Smokin’

Three one-run wins for the Mississippi Mudcats. Dave Parker drove in five runs to lead the winners. The Cobra and Bill Melton each batted .364, Buddy Myer .385 and Luke Easter, who got the start ahead of Boomer Scott in all three games, was the top man at .417.

Aussie Dave Nilsson almost got a win for the NJAA squad on his own with a grand slam, but Parker’s homer in the next inning clinched the series. Nilsson finished at .500 (6-for-12) with the homer and four RBI on one swing. Manager-second baseman Joe Quinn and first sacker Tony Solaita hit .333. The starting pitching, which had been the concern going into the series, got NJAA to its supposedly stronger relief corps, but the bullpen guys suffered all three losses.

Next, it’s a two-team showdown between five states when Mountain West (Nevada/Utah/New Mexico) opposes Dakota (North and South).

Mississippi vs. NJAA

Game 1 at Mississippi

NJAA............ 2 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 - 3 10 0
Mississippi..... 1 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 1 - 4 10 1
W: Oswalt L: Hutton

Bill Melton tripled leading off the bottom of the ninth and scored on Frank White’s single to win the opener for Mississippi.

Roy Oswalt gave up 10 hits, but walked nine and struck out six in going the distance for the winners. White and Dave Parker each drove in two runs for Mississippi.

Tony Solaita and Craig Shipley drove in runs in the first inning for NJAA (non-Japan Asia plus Australia; or the Eastern Hemisphere minus Japan), and Shin-Soo Choo’s RBI single in the fourth made it 3-1 NJAA.

Chan Ho Park pitched into the sixth before Mississippi tied it on RBI singles by Parker and White. Mark Hutton, the fifth NJAA pitcher, gave up the Melton triple and White single in the ninth for the defeat.

Game 2 at Mississippi

NJAA............ 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 - 2 11 1
Mississippi..... 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 - 3 9 1
W: Russell L: Lloyd
HR: Melton

Bill Hall scored the tying run in the ninth as a pinch runner, and then stayed in the game to drive in the winning run in the 10th to give Mississippi a 2-0 series edge.

NJAA held a 2-1 lead in the game behind Chien-Ming Wang, who pitched 7 1/3 solid innings and knocked in a run in the second inning after left fielder Ellis Burks dropped a fly ball.

But in the last of the ninth, Burks doubled leading off and was replaced by Hall. He eventually scored on an infield out by Bill Melton, who homered earlier for Mississippi’s first run.

Pinch hitter George Scott, batting for winning pitcher Reb Russell, led off the 10th against Graeme Lloyd with a single. Cool Papa Bell hit into a force play, and moved to second on a groundout. Dave Parker was walked intentionally and Hall followed with the winning single.

Claude Passeau pitched eight innings for Mississippi, giving up 10 hits but just one earned run.

Game 3 at Mississippi

Mississippi..... 1 0 2 0 0 1 0 1 1 - 6 11 0
NJAA............ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 0 - 5 7 1
W: Bridges L: Kim S: Ferriss
HR: Parker, Gibbs, Nilsson

Dave Parker homered off Byung-Hyun Kim with two out in the ninth as Mississippi won in its last at-bat for the third time to complete the series sweep.

Mississippi built a 5-0 lead, mostly against NJAA starter Danny Graves, but Guy Bush’s shutout went away in the eighth. NJAA loaded the bases on two singles and a walk, and Bush walked Eddie Ainsmith to force in a run and bring the tying run to the plate. Marshall Bridges came in to face lefty Dave Nilsson, whose grand slam tied the game. Bridges got the next two outs and ended up as the winner on Parker’s homer.

NJAA got the tying run to second in the ninth against Boo Ferriss, on Glenn Williams’ single and pinch runner Trent Durrington’s stolen base. But Ferriss retired the next two hitters for the save and the sweep.

Delaware vs. Colorado

Game 1 at Colorado

Delaware........ 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 - 1 7 0
Colorado........ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 - 0 6 1
W: McDonald L: Halladay
HR: Mench

Kevin Mench homered and Webster McDonald pitched a six-hitter to give Delaware the opening win on the road.

