alumni news

The name still stands out in the Boston Red Sox lineup — and not just because the surname is 14 letters long. Jarrod Saltalamacchia, the former Mississippi Braves standout, will open the season as the starting catcher for a loaded Red Sox club that features established stars at every other position. But "Salty" looked like he belonged in the spring, posting a .405 average with a homer and 10 RBIs. He's a switch-hitter, a valuable skill, and he appears to have conquered the defensive problems that plagued him in the minors with Texas last summer. It'll be interesting to see how this plays out. ... Meanwhile, another M-Braves alumnus who had a much-needed strong spring is Charlie Morton. The right-hander, who endured a dismal 2010 with Pittsburgh (2-12, 7.57 ERA in 17 starts), was 2-0 with a 2.63 ERA this spring. He'll be back in the Pirates' rotation this season; he's got much better stuff than what his 2010 numbers would indicate. ... Alas, ex-M-Brave Wes Timmons didn't make Oakland's opening day roster, but he made enough of an impression that he might get a call-up if a need arises. Meanwhile, Tim Collins did make the Kansas City club, and the little lefty could become the 49th M-Braves alumnus to advance to the big leagues. Unless, that is, he's beaten to the field by Matt Young, the little outfielder who made Atlanta's 25-man roster. Young is one of 10 former M-Braves currently with the parent club.

eye on ...

There were several openings in the Minnesota Twins' depleted bullpen this spring, and Dusty Hughes grabbed one. The Tupelo native and former Delta State standout will fill a lefty setup role for Twins manager Ron Gardenhire and pitching coach Rick Anderson, the former Jackson Mets pair who do such a fine job with this club. Hughes, who pitched in the exhibition in Atlanta on Tuesday night (1 IP, 2 H, 0 R), was claimed by the Twins in the off-season from Kansas City, for whom he posted a 3.83 ERA in 2010. The 5-foot-10, 185-pound Hughes, drafted in 2003 by the Royals, took six years (and a Tommy John operation) to get to the big leagues. He may have found a role — and a team — that gives him staying power.
P.S. Former Mississippi Braves left-hander Scott Diamond did not make the Twins' 25-man roster as a Rule 5 pick but was secured in a trade with Atlanta on Tuesday. The Braves got 6-foot-6, 225-pound right-hander Billy Bullock, who posted 27 saves at two levels in 2010. Bullock, out of Florida, looks like a good bet to make the M-Braves' roster. ... In an action-packed junior college doubleheader in Poplarville on Tuesday night, Pearl River won the opener 17-15 on Matthew Magee's walk-off grand slam and Mississippi Gulf Coast rode six shutout innings from reliever Gavin Culpepper to a 5-2 win in Game 2. Gulf Coast still leads the MACJC South with a 6-2 record. East Mississippi, which has won seven of eight games overall, is 6-2 in North, in a virtual tie with Holmes (5-1). EMCC is in its first season under Chris Rose, the former Meridian CC coach.

welcome to the ...

Well, OK, it wasn't The Show. It was just a spring training game at Turner Field. But, hey, it surely felt big-time for Mauro Gomez, who blasted a walk-off two-run homer for Atlanta tonight to beat Minnesota. It was the first big-league at-bat this spring for Gomez, who hit 16 homers for the Mississippi Braves last summer. There's a chance he'll be back in Pearl next week. He's got power, that's for certain. Gomez's homer, incidentally, came off former M-Braves lefty Chuck James, who is trying to resurrect his career in the Twins' system.

blue skies

Just a note from out of the blue, so to speak: Blue Mountain College has held its own in its first season of competition. The Toppers of Holly Springs were 11-19 overall and 2-10 in the NAIA TranSouth Athletic Conference heading into a game today at Division II Christian Brothers. BMC lost 9-0 and 10-0 to Belhaven in its first two games back in February but notched its historic first win in Game 4 against Lambuth. The Toppers, coached by former New Albany skipper Curt Fowler and featuring a number of Mississippi juco products, are 6-0 against state rivals Tougaloo and Rust. They also beat then-NAIA No. 1 Cumberland on March 19.

take a moment

On this date in 1979, Luke Easter was shot and killed. The first black Mississippi native to play in the major leagues, Easter was working as a security guard when he was gunned down by a robber outside a bank in Euclid, Ohio. Born in 1915 (by most accounts) in Jonestown, a small community in Coahoma County, Easter was a massive left-handed slugger who hit 93 homers in an abbreviated big league career. He was known for his prodigious home runs, perhaps most impressive a shot into the center-field bleachers at the Polo Grounds in New York. That's a poke. Easter, who grew up in St. Louis, rose through the semi-pro and Negro Leagues ranks and finally made the big leagues — at age 34 — with the Cleveland Indians in 1949. He spent most of the next five years in the majors, played on in the minors until he was 48 and then went into coaching in the Baltimore Orioles system. Here's a nod to one of the state's pioneers whose life ended tragically and unfairly.

