Ronald Sims
Mississippi Scouting Director

Follow @PBR_Mississippi

The State Games of Mississippi All-Star baseball action concluded on Friday after a long week of games. With the scout day held on day one, and four consecutive days of games, all at Meridian CC, it gives coaches in the region an opportunity to come sit and evaluate top talent in the state in one location. Teams were selected from eight regions and played a pool format tournament, with the medal games on Friday.

There is still more coverage to come from the week-long event, but for now here is a quick run down of the medal winning teams.

District 6 (Gold)

District 6 claimed the gold medal as they knocked off district 4 in the gold medal game, winning by a score of 3-2. Courtland Posey (Clinton) would get the start on the mound Friday and would give district 6 a solid outing, sitting 76-79 mph with his fastball, showing ability to command the zone and produce outs. Bryson Ware and Matt Corder, both 2019 graduates from Germantown, had good showings this week as they made consistent solid contact at the plate and made rangy plays in the field. Khristian Washington (Madison Central) also had a solid weekend driving balls with backspin and showed solid fielding ability with strength and accuracy on throws. Walker Burchfield (Clinton) came through big for district 6 with a backside double, scoring two early runs, which would lead his team to a 3-2 victory and the gold medal.

District 4 (silver)

District 4 would have a tough route to the gold medal. With rain postponing Thursday’s action, District 4 would have to win two out of three games on Friday to claim the victory. District 4 received the silver medal, although they showed great effort and resilience all day. Al Dumas (Eupora) was potentially the leader of the offense for district 4. Dumas hit in the lead-off spot and was able to get on base often, with consistent, hard contact, easy routes in the outfield, and posted a 6.6 second 60-yard dash time on scout day. Tanner Knight (Eupora) displayed his loose arm as he threw in two games for district 4, one of the outings being a shutout victory. Knight was able to command the zone with his fastball at 81-83 mph and showed a breaking ball with near 12/6-shape that had decent depth. Roper Ball (Nanih Wayia), Jesse Boydston (Winston Ac.) and Drew Pounders (New Hope) all had solid swings this week and recorded loud outs, aiding district 4 in making the gold medal game.

District 8 (bronze)

District 8 received a bronze medal on Friday after winning a necessary game one, forcing a winner-take-all game two. Several players from this district had quality performances that did not go unnoticed. Mississippi State recruit, Landon Jordan (Hancock) had a good week at the plate as he seemed to find barrel in every at-bat with his simple approach and quick hands. Pearl River Community College recruit, Kasey Donaldson, showed off his two-way ability sitting 84-86 with fastball as a left-handed pitcher and flashed left-handed stroke with strength, gap-to-gap approach and backspin ability at the plate. Bailee Hendon and Colton Hipp, both from Vancleave, had solid weeks as they showcased arm strength, easy action defensively and the ability to drive the ball with a gap-to-gap approach. 2019 Nick Skaggs had his coming out party displaying quality arm strength and athletic ability as he went from catching to playing center field. Skaggs had a simple approach with consistency in swing and developing strength.

The 2017 State Games of Mississippi was loaded with potential college prospects and was a great venue to #BeSeen, as all the colleges in the immediate area covered the event looking for next years recruiting talent.

PBR Mississippi will be releasing more scouting information and statistical breakdown from the week long event in the coming days.

 

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