McDonald walked one and struck out one. Colorado’s biggest threat was in the sixth, when John Stearns and Johnny Frederick singled and Roy Hartzell walked to load the bases. But McDonald retired Larry Harlow on a groundout to end the inning. He set down the last nine Colorado batters to finish his 112-pitch outing.

Roy Halladay pitched great for the hosts, giving up just four hits in seven innings. But he hung a slider to Mench in the fourth and that cost him.

Game 2 at Colorado

Delaware........ 0 0 2 0 1 0 1 0 0 - 4 9 0
Colorado........ 1 0 0 3 0 0 1 0 x - 5 13 0
W: LaRoche L: McMahon S: Gossage
HR: Mouton

John Stearns’ single scored Johnny Lindell with the tiebreaking run in the seventh and Colorado earned a split at home.

James Mouton hit a leadoff homer in the first and drove in another run in the home team’s three-run fourth. Dave May had three hits, two of them doubles, and knocked in three runs for Delaware.

Scott Elarton went six innings for Colorado, striking out five and adding a single in the three-run fourth. Dave LaRoche got the win after allowing May’s two-out RBI double in the top of the seventh and Goose Gossage pitched out of a two-on, one-out situation in the ninth for the save.

Sadie McMahon, in relief of Chris Short, gave up a double to Lindell and the Stearns single in the seventh and took the loss.

Game 3 at Delaware

Colorado........ 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 2 0 - 3 6 2
Delaware........ 0 0 0 2 2 0 0 0 x - 4 6 4
W: Cunningham L: Packard S: Morris
HR: Stearns

Bert Cunningham pitched 8 1/3 innings and contributed a two-run single to give Delaware a 2-1 series lead.

Rube Vinson’s two-out, two-run single put Delaware ahead in the fourth and Cunningham knocked one through a pulled-in infield after Johnny Lindell dropped a fly in the fifth. Gene Packard gave up two earned runs, four total, in six innings to take the defeat.

It was a sloppy game, with Delaware committing four of the six errors, but Cunningham managed to pitch around the defensive problems. John Stearns hit a two-run homer in the eighth to cut the Delaware lead to 4-3, and after Delino DeShields booted a grounder with one out in the ninth, Delaware manager Dallas Green went to the pen. Huck Betts and lefty John Morris each got one out to wrap it up.

Game 4 at Delaware

Colorado........ 2 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 - 4 12 0
Delaware........ 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 - 1 4 0
W: Hughes L: Snell S: Gossage

Johnny Frederick had four hits and Tom Hughes pitched seven strong innings to keep Colorado alive and force a Game 5 back at home.

Hughes walked six, but gave up just three hits and got the victory, with help from Tippy Martinez and Goose Gossage, who got the last two outs for the save. Delaware stranded 10 runners in the contest.

Colorado got on the board right away against Ian Snell, with Frederick getting a base hit with two out in the first. Johnny Lindell doubled him home and then scored on Roy Hartzell’s single. Larry Harlow and Chuck Cottier drove in runs in the third. Snell lasted only four innings, allowing nine hits.

Game 5 at Colorado

Delaware........ 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 - 1 8 2
Colorado........ 0 2 2 0 1 0 0 0 x - 5 11 2
W: Halladay L: McDonald S: Gossage

Johnny Lindell went 3-for-3 with a pair of RBI and Roy Halladay did the rest, pitching into the ninth and carrying Colorado into the second round.

Halladay scattered eight hits and struck out eight while walking none, as Delaware was held to a single run for the second game in a row. After a pair of singles in the ninth, Goose Gossage came on, and after an error loaded the bases, Gossage got pinch hitter Spook Jacobs to hit into a double play to end the series.

Webster McDonald wasn’t as successful this time for Delaware, giving up five runs – three earned – in six innings. He balked with two on in the second, leading to an RBI groundout and sacrifice fly. Lindell drove in the second of two third-inning runs with a double and got another two-out, run-scoring hit in the fifth.

Next: The stars of this series, and a look at Mississippi against most of the Eastern Hemisphere.