up in arms

True, offense is down all around college baseball with the new bats, but let's not let that diminish the remarkable pitching demonstrated by the state's Big 3 Division I schools on Sunday. Southern Miss' Geoffrey Thomas (remember the name) blanked Tulane on one hit — a bunt single — in one of the best outings by a state pitcher in recent memory. Thomas, a sophomore right-hander already pegged as a potentially high draft prospect for 2012, fanned six and walked two in the 12-0, seven-inning victory that gave USM a 2-1 series win. The series was on the line for Ole Miss, too, at Tennessee, and Austin Wright delivered eight shutout innings, allowing four hits and striking out eight in the 8-0 win. And Mississippi State completed a sweep of Auburn with a 5-0 win behind Nick Routt and Daryl Norris, who combined on a four-hitter. Lefty Routt, coming off elbow surgery, was limited to 3 2/3 innings. Norris, a freshman, stepped in and closed the deal by allowing just two hits over the final 5 1/3. As Belhaven coach Hill Denson recently said, "The fastball is back in college baseball." It is the best pitch, and with the toned-down bats, fewer of them can be turned around into homers or wall-rattling doubles. More pitchers can and will attack the strike zone now. The arms race is on, and Mississippi's Big 3 appear well-suited for it.

roster revelation

Matt Young made the Atlanta Braves' 25-man roster, after all. The diminutive Young, who spent parts of four seasons with the Mississippi Braves, is the club's fourth outfielder heading into the season. He beat out Joe Mather and Wilkin Ramirez when the final cuts were made today. Young has hit .286 with a .404 on-base percentage, seven runs and five RBIs in 25 spring games. He might not make a big splash statistically this season, but no one will out-hustle him. It's great to see his perseverance rewarded.

of note

Jackson State's Desmond Russell had a game to write home about on Saturday. The Bahamas native, a freshman at JSU, picked up his third win of the year with a seven-inning, eight-strikeout performance against Alabama A&M and also hit a grand slam, his second home run of the season. Quick now, name two other players from the Bahamas. How about ex-Big Red Machine outfielder Ed Armbrister and 2010 Mississippi Braves outfielder Antoan Richardson. ... On the day when coach Mike Kinnison set what is probably an unbreakable record for career victories at Delta State (641), senior outfielder Michael Niemann set the career stolen base record, now 73. Niemann, from Washington state, is having a bounce-back year after a sub-par 2010. He's hitting .356 with 16 steals and 39 runs in 27 games. Oh yeah, and the Statesmen are 5-0 in the Gulf South Conference heading into today's series finale at Southern Arkansas. ... Belhaven has a pretty potent 1-2 punch in its rotation: Alan McHenry is 6-0 and Brett Blaise 5-1 for the 24-10 club. And then there's closer Josh Clarke, who has five saves and a 3-1 record, the loss coming in Saturday's rain-interrupted second game at Auburn-Montgomery. BU also has welcomed the return to the lineup of outfielder Anthony Doss, the Southern Miss transfer who was out for an extended period with a wrist injury. Doss is hitting .359 in 18 games, second on the team to Tyler Wrinkle at .369.

catching up (some more)

Good to see that former Mississippi Braves standout Brandon Beachy earned the No. 5 starter job with Atlanta. He has a quiet confidence about him that should serve him well in the big leagues. Of course, he's also got great command of his pitches, which will serve him even better. It doesn't look like ex-M-Braves outfielder Matt Young will be with the big club at the start of the season, even though he's had a great spring. The emergence of Wilkin Ramirez has hurt Young's chances. Elsewhere, Jo-Jo Reyes has made the Toronto rotation, and fellow former M-Braves lefty Matt Harrison is in Texas' first five. Scott Diamond, trying to make the Minnesota bullpen as a Rule 5 pick, has been stalled by a minor injury. The Braves might get him back. Tim Collins, the little lefty who passed through Pearl briefly last summer, appears to have a real shot at making the Kansas City staff. And Wes Timmons, the 2005 M-Braves third baseman, is still battling for a backup infield job with Oakland.
P.S. Nice piece in the current Sports Illustrated about Baltimore Orioles manager Buck Showalter, the former Mississippi State star. The Orioles played well under Showalter at the end of 2010 but don't bet on them getting off to a good start this season. Check out their schedule for the first month. It's tough.

