M-braves see season canceled

SCOOBA – A school-record 75 student-athletes from East Mississippi Community College plus all five of EMCC’S conference-affiliated sports teams have earned recognition by the Mississippi Association of Community and Junior Colleges for their academic excellence during the 2019-20 school year.

The conference’s individual and team academic award recipients were announced Tuesday by the MACJC office headquartered in Jackson.

Along with surpassing the previous school standard of 51 individual all-academic recipients set a year ago, EMCC featured a school-record 22 student-athletes who collected Distinguished Academic All-state honors for having grade point averages of 3.80 or higher during the 2019-20 academic year. Included within that group were a school-record dozen 4.00 grade point averages posted for the second straight year. An additional 53 EMCC student-athletes were recognized as Academic All-state honorees for having GPAS between 3.25 and 3.79.

EMCC’S softball team, under the guidance of head coach Austin Mcnair, once again claimed top honors among the school’s five conferenceaffiliated sports teams with a 3.64 composite grade point average. With 19 of the team’s 22 players having collected allacademic recognition this past school year, 11 EMCC softball players earned Distinguished Academic All-state honors, including seven individuals posting 4.00 GPAS. The Lady Lions softball program has now put together eight consecutive years with a team GPA of 3.43 or higher.

A year removed from capturing EMCC’S first state championship in men’s basketball since the 1930s, head coach Billy Begley’s Lions compiled a program-best 3.36 team grade point average this past academic year. As MACJC North Division runners-up and with a second straight NJCAA Region 23 Tournament appearance, the 2019-20 EMCC Lions had 11 of the team’s 15 players garner all-academic honors.

Coach Brett Kimbrel’s EMCC baseball team continued to excel in the classroom by recording a 3.27 collective grade point average during the 201920 academic year. With 19 baseball players on the team’s 30-man roster achieving all-academic status this past year, the Lions have now posted a team GPA of 3.25 or higher during each of the past three years.

Also registering a programbest team grade point average during the 2019-20 academic year, Coach Buddy Stephens’ EMCC football squad bettered the program’s previous mark of 3.01 set two years ago when the Lions doubled as national champions on the gridiron as well as earning NJCAA Football Academic Team of the Year honors in the classroom. In addition to this year’s 3.07 team GPA, a program-record 26 EMCC football players garnered MACJC Academic Allstate recognition to more than double last year’s previous program mark of a dozen recipients.

Along with claiming the school’s first state championship in women’s basketball since the 1983-84 campaign with a 24-3 overall record and 12-0 MACJC North Division mark this past season, coach Sharon Thompson’s 2019-20 EMCC Lady Lions recorded a team GPA of 3.00 or better for the sixth straight year with a 3.03 collective grade point average.

Though not affiliated with the MACJC or NJCAA, head coach Morgan Goodrich’s EMCC rodeo team put together a 3.15 composite grade point average this past year while competing in the National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association.

A team GPA of 2.50 or higher is required to earn academic team honors within the MACJC.

Individually for the second straight year, East Mississippi Community College touted a dozen student-athletes with perfect 4.00 grade point averages in 2019-20, including repeat 4.00 scholars Lilly Burton (softball) and Frederic Reynolds (baseball). Headed by Burton, EMCC’S softball team featured six other players with 4.00 GPAS this past year (Carrie Grace Baty, Tommesha Brown, Jenna Coker, Kelli Hollingsworth, Alexus Lathem and Lily Ramsey).

EMCC’S other student-athletes posting 4.00 GPAS during the 2019-20 school year were Pervis Frazier (football), Fred Hervey (football), Ian Richard (baseball) and Josh Smith (football/baseball).

The remaining 10 EMCC student-athletes who garnered Distinguished Academic Allstate recognition were Kamryn Moore (3.90), Rylee Bourland (3.86), Allison Brown (3.82) and Mackenzie Dolan (3.81) from softball, baseball’s Trey Trosclair (3.91), Will Long (3.90) and Zane Berry (3.87), along with Cameron Brown (3.91), Yaphet Hearn (3.88) and Tredarius Carr (3.87) from football.

PEARL – Earlier today Minor League Baseball announced that there will not be a 2020 season. This season would have marked the Braves’ 16th season at Trustmark Park and was scheduled to begin play on April 9 but, had been in a state of postponement due to safety concerns related to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

“I want to thank all of the great M-braves fans for their tremendous patience and understanding during this unprecedented period in our nation’s history,” said M-braves vice president and general manager Pete Laven. “When the pandemic began in March, all we could think about was how great it was going to be when we could welcome everyone back to Trustmark Park. While we are disappointed the reunion will not be in 2020, our philosophy hasn’t changed. Our staff eagerly awaits M-braves baseball coming back in 2021 as a fun, safe place for the community to celebrate together again.”

The Atlanta Braves are scheduled to open training at Truist Park in Atlanta today with their first workout slated for Friday. Their 60-game season is scheduled to begin later in the month. Among the Braves’ initial 56man player pool, are 13 players who spent time in Mississippi during the 2019 campaign. Those players are pitcher Tucker Davidson, pitcher Tyler Matzek, pitcher Kyle Muller, pitcher Phil Pfeifer, pitcher Ian Anderson, pitcher Jasseel De La Cruz, pither Patrick Weigel, pitcher Huascar Ynoa, catcher William Contreras, catcher Jonathan Morales, outfielder Cristian Pache, outfielder Drew Waters and infielder Braden Shewmake.

The Mississippi Braves will continue to be proactive maintaining all necessary precautions to bring events to Trustmark Park in 2020.

Fans who purchased season tickets and mini ticket plans for the 2020 season will receive account credits, thus rolling their purchases forward to the 2021 Mississippi Braves season. Groups, suite rentals and other corporate outings will also receive account credits to roll into the 2021 season. These ticket purchasers may also request a refund. Fans who had purchased individual game tickets online will automatically receive a refund within 30 days.

All 2020 sponsor agreements and corporate partnerships will be credited to the 2021 season at Trustmark Park. Fans who had purchased 2020 Kids Club memberships will also be credited to the 2021 season and 2020 Braves Bookworms Reading Program vouchers will be accepted for the 2021 season. Partners with additional questions may reach out directly to their Mississippi Braves account representative.

The Mississippi Braves ticket office and front office are currently closed to the public. While staff continues working remotely, fans with additional questions may email mississippibraves@braves.com. Questions will be directed to the appropriate departments. The Braves thank you in advance for your patience as we work through requests.