8/31/00 - Here is an update on Brett Cleveland, one of the top senior baseball players in Mississippi.

According to my source, he pitched very well in the Tournament of Stars tournament in Oneonta, N.Y. Ole Miss Coach McDonnell was there to watch him play. Schools that have contacted him in hope of setting up a visit include Mississippi State, Ole Miss, Auburn, Arkansas and Baylor. All of them watched him play this summer, per my source.

8/30/00 - The Mississippi State baseball team were doing their conditioning workouts yesterday afternoon when I dropped by the stadium prior to football practice. Their workouts consisted of running around the entire park fence, various calisthenics and stretching exercises. I stayed for about 20 minutes. There were between 36 and 37 players. All were working very hard. I didn't know the faces of the new guys, although I did finally identify two, Michael Brown and Allen Buckley. Michael is a multi-position player who appears to be a little shorter than his listed 5-11 but a little heavier than his listed 175 pounds. Allen, who is a pitcher, is definitely in the 6-5, 215 range. He looks to have a very good pitcher's frame.

After leaving the ballpark, I walked over to the football practice fields. I walked by several other MSU teams working out. Included among the teams were tennis softball and track. Sports are definitely in full swing at State.

8/23/00 - After becoming one of two Bulldogs to garner first team all-America honors for the first time in school history in 1999, former Mississippi State catcher Keri McCallum Tuesday was named the 2000 Diamond Sports Catcher of the Year by the National Fastpitch Coaches' Association, the governing body of fastpitch softball.

With the award, the Port Orchard, Wash., native added to her already impressive repertoire in Starkville. Following the conclusion of the 2000 regular season, McCallum was the only unanimous pick as a first team all-Southeastern Conference player. With the honor, she also became one of two players to earn all-conference accolades for four consecutive seasons.

"What she can do in the position she plays is remarkable," said Mississippi State head coach Kathy Arendsen. "Keri is a once-in-a-lifetime type player. She is not a person who focuses much on her own personal statistics. She'll do whatever she can to help any team that she plays for."

This past season, McCallum bettered her career batting average by more than 40 points, recording a .412 clip to go along with her four home runs, 11 doubles, 31 stolen bases and 25 RBI. In addition, the senior recorded an SEC- and team-leading 11 triples.

She twice recorded four-hit games, going 4-4 against Boston University (SB, RBI, R) on March 11 and at home against Tennessee (2B, 3B, RBI, 3 R, SB) on April 14 in a regionally televised matchup with the Lady Vols. In the University of Washington-hosted NCAA Regional I, Mississippi State's first postseason appearance in school history, McCallum batted .500 (6-12) with two doubles, one triple, three RBI and two stolen bases en route to capturing all-NCAA Regional I honors.

McCallum will leave Mississippi State owning six single season records and seven career records, including at bats (818), runs scored (191), hit by pitch (33), total bases (462) and stolen bases. Her 38 career triples and 319 career hits ranks second and 12th all-time, respectively, in the NCAA record books. In addition to her athletic accomplishments, McCallum was also an accomplished student, three times garnering academic all-SEC honors while garnering first team GTE/CoSIDA academic all-america honors in 2000.

Reprinted with the permission of the MSU Athletic Department

8/22/00 (5:10 p.m.) - Mississippi State's Baseball Bulldogs are preparing to enter next month's fall baseball drills with 12 of the 13 players from their highly-regarded 1999-2000 recruiting class.

"We're looking forward to getting our fall practice underway," said fourth-year Bulldog head coach Pat McMahon, who returns 17 letter-winners from last year's 41-20 edition that advanced to the NCAA Super Regionals and finished with a No. 14 national ranking. "We've got a good nucleus of returning players and an outstanding group of newcomers dedicated to building on Mississippi State's tradition of excellence."

The Bulldogs will begin offseason conditioning work and informal workouts next week before unsacking the bats, balls and gloves Sept. 18 to launch formal fall drills at Dudy Noble Field.

Several Bulldog signees....left-handed pitcher Paul Maholm of Holly Springs, Miss., and infielder Brent Lewis of Jackson, Tenn., shortstop Steve Gendron of Berkley Prep in Tampa, Fla., and pitcher first baseman Todd Nicholas of Fort Dale Academy in Greenville, Ala., turned down recent offers to sign with professional baseball teams and have begun the fall semester at Mississippi State.

Six MSU signees were selected in Major League baseball's June draft: Maholm (Minnesota), pitcher Carmen Pignatiello of Frankfort, Ill. (Chicago Cubs), Gendron (San Francisco), Nicholas (New York Mets), Lewis (Milwaukee) and Chipola (Fla.) Junior College outfielder Michael Brown of Vicksburg, Miss. (San Diego). Pignatiello was the lone MSU signee to forgo his collegiate career and sign a professional baseball contract.

"We are truly excited about this group of newcomers," said McMahon. "Mixed with our returning players, we're looking forward to a highly-competitive fall practice at Dudy Noble Field."

The Bulldogs' 2000 recruiting class also includes East Central (Miss.) CC pitcher Allen Buckley of Brandon, Miss., outfielder/pitcher Robby Goodson of Vicksburg, Miss., catcher/infielder Reed Hawkins of Tupelo, Miss., Gulf Coast (Fla.) CC outfielder Chad Henry of Panama City, Fla., first baseman/outfielder Jon Mungle of Memphis, Tenn., pitcher/outfielder Michael Novarese of Holly Springs, Miss., and outfielder Winston Pearson of Deatsville, Ala.

Senior first baseman Jon Knott of Venice, Fla., senior outfielder Phillip Willingham of Mobile, Ala., and a pair of sophomores that earned freshman all-America honors last year, shortstop Matthew Maniscalco of Oxford, Ala., and pitcher Chris Young of Stow, Ohio, headline MSU's returning veterans. State returns 10 of 13 pitchers from last year's team, including senior righty Jeff Hunter of Columbus, Miss., and junior relief ace Adam Larson of Cordova, Tenn.

Reprinted with the permission of the MSU Athletic Department

8/22/00 (8:45 a.m.) - As of yesterday, all of the MSU baseball signees had attended class with the exception of Paul Maholm, the hard-throwing lefthanded pitcher from Germantown High School. Paul continues to weigh all of his options.

8/20/00 - MSU baseball signee update. As of Saturday afternoon, no baseball signee has signed a pro contract except for Carmen Pignatiello who signed a few weeks ago. Classes start Monday morning.

8/14/00 - According to the latest info that I have, no other MSU baseball signee has signed a pro contract since we lost Carmen Pignatiello. We have a week to go before the signees set foot in their first college class. A couple of our signees will have to say no to big money offers by the MLB teams that drafted them. Keep your fingers crossed.

8/02/00 (10:35 a.m.) - If you didn't read the May 26th column by The Clarion-Ledger's Rick Cleveland please do so by clicking here. It gives you a excellent feel about the atmosphere at Dudy Noble Field/Polk-DeMent Stadium.

8/02/00 - Click here to read an article that has a little info about MSU baseball signee Paul Maholm. Matt Tolbert, the player that got two hits off of Paul, is an Ole Miss signee. MSU signee Reed Hawkins also plays on the Ohio Thunder, the team that Paul defeated. The Ohio Thunder's website is located at www.ohiothunder.com.

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