engines on

Don’t expect to see Rocket Wheeler kicked back in an easy chair munching popcorn in the Mississippi Braves’ dugout. But his job will be a little different this season. He’s running a Double-A club now after eight years of managing at the Class A level in Atlanta’s minor league system. In Double-A, “you’ve got guys who know how to play the game,” Wheeler said Wednesday in a phone interview from spring training in Florida. “And the beauty of it is, most of the guys who’ll be on this team have played for me already. I can sit back and watch them go to work. We won’t quit teaching, of course, but these guys know what’s expected of them.” Wheeler, 55, has been in pro ball since 1977, when he was drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays out of the University of Houston. He played for six years, then began a coaching and managing career. He joined the Braves’ system in 2003 and won a championship at Class A Rome with the likes of Jeff Francoeur, Brian McCann, Blaine Boyer and Kyle Davies. Wheeler spent the previous five years at Class A Myrtle Beach. He calls himself a “fundamentalist” who likes to play an aggressive game. “But a lot of times the team will dictate how you play,” he said. The Braves’ minor league teams won’t break camp until April 3, so the roster Wheeler will have to work with in Pearl is still very much uncertain. “But if it falls into place like we think it will, it’s going to be a really good club,” he said. “We just have to wait and see.” It’s a team that could be loaded with pitching prospects, including Julio Teheran, Randall Delgado and J.J. Hoover, plus shortstop Tyler Pastornicky and outfielders Mycal Jones and Cory Harrilchak, also highly regarded prospects. Wheeler, given name Ralph, got his nickname as a freshman in college, when he would regularly outrun his teammates in pre-practice drills. He’s slowed down some over the years — but maybe not that much. Atlanta farm director Kurt Kemp calls Wheeler “a high energy guy.” “He’s a good baseball man. He focuses on fundamentals, doesn’t do too many things outside the box,” Kemp said. The Rocket is set to launch at Trustmark Park on April 7.

juco wars

Division play is heating up in the MACJC ranks, and nowhere was there more of a sizzle than in Booneville on Tuesday. Northeast Mississippi Community College's Daymon Ericksen and Jordan Gulley combined on a no-hitter as the Tigers beat Mississippi Delta 6-1 in the opener of a twinbill. Delta bounced back to win its first game of the season in the nightcap. The Trojans are 1-17. Holmes has emerged as the leader in the North Division with a 5-1 mark. The Bulldogs split with East Mississippi (4-2) in Goodman on Tuesday, getting stellar pitching from Rafiel Johnson and Patrick Stewart to salvage the second game and keep a grip on first. Holmes visists Northeast (2-2 in division play) on Saturday. In the South, Gulf Coast, just 11-11 overall, is 4-0 and leading the division pack. The Bulldogs swept Hinds in Raymond on Tuesday, posting 13-4 and 12-1 wins. Hinds, nationally ranked in preseason, fell to 1-5 in the South. East Central, coming off a sweep of Copiah-Lincoln in Decatur, is in second place at 4-2. The jucos never fail to provide compelling storylines.

eye on ...

Desmond Jennings is expected to have a big impact on the Tampa Bay Rays' season — but it might not be this season. The former Itawamba Community College star, the subject of much buzz in the off-season after the Rays lost Carl Crawford, has had a rather subdued spring. He was hitting .154 with no extra base hits and one stolen base in 26 at-bats when he was sent to minor league camp last week. When Tampa Bay signed Johnny Damon and Manny Ramirez, it created a glut of outfielders heading into spring camp, and Jennings, once penciled in as the starting left fielder, seems to have been lost in the shuffle. A superb athlete with plus-plus speed, Jennings still has a bright future in the big leagues. It's just seems to be on hold.
P.S. Props to Southern Miss for cracking the Collegiate Baseball Top 30 at No. 25. The Golden Eagles (15-3) were impressive in winning three games in the Cougar Invitational at Charleston, S.C., over the weekend.

