that’s progress

Mississippi College is in a good place. Not meaning Carrollton, Ga., necessarily but in a broader sense. This is MC’s second season playing an NCAA Division II schedule after many years in D-III, and there are several signs of progress. The Choctaws head into this weekend’s Gulf South Conference series at West Georgia with an 11-13 record, 4-10 in the league. In coach Jeremy Haworth’s first season, the Choctaws have already equaled their GSC win total from last year (when they were 4-28) and are one victory shy of equaling their overall win mark (12-34). They beat Christian Brothers two of three in a GSC series last weekend and followed that up with a nice win over a good William Carey team on Tuesday. MC has gotten good offensive production from Hunter Bolin (.385), Logan Ferrell (.352, 25 runs), Caleb Upton (.293, 17 RBIs) and Will Elliott (.263, three homers). A big key for the Choctaws, who had major pitching problems in 2015, has been the emergence of lefty Jake Fraze (5-1, 3.33 ERA) as a No. 1 starter and Tyler Scholl (0.47 ERA in 16 games, two wins, two saves) as a bullpen weapon. P.S. Another program seemingly on the rise is Coahoma Community College. The Tigers, in their second season under ex-Ole Miss star Lee Hodge, are 4-4 in the MACJC (10-15 overall) heading into a twinbill at Gulf Coast today. CCC went 5-23, 7-37 in 2015, continuing a long trend of rough years. … Props to Southern Miss senior Tim Lynch, whose first career walk-off hit delivered a C-USA victory over Texas-San Antonio in Hattiesburg on Thursday. … William Carey (20-9) is ranked No. 24 in the latest NAIA coaches poll.