MCC Baseball Set to Open 2017 Season

From School Reports

The Meridian Community College baseball squad is getting set to open the 2017 season on Saturday and the new season on the diamond for the Eagles will provide plenty of new faces in the lineup. The Eagles are returning only eight sophomores from a team that finished 39-12 overall last season and ranked in the top 20 among all junior college teams. MCC made yet another postseason appearance last season, but was eventually eliminated in the MACJC State Tournament by Northwest Mississippi Community College. The Eagles are gearing up for another run at the JUCO World Series this season, but fifth year head coach Dillon Sudduth will need to rely on plenty of youth in key positions to make a National Championship run.

“This has been a fun group to coach,” said Sudduth. “They have been a hard working group throughout the fall and preseason practices. As a group, these guys have bought in to our blue collar culture and mentality.”

MCC will also enter the season ranked 18^th in the Collegiate Baseball Preseason Poll and should be a heavy contender in the very tough league of the MACJC. “At Meridian the expectations are to win championships year in year out,” Sudduth added. “That’s why you come to MCC and players embrace that.”

The Eagles will need to rely on plenty of youth throughout the season, but the 2017 squad will have plenty of pop in the middle of the lineup that should help in their cause. Sophomore Luke Craig will return for the 2017 season and brings back a ton of power that should help lead the Eagles offensively. Craig, a University of Arkansas-Little Rock signee, led MCC at the plate last season with nine home runs and batted .352 in the middle of the lineup. Craig also drove in 52 runs last season which was the best among the MCC squad and Craig primarily at first base defensively last season or was the designated hitter in the lineup.

The other returning sophomore that should provide some help in the lineup for MCC will be sophomore Blake Fields. The former George County product finished the 2016 season with a .322 batting average and four home runs. Fields played at several different positions defensively last season for the Eagles, but will see most of his action this season in right field. The other key returning sophomore to the team in 2017 will be sophomore JD Gann from Birmingham, AL. Gann saw limited in action in 2016 for the Eagles and finished with a .242 batting average. Gann, a University of Arkansas-Little Rock signee, drove in 13 runs last season for the Eagles and will see action at third base for MCC. The only other position player that is returning for the 2017 campaign will be utility player Chase Coker. The South Alabama signee played a variety of roles on the 2016 team and should provide the same type of versatility for 2017 edition of the Eagles. Coker ended the 2016 campaign with a .274 batting average and drove in nine runs for the Eagles.

The Eagles will also have a pair of new outfielders this season to join Blake Fields (right field) and those include: Trace Jordan (Sumrall, MS) and Milton Smith (Starkville, MS). MCC will also have plenty of youth at catcher this season as Garrett Busby (Pelahatchie, MS) and Cade Ewing (Madison, MS) will split the duties behind the plate.

The pitching staff for the Eagles will also be looking to lean on plenty of new faces, but the rotation should be anchored by sophomore Caleb Yarbrough. The South Alabama signee brings back the most experience on the mound this season after finishing 2016 with 23 innings pitched and 21 strikeouts. Yarbrough will move into the starting rotation this season after spending most of 2016 in the bullpen for the Eagles. The three freshman members of the projected starting rotation for the Eagles in 2017 will include: Briar Russell (Sumrall, MS), Hunter Stanley (Hammond, LA), and Connor Cosse (New Orleans, LA). The bullpen for the Eagles will also be filled with plenty of freshman this season, but Bukarhi Brown will look to be one of the key arms out of the pen for the Eagles. Brown, a former Terry High product, tossed 16 innings last season for the Eagles and had one of the lowest ERA’s on the 2016 team at 2.81.

MCC will open the 2017 season this Saturday with a home doubleheader at Scaggs Field against Lawson State Community College beginning at 1p.m. The Eagles will also host the annual Rush Invitational Tournament next weekend (February 18-19) at Scaggs Field. MCC will play its only games in the tournament on Sunday afternoon in a doubleheader against Jefferson College at noon. The 2017 scheduled for the Eagles will be filled with plenty of exciting conference showdowns at Scaggs Field that include: Itawamba (March 25), Southwest (April 1), Mississippi Delta (April 5), Pearl River (April 8), Northeast Mississippi (April 11), East Central (April 25), and Northwest Mississippi (April 29).