under the radar

Chase Porch isn't likely to show up on a Topps baseball card. His chances of playing in the major leagues, or even in an affiliated minor league, are razor thin. Still, his is a story worth recounting, a career worth tracking. To a baseball fan, it's interesting stuff. Northeast Mississippi Community College sent out a release today announcing that Porch, a former Tigers outfielder, had signed with the independent Amarillo Sox of the American Association. Reading on in the release, one comes to find out that Porch was a seven-year starter (seven years!) for East Union, a teeny, weeny school in northeast Mississippi whose teams are nicknamed Urchins. He was drafted out of high school by the Atlanta Braves but didn't sign, going instead to Meridian CC, where he pitched for a year. He left Meridian for Northeast, where, in 2008, he hit .431 with 10 home runs and 48 RBIs and earned third-team NJCAA All-America honors. From NEMCC, Porch went to NCAA Division II North Alabama. After a good season there, he signed with Pensacola of the American Association and was named the indy league's rookie of the year in 2010. He'll be back in the AA this summer. It's a long way from The Show, but he's playing the game. It's a baseball tale, as yet unfinished.

devilish start

Mississippi Valley State tuned up for the Southwestern Athletic Conference season by losing its first nine games. Good plan, apparently. Doug Shanks' Delta Devils have won seven of their eight conference games and are in first place in the SWAC East. The Devils, now 7-14 overall, haven't hit (.257, eighth in the league) or pitched (6.65 ERA, seventh) particularly well but do lead the league in fielding percentage (.965) and total chances. Defense does count in college baseball, especially now with so much juice taken out of the bats. Two stars have emerged for Valley: right-hander Steven Barnes, who is 2-2 with a save, a 3.50 ERA and 36 strikeouts in 36 innings; and Jerry Hildreth, who is tied for the league lead in steals with 10 and second in runs with 20. Valley hosts preseason SWAC favorite Jackson State for a three-game series April 2-3. That's one to watch.

on a roll

Delta State-William Carey is a nice little intrastate rivalry between two small colleges with proud traditions. When they meet Wednesday in Hattiesburg, the game could have more significance than usual. DSU coach Mike Kinnison can break Boo Ferriss' school career mark for victories in that game. Kinnison picked up Nos. 637, 638 and 639 (tying Ferriss' mark) this weekend as the Statesmen swept past Arkansas-Monticello in their first Gulf South Conference series of the season. (In fact, DSU outscored UAM 41-11, but that dominance is just a footnote here.) Kinnison, who played for the legendary Ferriss, will be inducted into the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame this summer. You might say he's having a good year.
P.S. If DSU loses to Carey, Kinnison's next shot at the record W will come next Saturday at Southern Arkansas in a GSC doubleheader.

eye on ...

Former Ole Miss ace Lance Lynn probably isn't going to win the spring competition for the fifth starter's spot in St. Louis, but he appears close to landing a big league job, perhaps later this season. Lynn, rated St. Louis' No. 6 prospect by Baseball America, started Saturday against Houston and threw three hitless innings before allowing a couple of runs in the fourth. He's 0-2 with a 4.91 ERA in 11 innings this spring; he has fanned nine and walked four. The 6-foot-2, 250-pound Lynn was a first-round pick by the Cardinals out of UM in 2008 and rose quickly. He spent all of last season at Triple-A Memphis, posting a 13-10 record with a 4.77 ERA. He grabbed a lot more attention when he struck out 16 batters in a Pacific Coast League playoff game. Lynn reportedly improved both his fastball and curveball last season and has impressed Cardinals officials this spring. Don't expect him to make the 25-man roster for opening day, but he's coming soon.

winning ways

There was joy in Hattiesburg last June when right-hander Todd McInnis announced he would reurn for his senior season at Southern Miss. “I know he has a lot more he wants to accomplish,” USM coach Scott Berry said at the time. On Friday, McInnis tied the school record for career wins, beating nationally ranked College of Charleston for his 29th victory, matching the total of a fellow Northwest Rankin High alum, Darrell Lindsey. McInnis is 4-1 this season for a 13-3 team. Barring a calamity, he’ll set a career victories mark at USM that'll never be broken. McInnis arrived at USM in 2007 as a highly decorated high school player; he was The Clarion-Ledger newspaper’s Mr. Baseball in 2006. He won four of his first five decisions at USM before a back injury curtailed his freshman season. He received a medical redshirt, giving him four more years of eligibility. He went 6-3 with a 5.45 ERA as a redshirt freshman in 2008, then posted a 9-4, 3.37 mark in 2009, earning Conference USA pitcher of the year honors and leading the Golden Eagles to their first College World Series berth. He won six games last year and lowered his ERA to 3.31. The Eagles won the C-USA Tournament but fell short of a return trip to the CWS. Though being a school’s career wins leader is certainly special, individual records weren’t very high on McInnis’ wish list when he decided to turn down a shot at pro ball last summer. (He was drafted in the 32nd round by Oakland.) He said he was coming back in hopes of making another CWS trip. And if USM is to get back to Omaha, it’ll need another big year from the 6-foot-1, 160-pound McInnis, who was named C-USA preseason pitcher of the year by Baseball America magazine. The Eagles, projected as an NCAA Tournament team by Baseball America, begin C-USA play next weekend against Tulane at Taylor Park. Expect McInnis to be on the hill in the Friday opener. That career wins mark could be his alone very soon.
P.S. An early nominee for Game of the Year: Belhaven 1, Mobile 0 in 15 innings on Friday. The Blazers (21-6) won the Southern States Athletic Conference game on a walk-off HBP. Josh Clarke got the win, his third, with four innings of one-hit relief.