Southern accent

Somehow, I skipped right over the Midwest group. I meant to do these alphabetically. Well, I promised the South next so we’ll do that now, then go back.

Along with the Central, the South figures to be the most competitive of our groups. Good rivalries too with the SEC states well represented.

Size really doesn’t matter down here. Florida or Georgia might be the biggest but I think there is less difference top to bottom here than anywhere else. A pretty good team is going to stay home, and it might be tough to get a wild-card spot as well because there isn’t a weak team to beat up on.

1. Alabama. It’s a great time to be a Crimson Tide fan again, and the Yellowhammers should keep the good feeling going down there. I just can’t bet against Mays, Aaron and Paige.

2. Georgia. Extremely dangerous offense, with Cobb, Robinson, Gibson and whomever plays first. But I don’t know, even with Dick Redding, if the pitching is enough.

3. Florida. Really good outfield with Raines-Dawson-Sheffield, and Pop Lloyd is as good as it gets at shortstop. Pitching might be shaky behind Carlton.

4. Kentucky. Tough call between the neighbors but I think the Commonwealth is a little better at key spots (especially shortstop). On the bubble for the tournament.

5. Tennessee. I could see the Vols moving higher if the pitching holds up, because they will score some runs with Helton, Stearnes and Co.

6. Mississippi. Cool Papa Bell sets the table for Dave Parker, George Scott and others, but Roy Oswalt is about the only reliable arm around, unless Brett Favre retires again and joins this team.

Next: We’re down to the Midwest and the Southwest groups, plus we’ll look at our first exhibition results.

Delta force?

The neighboring states have a pretty large storehouse of talent. Mississippi, however, hasn’t been quite as fortunate as Louisiana (which we’ve seen) or Alabama (coming up in a few posts).

If Dave Parker had played the second half of his career as well as he did the first, he’d probably be in the Hall of Fame. Frank White had a fabulous career as the Royals second baseman back when Kansas City was a winning franchise. And Roy Oswalt has been one of the best pitchers of the 21st Century. There are other interesting figures here too: Chet Lemon, George (Boomer) Scott and Dennis (Oil Can) Boyd among them.

The only Hall of Famer so far from the Magnolia State is a speedy outfielder named James Bell. That name may not ring, uh, familiar, until you hear the nickname: Cool Papa. One of the best all-time nicknames, it refers to his relaxed demeanor. But the Cool Papa was a fast man, possibly the fastest of all. He played for the St. Louis Stars, Pittsburgh Crawfords and Homestead Grays, all of them great teams in the Negro leagues. Integration came too late for Bell to play in MLB, but he was a legendary player, a lifetime .341 hitter and with the tremendous speed provides a great threat from the leadoff spot.

There were only two choices for manager from MLB, both named Harry. Harry (The Hat) Walker, who got his nickname from adjusting his cap in the batters’ box, actually was over .500 as a skipper with the Pirates and Astros, nearly winning a pennant in Pittsburgh in ’66. But he’s an outfielder on this team – interestingly, brother Dixie plays for Georgia – and so I’m going with the other Harry.

Harry Craft managed three different teams, all of which were among biggest challenges in baseball history: the late 1950s Kansas City A’s who were a glorified farm club to the Yankees; the 1961 Cubs as part of the wacky “College of Coaches” experiment; and the expansion Houston Colt .45s. He’s probably a better choice for this team, which is probably going to have a big challenge in winning more than a few games.

MISSISSIPPI MUDCATS

OF Cool Papa Bell
RH Oil Can Boyd
RH Chad Bradford
LH Marshall Bridges
OF Ellis Burks
RH Guy Bush
CA Bob Didier
RH Atley Donald
1B Luke Easter
RH Boo Ferriss
CA Jake Gibbs
UT Bill Hall
OF Larry Herndon
OF Chet Lemon
1B Sam Leslie
IF Eric McNair
3B Bill Melton
LH Willie Mitchell
CA Jerry Moses
2B Buddy Myer
RH Roy Oswalt
OF Dave Parker
RH Claude Passeau
LH Reb Russell
1B George Scott
OF Harry Walker
2B Frank White
OF Dmitri Young

Next: Illinois.