers threw six perfect innings in relief on Monday before yielding a couple of hits in K.C.’s 7-0 win at St. Louis. The 31-year-old right-hander now has a 1.35 ERA in 13 1/3 innings. Coincidentally, Mayers made his MLB debut for the Cardinals at Busch Stadium in July 2016. He has good memories from his four years in St. Louis, but that outing — nine runs in 1 1/3 innings — wasn’t one of them. Waived by the Cardinals in 2019, he spent three seasons with the Los Angeles Angels, won a pitcher of the month award in September 2020, struggled mightily in 2022 and finished the year in the minors, becoming a free agent at season’s end. “My story hasn’t always been easy,” he told the Kansas City Star after Monday’s performance. He relieved opener Josh Staumont in the second inning and carried a perfect game into the eighth before a Nolan Arenado single broke it up. Two other relievers closed out the two-hitter. P.S. Kudos to Michael Soroka, the former Mississippi Braves ace who returned to the big leagues with Atlanta on Monday for the first time since 2020. The injury-plagued right-hander threw six relatively sharp innings, allowing four runs in the travel-weary Braves’ 7-2 loss at Oakland. … Former Southern Miss star Matt Wallner was optioned to Triple-A for the third time this year by Minnesota. … William Carey University is 2-0 in the NAIA World Series after a 13-4 win against Southeastern (Fla.) on Monday. The Crusaders play Westmont (Calif.) tonight in Lewiston, Idaho.

28 May

worth noting

With a sixth-inning double Saturday at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City, Corey Dickerson reached a pretty cool milestone: 1,000 career hits. McComb native Dickerson, 34, got his first big league hit in 2013 with Colorado, which drafted the lefty-hitting outfielder out of Meridian Community College in 2010. Now with Washington, Dickerson has played for eight different clubs over his career and has been an All-Star and a Gold Glove winner. He has 136 career homers and 460 RBIs. The career hits leader among Mississippi natives is Dave Parker with 2,712. Three others (Buddy Myer, Ellis Burks and Frank White) reached the 2,000-hit level. … Former Southern Miss star Matt Wallner now has 18 career hits after a 4-for-4 effort for Minnesota on Saturday. Wallner, who has played in just 28 games over his young MLB career, hit his first homer of 2023 in the win against Toronto; he hit two last season. … USM will play for the Sun Belt Conference Tournament title Sunday in Montgomery, Ala., after beating Appalachian State 11-1 in an elimination game on Saturday. USM lost an earlier game to the Mountaineers. In the win, Will Armistead threw a seven-inning four-hitter and Matthew Etzel and Reece Ewing banged out three hits apiece in a 15-hit attack. … East Central Community College got run-ruled 12-2 by Southeastern Iowa on Saturday in the NJCAA Division II World Series and plays an elimination game Sunday vs. Frederick (Md.) CC in Enid, Okla. … William Carey University won its opener Friday against Bellevue (Neb.) and will play again Monday in the NAIA World Series in Lewiston, Idaho. R.J. Stinson hit an RBI double and scored on a Jake Lycette sac fly to give the Crusaders a 6-4 lead in the bottom of the eighth. Preston Ratliff pitched the ninth to nail down the win, Carey’s 48th of the season.

18 May

carey by number

William Carey University won the championship of its NAIA Opening Round tournament on Thursday in Hattiesburg to advance to the NAIA World Series starting May 26 in Lewiston, Idaho.
Here’s a by-the-numbers look at Carey’s accomplishment:
4 — NAIA World Series appearances for Carey, including a national title in 1969.
47 — Wins this season, a school record.
8 — Carey’s national ranking in the latest NAIA coaches poll.
4 — Top 10 teams in the 10-team NAIA World Series, including No. 1 Southeastern (Fla.), No. 3 Georgia Gwinnett and No. 6 Westmont (Calif.)
1,298 — Career wins for coach Bobby Halford.
38 — Seasons Halford has coached the Crusaders.
3 — Best finish (in 2017) by a Halford-coached Carey team in the NAIA World Series.
27 — Runs scored in Thursday’s clincher (a 27-4 win over Ave Maria at Wheeler Field).
5 — Times this season the Crusaders have scored 20 or more runs in a game.
99 — Hits this season by R.J. Stinson, who added two on Thursday and is batting .401 on the year.
4 — RBIs by Jake Lycette (who homered) and Patrick Lee in Thursday’s game. Lycette also scored four times, as did Bobby Lada.
9 — Wins this season, against zero losses, by Dario Herrera, who pitched six innings against Ave Maria.

