Current, former Tigers make splash in summer baseball league

Current and former Northeast Mississippi Community College baseball players did not take the summer off due to the weather.

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Instead, a pair of current Tigers and a quintet of former Tiger baseball players have been rewarded for their efforts during the hottest months of the year.

Current players Trae Allison of Hernando and Seth George of Tishomingo County were named to the 2010 All-Cotton States Baseball League Team while former Tigers Brad Luna (New Albany), Zane Treadaway (East Union), Drew Dillard (East Union) and M.J. McWhorter (East Union) were also first-team selections when the league announced the selections earlier this week. Ben Wallis, of Ripley, who led the Tigers in hitting during the 2009-10 season, was an honorable mention selection from the Rascals as well.

Allison was a first-team shortstop coming off the Golden Triangle Jets, which saw the first-year Northeast player hit .326 and score 15 runs during the summer for the Jets. Allison led the Jets in a trio of categories including walks (17), on base percentage (.508) and runs scored (15).

George, an honorable mention selection, led the Golden Triangle Jets in hitting during the 2010 summer. George posted a .400 batting average while starting 13 of 14 games for the Jets, also led the team in hits (18) and was a perfect 6-for-6 in the stolen base department.

Luna, Treadaway, Dillard and McWhorter were all member of the regular season and tournament champion Tallahatchie Rascals.

Luna, a right-handed pitcher from New Albany, went 4-2 on the mound for the Rascals as Tallahatchie posted a 17-7 record. While appearing in eight games, Luna started seven and went the distance in three including a shutout.

During his 49 innings pitched, Luna posted a 2.39 earn run average and limited opposing batters to a .191 average without giving up a triple or home run during the entire season.

Treadaway, a left-handed pitcher from East Union, was perfect on the mound for the Rascals posting a 4-0 record while appearing in eight games. Treadaway started five games for the Rascals and like Luna went the distance in three of those starts. During his 38 innings on the mound, Treadaway struck out 43 while limiting the opposition to a .176 batting average.

M.J. McWhorter, who manned the outfield for the Tigers during his time in Booneville, posted a .309 batting average to lead the Rascals for the 2010 season and knocked around 17 hits in 55 at bats while driving in 11 runs during his 17-game stretch. McWhorter was tough at the plate for the Rascals posting a .367 on-base percentage and only struck out seven times all season.

Dillard, as with McWhorter -- an outfielder from East Union, started in all 23 games he appeared in for the Rascals. Dillard posted a .227 batting average and knocked around 17 hits in 75 at bats for the regular season and tournament champions. During his 2010 season, Dillard was able to muscle a pair of homeruns out of the park and accounted for 18 runs for the Rascals.

Wallis, an honorable mention selection, led the Tigers in hitting during the 2009-10 season and kept up the offensive power during the 2010 summer posting a .268 batting average. More importantly, Wallis started all 24 games he appeared in for the Rascals during the season. Wallis had a .411 on base percentage for the Rascals, posted a .357 slugging percentage with three doubles and a triple, and was perfect on the bases swiping 9-of-9 during the year.

While Allison and George will don the black and gold for at least one more year, Treadaway, McWhorter, Dillard and Wallis have moved on to four-year institutions. Treadaway and Wallis will help form Blue Mountain College's first baseball team while McWhorter plans to be at Jackson State. Dillard, who helped lead Belhaven to the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) World Series in 2010, plans a return to the Blazers for 2011.