opening day redux

For Mississippi State and Ole Miss, opening day is here again. The Southeastern Conference season begins tonight, when the Bulldogs visit Vanderbilt and the Rebels play host to Alabama. The good starts by the Dogs and Rebs — both are 14-4 — won’t mean so much if they stumble this weekend. State’s task is much more daunting; Vanderbilt is 17-1 and ranked as high as No. 2 in the nation. But Ole Miss may feel more urgency, opening at home against an 11-6 Bama team. Come Sunday night, reevaluations may be in order. … Conference play begins — or continues — for many of the state’s other schools this weekend, as well. Delta State, which has labored to a 12-9 start, hosts Arkansas-Monticello in its Gulf South Conference opening series. Elsewhere, Belhaven hosts Mobile and William Carey welcomes Loyola-New Orleans in Southern States Athletic Conference play; Mississippi College is home against American Southwest Conference rival Texas-Dallas; and Millsaps is on the road against Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference foe Hendrix.
P.S. Former MSU star Jonathan Papelbon got roughed up in an outing for the Boston Red Sox on Thursday and saw his spring ERA rise to 12.60 in six games. Consequently, Red Sox Nation’s concern about its closer is also on the rise. Keep an eye on this situation.

worry

It's not Chris Coghlan's surgically repaired knee that's the cause of concern in Florida Marlins' camp. It's his throwing shoulder. The former Ole Miss star was sent to minor league camp today and advised not to do any strenuous throwing in game action, mlb.com reported. Coghlan's status as the opening day center fielder appears in doubt.

will power

Millsaps coach Jim Page recently bemoaned his team's lack of consistent offensive punch this season. It should be noted that he wasn't talking about senior outfielder Will Hawkins. The Nettleton product is hitting .452 with five homers and 27 RBIs plus 17 stolen bases for a 14-6 club. He extended his hitting streak to 26 games (over two seasons) with a home run in Wednesday's 8-5 win over defending NCAA Division III national champ Illinois Wesleyan. Hawkins hit two homers in an eight-run inning last Saturday as the Majors rallied past nationally ranked Trinity 12-4 in San Antonio. A remarkable athlete who has won Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference player of the year awards in both baseball and football, Hawkins may have a Ferriss Trophy award in his future.

connected

The Jackson Generals produced quite a few standout major leaguers during their time at Smith-Wills Stadium (1991-99), but only two former Gens made MLB Network's all-time single season Astros lineup. Lance Berkman (for his 2001 Houston campaign) made the team as the left fielder and Richard Hidalgo (2000) as the center fielder. An ex-Jackson Met, Mike Scott (1986), was picked as the pitcher. Many of the Generals alumni made their mark with other clubs (see Bobby Abreu, Julio Lugo, Melvin Mora, Freddy Garcia). Berkman was the last of the former Generals hanging on with the Astros when he was traded away last summer. But there are still some Mississippi ties in Houston. Former Jackson Mets shortstop Al Pedrique is the bench coach for manager Brad Mills, and Dave Clark, the ex-Shannon High and Jackson State star, coaches third base. And on the field, there's Nettleton's Bill Hall. Hall, signed by Houston to add pop to their lineup at second base, hit his first homer of the spring on Tuesday. This came a day after he had a verbal confrontation with Philadelphia pitcher Cole Hamels, who brushed Hall back with a pitch after the previous batter had homered. Hall was staunchly criticized by the MLB Network crew for his antics, and rightly so. The Astros are Hall's fourth team in three years. That's usually a bad sign. He might want to keep his mouth shut and just play the game. Otherwise, this particular Mississippi-Houston connection might start to break up.
P.S. Southern Miss' B.A. Vollmuth belted his sixth homer of the year on Tuesday. The junior shortstop, a third-team preseason All-America pick by Baseball America in 2010, didn't make their 2011 list despite hitting .386 with 20 homers a year ago. Seems odd. He also wasn't among BA's top 50 draft projections for this June. Vollmuth, who goes 6 feet 4, 200 pounds, was a 32nd-round pick (by Houston) coming out of Biloxi High in 2008. It'll be interesting to see how much higher he goes this summer.