12 May

have a year

Has any team in the state had a better year than William Carey University? Short answer: No. While some of the traditionally strong programs in the Magnolia State have had some struggles, Carey thrived in the Southern States Athletic Conference. Bobby Halford’s Crusaders are 44-9, won the SSAC regular season title with a 22-2 mark, climbed to No. 8 in the final NAIA coaches poll and earned a regional host role in the NAIA Tournament. The Crusaders swept the SSAC individual honors, with Halford — in his 38th season — winning coach of the year, R.J. Stinson player of the year and Andrew Shirah pitcher of the year. Three other Crusaders were named first-team all-conference. Carey fell short of winning the SSAC Tournament but has a chance to make amends in the five-team NAIA Opening Round tournament it will host at Wheeler Field in Hattiesburg starting Monday. The Crusaders will open Monday night against the winner of the Union (Ky.)–Houston-Victoria game earlier in the day. Hats off to Halford, a former Carey player and assistant who has had just one losing season in his long tenure as head coach. He is approaching 1,300 career wins — and has something else to shoot for. He took his 2017 team to the NAIA World Series in Idaho, where they finished third, the school’s best finish since winning the 1969 national championship. P.S. Will Warren, the former Jackson Prep (and Southeastern Louisiana) standout, got some recognition in Baseball America’s daily prospect report. A top pitching prospect in the New York Yankees’ organization, Warren threw six scoreless innings for Double-A Somerset on Thursday to run his record to 3-0 and trim his ERA to 2.45. “Warren may be one of the more underrated pitching prospects in the game,” BA reports.

03 May

names to know

The postseason, always good for some chills and thrills, rolls on this week for the state’s small colleges. Here are some names to know:
Stinson, either R.J. or A.J., William Carey University: The Stinsons, not related, have led the Crusaders to a 40-7 record, a league title and the host role for the Southern States Athletic Conference Tournament, which starts today in Hattiesburg. Carey opens tonight against Blue Mountain Christian at Wheeler Field. R.J. Stinson is hitting .421 with 10 homers and 64 RBIs. A.J. Stinson, a Hattiesburg High product, is 5-2 with a 3.83 ERA and 76 strikeouts in 56 1/3 innings.
Austin Beech, Blue Mountain: The Pascagoula native is batting .323 with 10 homers and 49 RBIs for the Toppers, 25-23 and seeded eighth in the SSAC tourney.
Brett Sanchez, Belhaven: The NCAA Division III All-America right-hander is 5-2 with a 1.91 ERA, one save and four complete games for the Blazers, the 2-seed in the Collegiate Conference of the South Tournament. BU (20-16) opens with Covenant on Thursday at LaGrange, Ga.
Sam Pitre, Millsaps: Pitre is hitting .360 with three homers, 29 RBIs and 39 runs for the Majors (21-21), who meet top-seeded Birmingham-Southern on Thursday in the Southern States Athletic Conference Tournament at Birmingham.
Kirkland Trahan, Delta State: The Madison Central High alum is batting .320 with 11 homers and 41 RBIs for the Statesmen (24-24), who made the Gulf South Conference Tournament field by winning two one-run games at Mississippi College on Sunday. The eighth-seeded Statesmen (24-24) tackle No. 1 seed West Florida in Friday’s first round at Oxford, Ala.
Trennis Grant, Dillard: The Canton native coached Dillard, in its first year with a team, to the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference Tournament title and an NAIA Tournament berth. The Bleu Devils beat Rust College twice on Sunday at Smith-Wills Stadium to claim the GCAC crown.

