November 1998 Unofficial MSU Baseball News

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11/10/98 Go here to view pictures of the Dudy Noble Stadium expansion. As I mentioned earlier, I will have weekly updates each Monday or Tuesday.

11/29/98 - MSU baseball announces the signing of the Tennessee Gatorade Player-of-the-Year, Brennan King of Murfreesboro, Tenn. Click here to read an article about him.

11/26/98 - Someone who was at the Junior Legion Baseball Tournament in Tupelo, Miss. this past summer had the chance to watch the players at that tournament and came away with the impression that new MSU signee, Matthew Maniscalco, was the best of the best at that tournament. His stats for the tournament was a 675% batting average, 6 home runs and 14 RBI's, all this in 4 games. BTW, he is, according to my source, a very nice and humble young man with good parents.

11/25/98 - I will update the Polk-DeMent Stadium expansion next week. Very little has been done the past couple of weeks so I felt there was no need to take pictures.

11/25/98 - First, the MSU football team wins their third straight against the Alabama football team. Now the MSU baseball team is 3 for 3 against Alabama baseball in recruiting with the announced signing of big-time shortstop Matthew Maniscalco (5-10, 180, Oxford (AL) HS). Matthew very strongly considered Alabama, as did previously announced signees Jeff Hunter and Mark Obradovich, but decided to cast his lot with Miss State after a tremendous recruiting battle. Matthew also visited South Alabama and turned down visits to Auburn and North Carolina. Matthew has great speed (6.7 in the 60) and quickness, a very strong arm, and plays great defense.

11/24/98 - MSU has announced another outstanding baseball signee: Jeff Lacher (6-1, 190), a multi position player (P/C/LF) from Hattiesburg, MS. Jeff, is what many experts would call a sleeper due to being the third pitcher on a Hattiesburg HS team that had two probable high MLB draft picks, Van Buren and Matt Butler, thus not having many opportunities to showcase his great talent. Positives about Jeff include an arm that continues to get stronger and stronger (consistent 86-88 mph fastball with 90 mph hit numerous times), a very sharp downward breaking curveball and a potentially great changeup. Plus, he is only 17 years old and will continue to mature physically (he will not be 18 until late April). Because his lifelong dream was to play for MSU, he only visited MSU and Southern Miss and turned down opportunities to visit Tulane and South Alabama.

11/24/98 - Not MSU related but very important. Please read. In a very tragic automobile accident Sunday night, Hinds CC sophomore baseball pitcher Wes Cliburn lost his life. Wes and his brother, Dustin Cliburn (who survived the accident with no broken bones but a lot of bruises and other injuries) were traveling along I-55 when their Bronco flipped over numerous times. Jackson Prep Head Baseball Coach Gary Noble and another unknown gentlemen saw the accident and helped Dustin get out of the Bronco and, after the engine caught on fire, all three somehow found the strength to push the Bronco over on its right side which allowed them to pull Wes out of the car. Tragically, he died while being transported to UMC.

Please pray for the Cliburn family. I was also told family friends are organizing a fund to help the family out financially. Because of the accident, they have incurred costs they have no insurance to cover. As I receive more details, I will post them on my page.

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11/21/98 - According to someone who had the chance to see recent MSU signee Mark Obradovich (catcher from Tuscaloosa Academy) play last year, Mark hit 3 home runs in the game he saw, from both sides of the plate, in fact. My source, to say the least, was very impressed with Mark.

11/21/98 - I'm in between signee announcements so here's a tidbit of other Diamond Dawg news. I was told that MSU Diamond Dawg redshirt freshman Burney Hutchinson has decided to transfer to Ole Miss. I was also told he feels he will have a much better chance of playing early at Ole Miss than he would have at State. My source said Ole Miss Head Baseball Coach Harrison told Burney Ole Miss is in dire need of outfielders and he would get a great shot at playing early. Burney, according to my source, has been granted his release by Coach Mac. This is one Bulldog who wishes Burney only the best except for at least four games a year. (:

11/20/98 - Miss State signs Northwest Rankin HS first baseman Matthew Brinson to a scholarship. Matthew, who will be the first lefthanded hitting and throwing first baseman to play at State since MSU great Will Clark, has very good footwork which helps him be an excellent defensive first baseman. Matthew also has the potential to be a power hitter as he matures physically. In fact, my sources say Matthew is really working hard running and working out with the weights in anticipation of his freshman year at State. Although quite a few schools contacted him, among them Ole Miss, Alabama, New Orleans, and Samford just to name a few, Matthew, like all of us, is a Bulldog through and through and decided there was only one place he wanted to be and that place was MSU. BTW, I have been told Matthew is considered by most observers to be the finest first baseman in the state of Mississippi this year. And yes, Matthew attended the Miss State baseball camp this past summer.