upset update

So much for Ole Miss overlooking Jackson State (see previous post). Matt Tracy struck out 11 over seven innings as the Rebels whipped the Tigers 8-0 in Oxford tonight. ... Meanwhile, there was an upset of sorts tonight in Jackson, where Millsaps pounded defending NCAA Division III national champion Illinois Wesleyan 15-4 in a 6 1/2-inning, 10-run rule contest. Of course, 11th-ranked Illinois Wesleyan was playing its second game of the day, having beaten Mississippi College 7-5 in 10 innings in Clinton in a matinee. Millsaps, ranked No. 24 in D-III, and the visitors from the north play again Wednesday.
P.S. Among Delta State's 2011 Sports Hall of Fame class are Dee Haynes, who won an NCAA Division II national player of the year award in 2000, and Jason Page, a D-II All-American in 1996. The inductees were announced today. The ceremony is April 1 in Cleveland.

upset alert in oxford?

If there is such a thing as a "trap game" in baseball, tonight's Jackson State-Ole Miss clash might qualify. Ole Miss is 13-4 coming off a weekend sweep of Lipscomb and has to be thinking about this weekend's SEC-opening series against Alabama. Jackson State is coming to Oxford (6:30 p.m. first pitch) with a 7-7 record. The Tigers, from the unsung Southwestern Athletic Conference, are 0-4 all-time against the Rebels. While Rebels fans stifle a yawn, they might want to remember that JSU beat Mississippi State 3-1 last year. JSU was the preseason favorite to win the SWAC this year and has some quality arms, one of which is likely to throw against Ole Miss. UM will go with erstwhile outfielder Matt Tracy, who has a 6.14 ERA in limited pitching appearances this spring. (He is hitting .348, which happens to lead the club.) So, it could get interesting in Oxford. Then again, probably not.

making noise

On a day packed with noteworthy wins by Mississippi colleges big and small, don't overlook what happened in Hattiesburg. William Carey, which has been scuffling, posted a doubleheader sweep of NAIA ninth-ranked Southern Poly State at Wheeler Field. The Crusaders did it with pitching, holding their Southern States Athletic Conference foe to three runs and 10 hits over 17 innings. Scotty Reese threw a five-hit shutout over seven innings in a 2-0 win in the opener, and Kody James, on in relief of Taylor Martin, threw 2 2/3 hitless innings in a 4-3, 10-inning win in Game 2. Carey improved to 11-8. The games did not count in the SSAC standings since the teams are in different divisions. Carey's first SSAC West Division games are next weekend against Loyola-New Orleans.

who are those guys?

Two shining moments from Friday: Ole Miss' Matt Crouse throws a four-hit shutout to beat Lipscomb 8-0; and Belhaven's Derek Tortorich belts a two-out, two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth to beat Truett-McConnell 3-1. Gotta know more. Crouse is a 6-foot-4, 183-pound junior left-hander from Haymarket, Va. He spent a year at Young Harris Junior College in Georgia before transferring to Ole Miss for the 2010 season. Crouse was 5-1 with a 3.74 ERA last year; so far in 2011, as the Rebels' new No. 1 starter, he is 4-0 with a 1.67 and 22 strikeouts (nine on Friday) in 27 innings. He has issued only two walks. That's command. Tortorich is a 6-1, 200-pound senior from Picayune by way of Pearl River Community College. He shared catching duties last year on the Blazers' NAIA World Series team and hit .257 with five homers and 27 RBIs. For 2011, he's hitting .333 with two homers and 11 RBIs. Few homers at spacious Smith-Wills Stadium are cheap, especially now with the new bats. That makes Tortorich's walk-off blow Friday all the more impressive.