30 Apr

more to come

Delta State, preseason favorite in the Gulf South Conference, took two of three from Mississippi College in Clinton this weekend to claim the No. 8 seed in the GSC Tournament that begins Friday in Oxford, Ala. DSU won the rubber game of the series 2-1 Sunday to clinch its tournament berth. MC didn’t make the GSC field. DSU (24-24 overall) will meet top-seeded West Florida in the first round of the double-elimination tourney. … William Carey University won the Southern States Athletic Conference regular season crown in impressive fashion, going 22-2 (40-7 overall, including a couple of forfeits) and setting a school record for runs with 512. Carey, ranked 12th in the latest NAIA coaches poll, will host the eight-team league tournament at Wheeler Field in Hattiesburg starting Wednesday. The Crusaders get state-rival Blue Mountain Christian in the first round. The winner of the SSAC tourney gets an NAIA Tournament bid; Carey is likely to get an at-large bid if it doesn’t win the event. … Division III Millsaps, having won its best-of-3 opening round series against Rhodes, moves on to play top-seeded Birmingham-Southern in the first round of the Southern Athletic Association Tournament at Birmingham. The four-team, double-elimination event begins Thursday. … D-III Belhaven, which finished second in the Collegiate Conference of the South race, plays Covenant in the first round of the league tournament on Thursday at LaGrange, Ga., home of the regular season champion. … Rust College, the No. 1 seed, played two seed Dillard for the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference Tournament title on Sunday at Smith-Wills Stadium in Jackson. The winner gets a bid to the NAIA Tournament. Rust already has been invited to the Black College World Series. … In the MACCC postseason, Meridian plays East Mississippi, Pearl River plays Southwest, Itawamba plays Hinds and Jones plays Northeast in the best-of-3 series that begin Thursday at campus sites. The winners will advance along with conference champion East Central to Eunice, La., for the NJCAA Division II Region 23 Tournament, hosted by top-ranked LSU-Eunice. That event begins May 15.

17 Apr

poll positions

East Central Community College, which has surged to the top of the MACCC standings, has finally cracked the Top 20 of the NJCAA Division II poll. The Warriors, 17-3 in the league and 27-14 overall, are ranked 17th, fourth among the four state jucos in the poll. Pearl River, 17-5 in conference and the defending national champ, is No. 3, Meridian No. 5 and Jones No. 15. Heads up: Pearl River visits Decatur on Tuesday for a rather large doubleheader; the jucos always play single-day twinbills. In the last week, ECCC has swept Delta (at Moorhead), swept Jones (at Ellisville) and split with Itawamba. Neal Holliman’s Warriors also have registered sweeps against Hinds, Northwest, Copiah-Lincoln and Northeast. Eli Collins, a former Northeast Jones High star, is batting .445 with 40 RBIs, 55 runs and 25 steals. Brandon’s Mo Little leads the team with nine homers and 58 RBIs while batting at a .352 clip. On the bump, Luke Cooley (Wayne Academy) is 4-0 with a 3.29 ERA and David Burton (Newton County) has five saves. The team’s success really shouldn’t be a surprise: The Warriors have won three state titles in the last 10 years. … William Carey University, 31-9 heading into a home game today against Mobile, is 31-9 (13-4 SSAC) and ranked 16th in the latest NAIA coaches poll. The Crusaders swept a doubleheader from No. 7 Mobile on Friday.

06 Mar

good stuff

Jackson State has won nine straight games and put up some football scores in the process. In their last five, the Tigers (11-2) have scored 17, 21, 13, 19 and 17 runs. They blew away error-prone Alcorn State in a non-SWAC series at Lorman over the weekend, getting big performances from Ty Hill, Jordon Smiley and Marcus Atterberry. Hill, a grad student from Saltillo, is batting .447 with three homers, 18 RBIs and 18 runs. … Hotter even than JSU is Blue Mountain Christian. The recently renamed NAIA school has won 10 straight and sits at 17-3 and 3-0 SSAC after a sweep of Stillman. … SSAC member William Carey University (14-4) has won six straight and tallied 43 runs in a weekend sweep of Dillard. Patrick Lee, a senior from Pascagoula, had an eight-RBI game in a 16-5 win in the finale of a Saturday doubleheader. … Nationally ranked Ole Miss (10-2), coming off a controversial twinbill split against Louisiana Tech, crushed three Big Ten teams in an event in Minnesota. Ethan Groff, a Tulane transfer, went 3-for-4 with four RBIs, two runs and a steal in Sunday’s 14-5 win against Nebraska. Groff is batting .413 with three homers, 22 RBIs and 17 runs for the Rebels, who’ll host Southern Miss on Tuesday. … USM (8-3) allowed just six runs total in a sweep of Dallas Baptist over the weekend. The Golden Eagles got sterling starts from ace Tanner Hall, Matthew Adams and Niko Mazza, the former MRA standout, plus two saves from Justin Storm. Tuesday’s trip to Oxford will be USM’s first true road game. … Mississippi State (7-5) didn’t get much pitching in a tournament in Texas but was bailed out in its third game by fireballing reliever Nate Dohm. The Ball State transfer tossed five scoreless innings in relief in a win against Cal, punching out six batters. In 12 1/3 innings in five games, Dohm has 12 K’s, two wins and a spotless ERA. … Mississippi College (6-12) went 1-2 against Tampa, ranked No. 2 in NCAA Division II, in a series at Clinton. All three games were one-run affairs. … On Tuesday at Trustmark Park in Pearl, Division III rivals Millsaps (7-7) and Belhaven (3-8) will play the second game of the Maloney Trophy Series. Belhaven won the first meeting 4-3, the Blazers’ eighth straight win in the series.

