the next move

Curious to see what the future holds for Anthony Alford. The former Petal High star, released from his Southern Miss football scholarship on Thursday (with two criminal charges still hanging over his head), may well be planning to transfer to another school and keep playing. But after getting banged up at quarterback during the Golden Eagles’ dreadful 2012 season, maybe Alford is considering playing pro baseball full-time. He was rated the No. 36 overall prospect by Baseball America before last June’s draft, and even though he had announced his intention to play two sports at USM, Toronto picked him in the third round. He signed for $750,000 with the stipulation that he could continue playing football. In five games in the rookie Gulf Coast League last summer, Alford flashed the tools that baseball scouts love in him: He hit a home run and stole four bases. It certainly would be interesting to see how quickly he could advance if he were to devote his focus to baseball. P.S. Laurel resident Bobby Dickerson, a longtime minor league manager and coach, has been named third-base coach on Buck Showalter’s Baltimore Orioles staff.