attention, please

Millsaps is on its way to San Antonio today for an always compelling series against Trinity. Regardless of the sport, something interesting is bound to happen when these Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference rivals get together. This weekend's baseball series — single games Saturday and Sunday — matches teams tied for first in the SCAC West at 6-1. "We're heading into the lion's den," Millsaps coach Jim Page said. "But it's always fun playing those guys. If you're not looking forward to a game against Trinity, you shouldn't be doing this." Page's Majors are 11-5 overall, which has the coach a little disappointed. "We really haven't played well yet," he said. "You gotta think that when we start to play better, maybe it'll be something special." He has no complaints about the pitching. The staff has a 3.60 ERA. No. 1 starter Aaron Williams is 3-0 with a 3.10 ERA, and fifth-year senior Jason Riggins has been a revelation as a utility arm, posting a 2-0 record, one save and a 1.26 ERA in six appearances. "He's really been a critical factor," Page said. Defense let the Majors down in a 3-2 home loss to Huntingdon on Wednesday, but Page feels OK about the gloves. It's the bats that need to wake up. The Majors are hitting just .287 overall with the new, toned-down sticks. Senior Will Hawkins is raking at a cool .464 clip, but many are scuffling. Page has always liked to play aggressively on the bases, and that tactic is paying off in a big way this spring. The team has 52 stolen bases, led by Hawkins with 14. Six players have four or more steals. "Seven of the nine in our lineup are a real threat to steal," Page said. The running game could loom large against Trinity, which sports a 17-2 record and, like Millsaps, has designs on an NCAA Division III Tournament bid.

eye on ...

This is a spring of some import for Chris Coghlan in the Florida Marlins' camp. The onetime Ole Miss star is coming off knee surgery and moving from left to center field. He was the National League rookie of the year in 2009, when he hit. 321 with nine homers, 47 RBIs and 10 steals in 121 games. After a sluggish start last season, he was hitting .268 with five homers and eight steals in 91 games when he tore up his left knee during some postgame hi-jinks. His wheels are everything. He's the Marlins' leadoff batter in addition to his new duties patrolling the middle in the outfield. The Marlins are proceeding with caution this spring. Coghlan started back-to-back games for the first time Sunday and Monday, took Tuesday off and isn't in the lineup today. He told mlb.com on Tuesday that his repaired knee is making "steady improvement."

small wonders

Mississippi College appears to have found its stride, scoring 63 runs during its current four-game win streak. The Choctaws, scheduled to begin American Southwest Conference play this weekend at Louisiana College, are 7-6. Senior outfielder Brandon Benton was named the ASC East hitter of the week after going 9-for-15 with three homers in four games last week. The well-traveled Benton, a Pearl High alum who has also played at Hinds Community College and Belhaven, is hitting .435 for the season in eight games. ... Millsaps swept Austin College in a Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference series over the weekend to improve to 11-4 overall and 6-1 in the league. The number that jumps out for the Majors: 51. That's their stolen base total. Leading the way is senior Will Hawkins, better known for his power, with 13 steals. ... Belhaven (14-5) took Monday's rubber game against Loyola-New Orleans to move to 2-1 in the Southern States Athletic Conference. Josh Clarke, from Clinton via Hinds CC, got his third save in Monday's 6-3 win; he could be a key piece down the stretch for the Blazers. ... On the junior college front, Pearl River improved to 12-2 with a sweep of East Mississippi on Sunday. The Wildcats rode the pitching of Buck Bernard and Robert Marzoni. And Hinds (11-3) split a Monday doubleheader against defending national champ LSU-Eunice; the Eagles let a 3-1 lead get away in the seventh inning of Game 1 but bounced back for an 11-8 win in Game 2, getting a home run from Morris Grant.

and counting

We're one month out. Opening day for the Mississippi Braves is April 7 at Trustmark Park. New manager Rocket Wheeler takes the reins of a club that has made two postseason appearances in its six years of existence, the last in 2008. This could be a contending team, possibly featuring the United Nations Rotation (Colombia's Julio Teheran, Panama's Randall Delgado, the Dominican Republic's Arodys Vizcaino and Americans J.J. Hoover and Brett Oberholtzer — all top 10 prospects in the system) and some promising young position players (shortstop Tyler Pastornicky, outfielders Mycal Jones, Cory Harrilchak and Adam Milligan and second baseman Phil Gosselin). So, watch the standings. But watch the attendance figures, too. Not so much opening day, which will be a big number, but Games 3, 4 and 5 of that first series. Official attendance at the TeePee dipped to 2,620 last season. The regular season average has fallen each year since the club drew 3,847 in 2005. That's not good. M-Braves officials have made a concerted effort this off-season to boost ticket sales, hoping to reverse that trend. The first homestand might give an indication of where the number is headed.
P.S. Rashun Dixon, the former Terry High star, put up some numbers in a split squad game for Oakland on Sunday. Dixon, the A's No. 28 prospect, had a hit, scored a run and drove in two against Milwaukee. He played in low-A ball last year, so he's a few years away from The Show, but his career track bears watching.