23 Feb

making news

Mississippi State’s freshman switch-pitcher — Jurrangelo Cijntje — appears to be much more than a novelty act. Cijntje made his first start on Wednesday against visiting Louisiana-Monroe and threw four shutout innings, fanning six batters with his right arm and one with his left in a 14-3 victory. In two appearances, he has allowed three hits, no runs and one walk with eight punchouts for the 3-2 Bulldogs. Wednesday’s performance rated a witty headline on mlb.com: “Give him a hand … or two!” On si.com, he was hailed as a “new star.” The 5-foot-11 Cijntje, from Florida, was an 18th-round draft pick by Milwaukee last summer. A natural lefty, he hits 92 mph from that side but amps it up to 97 with his right arm. In its pre-draft scouting report last year, Baseball America noted that Cijntje has “real touch and feel with both arms.” On Wednesday, he threw 58 pitches right-handed, 17 lefty. It’ll be interesting to see how he handles SEC lineups. … Overshadowed by the switch-pitcher was the reported 474-foot home run hit by Bulldogs freshman Dakota Jordan. It was the first bomb of the season for the former Jackson Academy star, who is 5-for-21 on the year. P.S. Kudos to Picayune native and ex-Pearl River Community College star Matt Riser, who notched his 300th win as coach at Southeastern Louisiana when the Lions pummeled Jackson State 19-0 at Braddy Field on Tuesday. … Getting home runs from Patrick Lee, Billy Garrity and Bailee Hendon, William Carey University beat Southeastern Baptist College 23-3 at Boston Park in Laurel on Wednesday. Carey, a traditional NAIA power, is 8-2. SBC, a fledgling NCCAA program, was playing its season opener.

20 Dec

it’s coming up …

Something to warm you up on a cold, wet day: The start of the college season in the Magnolia State is just six weeks away. William Carey University, an NAIA program, will get it started on Feb. 2 at home against Cumberland University. So there. … There was news of note on Monday, when Collegiate Baseball Magazine released its preseason All-America team. Southern Miss pitcher Tanner Hall and Ole Miss shortstop Jacob Gonzalez have been named to the first team. Hall, the Ferriss Trophy winner in 2022, went 9-3 with a 2.81 ERA for the Golden Eagles. Gonzalez, the top MLB draft prospect in the state for 2023, batted .273 with 18 homers for national champion Ole Miss, which beat USM in a thrilling Super Regional in Hattiesburg to advance to Omaha. Rebels lefty Hunter Elliott was a second-team choice by CB, and USM first baseman Christopher Sargent made the third team. … The NCAA Division I start date is Feb. 17. The defending champion Rebels, minus some stars but fortified by a highly touted recruiting class, open at home against Delaware. USM, which moves from C-USA into the Sun Belt this season, hosts Liberty, and Mississippi State welcomes VMI on opening day. Jackson State and Mississippi Valley State will play in the Cactus Jack HBCU Classic at Houston’s Minute Maid Park on opening weekend. The Tigers play Southern University, Valley and Prairie View A&M in that order. Alcorn State opens at home against Alabama A&M on Feb. 17. … The annual college series at Trustmark Park in Pearl will feature USM-State on Feb. 28, Ole Miss-USM on March 28 and State-Ole Miss (the Governor’s Cup) on April 25. … Other opening days for state schools: On Feb. 3, Division II Mississippi College hosts Arkansas-Monticello and NAIA Rust visits Tuskegee; on Feb. 4, D-II Delta State visits Harding for a twinbill; on Feb. 5, NAIA Tougaloo is at Xavier of New Orleans; and on Feb. 10, D-III Millsaps is at home against LeTourneau. D-III Belhaven, now in the new USA South Conference, has not released its 2023 schedule. … USM pitching coach Christian Ostrander will be the speaker for Hinds Community College’s first First Pitch Banquet on Jan. 28. The juco season also starts in early February. Defending NJCAA Division II champ Pearl River CC opens on the road on Feb. 4.