Jackson Free Press

Three University of Southern Mississippi players, one Mississippi State University player and one Delta State University player are the five finalists for the 2017 C Spire Ferriss Trophy. This is the 14th year that the award will go to the best college-baseball player at a four-year college or university in Mississippi.

Southern Miss is enjoying an outstanding season on the diamond, as the team has already wrapped up the regular-season title in Conference USA. At the beginning of the final weekend of the regular season, USM is 41-12 overall and 22-5 in conference play.

Taylor Braley, Matt Wallner and Dylan Burdeaux are the impressive trio of finalists from USM. All three have performed well in the batter’s box, but Braley and Wallner have shined on the pitcher’s mound as well.

Burdeaux leads the team in hitting with a .355 batting average with 88 hits, 61 RBI, 55 runs, 21 doubles and nine home runs. He has started 53 games for the Golden Eagles, which shows his toughness during the long season.

Braley is hitting .337 with 61 hits, 50 RBI, 46 runs, 12 home runs and 10 doubles while making 52 starts. He is 2-0 as a pitcher in eight appearances with a 1.84 ERA and 15 strikeouts.

Wallner has appeared in 53 games and made 52 starts this season and is hitting .335 with 63 hits, 50 RBI, 43 runs, 15 home runs, 12 doubles and two triples. On the mound, he owns a 5-2 record with 11 starts and a 3.48 ERA while piling up 64 strikeouts.

Mississippi State faces LSU with the SEC West division on the line this weekend. The Bulldogs are 34-19 overall and 17-10 in SEC play.

If MSU is going to win the West, the team will need superstar Brent Rooker to have one of his best series of the season. Rooker has led the nation at various points in multiple statistical categories.

He is hitting an outstanding .406 with 78 hits, 71 RBI, 49 runs, 26 doubles, 20 home runs and three triples. He has started 53 games this season and leads the team in nearly every major offensive stat.

Delta State is set to host an eight-team regional in the 2017 NCAA Division II Baseball Tournament beginning on Thursday, May 18, and the team is top-ranked in the South Region. DSU is Gulf South Conference regular season and tournament champion, as the team is 41-11 overall and 25-8 in conference play.

The Statesmen feature Zack Shannon, who is terrorizing opposing pitching this season. He is hitting .451 with 88 hits, 84 RBI, 60 runs, 18 home runs, 11 doubles and one triple. Shannon has dabbled on the mound this season with a 0-1 record and five appearances with a 1.50 ERA and seven strikeouts.

College coaches in the state and professional scouts chose these five …

This weekend happened to be historic for the University of Mississippi softball team and the SEC itself. No one expected to the Rebels to be in the May 13 championship game of the 2017 SEC Tournament.

UM entered the tournament as the No. 8 seed and started things off by taking out the team’s main rival, No. 9 seed Mississippi State University, 2-1 on the opening day. The Rebels shocked the nation when they knocked off No. 1 seed and top-ranked University of Florida 2-0 and became one of the final four teams standing.

Even the weather couldn’t slow down the No. 19th-ranked Rebels after the May 12 semifinals experienced a rain delay. Both the semifinals and the championship game were moved to Saturday.

In the semifinals, UM took down No. 5 seed and 15th-ranked University of Alabama 4-1, advancing to the title game. There was no stopping the Rebels as they defeated No. 6 seed and 21st-ranked Louisiana State University 5-1 and took the crown.

This is the first SEC Softball Tournament Championship in program history for the Rebels. While hot bats were part of the story, UM pitcher Kaitlin Lee was the star, as she pitched all 28 innings that the Rebels played.

Lee is the first pitcher to take the mound for every inning in the SEC Tournament since Alabama pitcher Kelsi Dunne accomplished the feat over just 19 innings in 2010. The Rebels played in four games this year, while Alabama played in just three games in 2010.

The SEC Conference made history on Sunday, May 14, as the entire 13-team league earned a bid into the 2017 NCAA Division I Softball Tournament. Vanderbilt University not fielding a softball team is the reason only 13 teams reached the tournament.

Half of the 16 national seeds are from the conference, with Florida earning the No. 1 overall seed. Auburn University is the No. 7 seed, the University of Tennessee is No. 8, Texas A&M University is No. 9, Mississippi is No. 12, the University of Kentucky is No. 14, and Alabama is No. 16.

MSU landed in the Salt Lake City Regional with No. 11 seed University of Utah. The Bulldogs open regional play against Brigham Young University on May 18.

The University of South Carolina is in the Tucson Regional with No. 2 seed University of Arizona. In the Norman Regional, the University of Arkansas will visit No. 10 seed University of Oklahoma.

Another tough draw for the SEC is the fact that the University of Missouri is heading west to in the Eugene Regional, which No. 3 seed University of Oregon is hosting. The University of Georgia rounds out the SEC teams in the field as it heads to the Tallahassee Regional with No. 4 seed Florida State University.

This isn’t the first time that a conference got every one of its teams into the NCAA tournament. The Pac-12 …

Oh my gosh, it is like my dreams have come true. In a recent interview with GQ, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson told the magazine he might consider one day running for president. He says “it’s a real possibility” that he will run one day.

This shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone who has followed Johnson’s career since his time in the WWE. Well, then it was the WWF, until the World Wildlife Fund did to Vince McMahon what the federal government couldn’t do: beat him in court.

Johnson came into wrestling after playing football at the University of Miami in Florida and a brief professional career. McMahon had huge dreams for the third-generation Superstar.

His grandfather happened to be Peter Maivia, and his father is Rocky Johnson. Originally given the nickname of “Blue Chipper” and his in-ring name was Rocky Maivia so the WWE could play up his family’s history with the company.

And you know what? The fans hated him. In the early part of his career, it wasn’t unheard of to hear fans chant, “Die Rocky, die,” and “Rocky sucks,” during his early run as a baby face (a good guy in wrestling terminology).

Slowly, he dropped the Maivia part of his name, becoming just Rocky, and eventually he dropped Rocky, becoming The Rock. Along the way he became one of the best talkers in professional wrestling.

Seriously, go to YouTube and check out some of his best work during the WWE Attitude Era. He is known for such great lines as “a jabroni-beating, la-la-la-la pie eating, trailblazing, eyebrow raising, heart stopping, elbow dropping, people’s champion: The Rock

,” or “know your role, and shut your hole,” or “it doesn’t matter what you think,” among a million others. In his time with the WWE, Johnson was a catchphrase-making machine who made the crowd eat out of his hands.

If you need any more proof, watch “This is your Life Rock,” which was one of the highest rated moments in WWE history. Johnson was must-see TV each Monday night, and when he came to ring, you couldn’t wait to see what he would say.

Even after he left for Hollywood, crowds still go nuts when his music hits, and as he makes his way down to the ring. Johnson has the ability and charisma to captivate the crowd even though he is more than 40 years old now.

When Johnson left the WWE to work in film, most figured he would end up like Hulk Hogan. He would do OK at the movies but never become a mega star in film, but instead his career was like 1980s Arnold Schwarzenegger, as he has become one of the biggest action stars in the world.

But Johnson isn’t just an action star. He has excelled at comedy. If you haven’t see, “Be Cool,” the sequel to “Get Shorty,” you need to because Johnson is gold. Check out the video of him …

The 2017 SWAC Baseball Tournament kicks off Wednesday, May 17, in New Orleans at the MLB Urban Youth Academy for the third straight year. Jackson State University is the No. 1 seed out of the East Division, and Alcorn State University is the No. 4 seed from the East.

Jackson State and Alcorn State are in opposite brackets of the double-elimination tournament. Grambling State University is the No. 1 seed out of the West Division and opens the tournament against Alcorn. GSU is opposite from JSU in the bracket.

Mississippi Valley State University failed to make the tournament, as it finished fifth in the East Division, and only the top four teams from both divisions make it in. The University of Arkansas-Pine Bluff failed to make the tournament out of the West.

JSU opens the games on Wednesday against No. 4 seed out of the West, Southern University, at 3 p.m. The Tigers own the best record in the SWAC at 36-15-1 overall and 20-4 in conference play.

Jackson State surprisingly didn’t win any individual postseason SWAC awards but did place four players on the First Team All-SWAC and one player on the Second Team All-SWAC. As a team, the Tigers have the best batting average at .322 and ERA at 3.46 in the conference.

First Team All-SWAC third baseman Jesus Santana is tied for first in the conference in home runs with nine and RBI with 62. He is fifth in the conference in doubles with 15 and total bases with 99.

Outfielder Lamar Briggs, who is second in the league in batting average with .379, first in the SWAC in hits with 77 and tied for first in doubles with 17, joins Santana on the first team. He is fourth in the conference in runs with 46, RBI with 45 and total bases with 102.

Bryce Brown joins Briggs as first-team outfielder and is third in the SWAC in batting average with a .368. Starting pitcher Miguel Yrigoyen is the final Tiger to make the first team All-SWAC. He is 9-2 in 12 appearances this season with a 2.93 ERA and 62 strikeouts.

Outfielder C.J. Newsome is the lone JSU player on the second-team All-SWAC. He is eighth in the conference in batting average with a .342 average, second in triples with 5 and third in stolen bases with 23.

Southern placed one player on the second-team All-SWAC in designated hitter John Pope. The Jaguars enter the tournament with a 16-25 overall record and 10-14 conference record. SU is seventh in the SWAC in team batting average at .253 and third in team ERA at 5.72.

JSU will face either the No. 2 seed out of the West, Texas Southern University, or the No. 3 seed out of the East, Alabama A&M University, on the second day. The games on day two start at 9 a.m. with the loser of the