on the buffet

The schedule serves up an appetizing slate of games for many of the state's colleges this weekend. (Weather permitting, of course. It's March in Mississippi, so anything can happen and probably will.) Still, here's the best of the menu: Ole Miss hosts Tulane for a three-game set starting tonight that could test the nationally ranked Rebels' mettle. Alcorn State is at Mississippi Valley for a three-game Southwestern Athletic Conference series that begins with a Saturday doubleheader. Jackson State is at SWAC rival Alabama State for single games on Saturday and Sunday. Belhaven and William Carey play their first Southern States Athletic Conference games, the nationally ranked Blazers (12-4) visiting Loyola-New Orleans today and Saturday (twinbill) and the Crusaders (8-6) traveling to Truett-McConnell for a game today and two on Saturday. Mississippi College, off to a scuffling start at 3-6, faces a non-conference road series against McMurry. The main dish for the weekend is cooking at Twenty Field in Jackson, where Millsaps will host Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference foe Austin College for a three-game set (two Saturday, one Sunday). The Majors are 9-4, 4-1 SCAC, and 5-0 at home. Will Hawkins, the senior thumper from Nettleton, is hitting .456 with two homers and 20 RBIs. Another appealing entree will be served up in Raymond, where Hinds Community College is hosting the Wes Cliburn Memorial Tournament. Nationally ranked HCC (10-2) is scheduled to play defending NJCAA champion LSU-Eunice (8-3) on Saturday at 6. Anybody hungry?

go crazy?

In the immortal words of Jack Buck: "I don't believe what I just saw." Tougaloo beat Belhaven at Smith-Wills Stadium today. For the first time ever. Granted, the Bulldogs' program hasn't been around that long, but it has established a legacy of losing. A lot. Put it this way, Belhaven, ranked 12th in the latest NAIA poll, has won more games this season (12) than Tougaloo has won in its history. The Bulldogs, 0-13 and outscored 135-24 this season before today's victory, were 0-77 all-time in the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference before winning a conference game last year. Belhaven was the GCAC champ in 2010. So this was monumentally historic. The final was 2-1. Belhaven, hitting .313 as a team, managed two infield singles against Tougaloo's Michael Langston, a little left-hander who baffled them with off-speed junk for nine innings. Langston, a senior from Chicago, threw about 125 pitches. He likely could've thrown 125 more. He never threw anything over 72 mph and operated in the 60s most of the time. He picked off two baserunners, and BU had another runner gunned down at third base on an attempted steal. The Blazers pushed across an unearned run in the first inning. Tougaloo tied it in the third on an RBI double by its imposing cleanup batter, William Walker. The Bulldogs took the lead in the eighth on a two-hit by Dustin Triplett. Langston, who came in with a 12.27 ERA in three previous games, made it stand up, stranding the tying run at third in the ninth. Where did this come from? Who knows? Stuff happens in baseball, as a shocked crowd at Smith-Wills today could attest.

changing places

There was a time — 2007, to be exact — when it appeared that Brandon Jones was on his way to being the Atlanta Braves' starting left fielder for years to come. Now, he's fighting for a backup job with the Milwaukee Brewers, his fourth team in about a year's time. Just hard to believe, really. The soft-spoken Jones, with his picturesque left-handed swing, hit .293 with 15 home runs, 74 RBIs and 12 stolen bases for the '07 Mississippi Braves, who rode his back to a first-half title in the Southern League South. He went to Triple-A and hit .300 with four homers and 26 RBIs there, then got a cup of coffee in Atlanta. He got another brief look with the Braves in 2008 but apparently didn't impress the right people. Atlanta signed aging veteran Garret Anderson to play left field in 2009, and Jones seemingly became an afterthought. Though he batted .257 in his 51 big-league games with Atlanta, Jones was waived prior to the 2010 season and claimed by Pittsburgh, which gave him a short look last spring before demoting him to the minors. Jones, perhaps disheartened, struggled with the Pirates, who traded him to Detroit late last summer. He became a free agent this past off-season and signed with the Brewers. He's in their camp now, battling the likes of Brandon Boggs and Chris Dickerson for the fourth outfield job. Jones is only 27, so he's still got time to find his niche. There was magic in his swing in 2007. It's still gotta be in there somewhere.
P.S. Ole Miss, unranked in any preseason polls, has cracked the Top 30 (at No. 28) in the latest Collegiate Baseball rankings. The Rebels are off to a 7-1 start and took two of three at Houston last weekend, a nice showing.