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Porter's Chapel Academy baseball player Gage Palmer was selected to play in the MAIS Class 2A/3A/4A Futures all-star game May 22 at Mississippi College. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Porter's Chapel Academy baseball player Zach Ashley was selected to play in the MAIS Class 2A/3A/4A Futures all-star game May 22 at Mississippi College. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Tallulah Academy baseball player Hayes Hopkins was selected to play in the MAIS Class 2A/3A/4A Futures all-star game May 22 at Mississippi College. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Tallulah Academy baseball player Dee Morgan was selected to play in the MAIS Class 2A/3A All-Star Game May 22 at Mississippi College. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Tallulah Academy baseball player Wyatt Bedgood was selected to play in the MAIS Class 2A/3A All-Star Game May 22 at Mississippi College. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Tallulah Academy baseball player Landry Tweedle was selected to play in the MAIS Class 2A/3A All-Star Game May 22 at Mississippi College. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Porter's Chapel Academy's Lawson Selby was selected to play in the MAIS Class 2A/3A baseball all-star game May 22 at Mississippi College. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

The baseball rosters of Porter’s Chapel Academy and Tallulah Academy are studded with stars.

A total of seven players from the two teams were selected to play in next week’s MAIS All-Star Games at Mississippi College. There will be a total of four games — a futures game for underclassmen and an all-star game for seniors in Classes 2A-4A and 5A and 6A — beginning at 10 a.m. on Monday, May 22.

Representing Porter’s Chapel will be pitcher Gage Palmer, first baseman Zach Ashley and outfielder Lawson Selby.
Pitcher/infielders Hayes Hopkins and Dee Morgan, infielder Landry Tweedle and outfielder Wyatt Bedgood were selected from Tallulah Academy.

Palmer, Ashley and Hopkins will play in the Class 2A/3A/4A Futures Game at 10 a.m. at MC’s Frierson Field. All three have helped their teams win both on the mound and at the plate.

Palmer had a 6-5 record and 3.21 ERA in 12 games, along with 84 strikeouts in 56 2/3 innings pitched. He batted .400 with 19 RBIs and 33 runs scored as well.

Ashley batted .333 with 18 RBIs and 25 runs scored. He pitched 50 innings and had 66 strikeouts, with a 6-3 record and 2.66 ERA.

Hopkins has quietly emerged as a top pitcher for Tallulah. He has pitched a team-high 70 innings in 18 games, starting 10, and has a 2.20 ERA with 83 strikeouts. He has a 10-1 record and six saves.

Hopkins will get the ball for Game 2 of the MAIS Class 3A championship series Thursday at 5 p.m. at Manchester Academy. The Trojans trail the best-of-three series 1-0 and would force Game 3 Saturday in Tallulah if they win.

Hopkins has also been a steady hitter. He leads the Trojans with 43 RBIs while scoring 29 runs, and his .438 batting average ranks second on the team.

Tweedle, Morgan and Selby will play in the Class 2A/3A All-Star Game at 1 p.m.

Selby, who has signed to play basketball at Meridian Community College, had a .286 batting average.

Morgan has been Tallulah Academy’s ace during its run to the Class 3A championship series. The Copiah-Lincoln Community College signee has a .548 batting average, five home runs, 17 doubles and 40 RBIs. He also has a .658 on-base percentage and has scored 44 runs.

On the mound, Morgan has 80 strikeouts and a 1.91 ERA in 44 innings.

Tweedle, a middle infielder, has been a steady run producer. He has a .311 batting average, walked 31 times and scored 41 runs in 31 games played.

After the 2A/3A game, the MAIS all-star festivities will continue with the association’s large schools. The Class 5A/6A Futures Game is scheduled for 4 p.m., and the 4A/5A/6A All-Star Game is at 7 p.m.
Both futures games are scheduled for seven innings, and the all-star games for nine.

MAIS BASEBALL ALL-STAR GAMES
May 22, at Mississippi College
10 a.m. – Class 2A/3A/4A Futures Game
1 p.m. – Class 2A/3A All-Star Game
4 p.m. – Class 4A/5A/6A Future Game
7 p.m. – Class 5A/6A All-Star Game
Note: The futures games will be seven innings, and the all-star games are nine innings

About Ernest Bowker

Ernest Bowker is The Vicksburg Post's sports editor. He has been a member of The Vicksburg Post's sports staff since 1998, making him one of the longest-tenured reporters in the paper's 140-year history. The New Jersey native is a graduate of LSU. In his career, he has won more than 50 awards from the Mississippi Press Association and Associated Press for his coverage of local sports in Vicksburg.

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