11/19/98 - The next MSU baseball signee to step up to the plate is one of Mississippi's finest in the person of Brad Hutto. Brad selected MSU because, among other things, he wants to be part of the team that Coach Pat McMahon is putting together that is going to win the National Championship. His exact words in his press conference were "I want to be part of that team." According to my sources, Brad is the best shortstop in the state of Mississippi this year and is a good hitter and defensive player. He, as do most of MSU signees, attended MSU's outstanding baseball camp. The schools that contacted Brad included MSU, Ole Miss (visited), Southern Miss (visited), New Orleans (Brad turned down offer to visit), Arkansas, and Samford.

11/18/98 - Sweet Home Alabama: Maybe not so sweet for some. Just like two other outstanding high school players from Alabama (Darryl Wilson and Tyrus Boswell), Mark Obradovich, a catcher from Tuscaloosa Academy in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, has said yes to Miss State and no to the University of Alabama. Well, maybe in Darryl's case it was more like Alabama saying no and regretting it later. For those of you who don't much about Mark, he is a 6-2, 170-lb switch hitting catcher who is what you would call a very high profile baseball player. Although he only officially visited Alabama and MSU, he turned down visit offers from LSU and Miami. Some of his qualities are a great arm and throwing release as well as a very good bat. Plus, he comes from good bloodlines since his dad played college baseball at Birmingham Southern. Some of Mark's honors include playing on the Team One Showcase in Tampa / St. Petersburg, Florida and the Area Codes Showcase in San Diego, California. You have to be one fine player to be invited to these baseball showcases. Mark is the type talent Major League Baseball may wind up being very interested in. Cross your fingers.

Goodness gracious, first Jeff Hunter, the top juco pitcher in the South, now Mark Obradovich, one of the top catchers in the South. My, my, my is there a pattern here? MSU's coaches, in all sports, are really racking up when it comes to recruiting. Is this recruiting success in all sports starting to give you the chills? It sure is me.

11/17/98 - The first official MSU baseball signee is Meridian CC (via New Hope HS) pitcher supreme Jeff Hunter. Jeff is a 6-3, 190-lb right handed pitcher who throws in the 85-88 range with pin point control. He was probably the most highly recruiting juco pitcher in the South and was heavily sought after by the likes of Alabama, Ole Miss, Southern Miss and, of course, Miss State. Other schools who were interested but weren't lucky enough to receive a visit from Jeff were Georgia, LSU, Tulane and UNLV. Look for Jeff to be an immediate contributor in 2000. Although, I expect Jeff to be drafted during the MLB Amateur Draft, I fully expect to see him in a Bulldog uniform. One other thing I love about Jeff: He grew up a Bulldog fan and will not only play with his natural ability but with his heart. There's nothing like signing a fellow Bulldog. If any of you have the chance to see Jeff, tell him thanks for signing with our Diamond Dawgs.

Now that signing week is almost over, I will be posting baseball recruiting info that I have on hand. I just felt, since I had heard that our coaches were still signing players, it was best to keep it quiet until everybody was signed. Baseball recruiting is a little different than basketball and football where everybody knows who everybody else is recruiting.

11/11/98 - I was told former New Hope HS baseball pitcher Jeff Hunter will officially sign with MSU Thursday. Jeff became an extremely hot prospect this past year and officially visited Ole Miss, Alabama and Southern Miss (all three offered) as well as receiving numerous letters and contact from other baseball powers such as LSU and Georgia just to name a couple.

11/02/98 - Last update on the Bulldog World Series:

Friday's games:

Saturday's game: