Mississippi
Mississippi State Baseball Signee Braden Booth is Eager to Get to Work
STARKVILLE, Miss.— Mississippi State baseball is a prestigious program with some of the country’s top facilities. Dudy Noble Field is arguably the top stadium in the country, and high school recruits flock to the “Carnegie Hall of College Baseball.”
That was the case for Braden Booth, a native of Madison, Ala., who committed to the Bulldogs in November 2021.
“What stood out to me about Mississippi State was pretty much everything around it,” Booth said. “The atmosphere there, you can’t beat it, and the coaches, I felt like I made a really good connection with them. You can’t beat Mississippi State baseball.”
When Booth committed, the Bulldogs were coming off a national title, and the program was at an all-time high. However, the following seasons were a struggle for MSU, as the team finished at the bottom of the SEC in 2022 and 2023.
However, the righty never wavered on his commitment despite pitching coach Scott Foxall being let go before the end of the 2023 season.
“Whenever I found out that Coach (Scott) Foxhall was let go, I was obviously bummed about it,” Booth said. “I was talking with my parents about what we are gonna do, and we just decided to wait and see who they hire.”
It took MSU head coach Chris Lemonis a long time to hire the next pitching coach, but it was worth the wait, as South Carolina pitching coach Justin Parker was brought into the fold. Parker spent two seasons in Columbia, and the Gamecock hurlers posted a team ERA of 4.19 in 2023, ranking 12th in the nation, and impressed Booth.
“I talked to my travel coach about it, and he got me in touch with a South Carolina player, and I called him to talk about (Justin) Parker,” Booth said. “He was like, “I honestly think that is the best coach for you in college baseball.” I got to talk to Parker and realized that guy knows what he is talking about.”
The impact was immediate as Parker turned the State pitching staff from one of the worst to one of the best. He led the Bulldogs to a team ERA of 4.17, which ranked 13th in the NCAA, lowering the ERAs of Jurrangelo Cintje, Tyler Davis, Tyson Hardin, and first-team All-SEC pitcher Khal Stephen.
“Coach Parker did an amazing job with the pitching staff,” Booth said. “I’m really pleased with the way the team played this year.”
Booth had an impressive campaign this year at Bob Jones High School as he finished the season with a 13-1 record with an ERA of 1.31 and tallied 127 strikeouts. The most important achievement was leading his team to their first baseball state championship, and he was impressive in the series by tossing a two-hitter and striking out seven batters.
“It has always been a goal since my freshman year. At the beginning of the season our team always does season goals, and every single year, one of our goals was to win a state championship,” Booth said. “It wasn’t the case until my senior year, but we finally got it done.”
Not only did Booth excel on the mound, but he also held his own at the plate. The 6-2 190-pound third baseman batted .429 with ten home runs and 49 RBI, and he says that he will continue to do both in Starkville throughout the summer and fall.
His excellence on the mound and at the plate led him to be named the Gatorade Alabama Player of the Year, an honor he never expected.
“If you would have told me before the year that I was going to win all that, I honestly probably wouldn’t have believed you,” Booth said. “It means everything to win that award; I looked up to the older guys when I was in high school and middle school and thought they were the best players in the state, and for them to not win that award and turn around four or five years later and I win that it was just surreal to me and I still haven’t fully processed that yet.”
Recruiting and signing talented players is the lifeblood for any program to sustain success, and Booth certainly fits the bill. Despite all the accolades, he is hungry to get better and put MSU back where it needs to be.
“What I look forward to most is being around great players and the process of getting better each day and trying to make our way to Omaha eventually,” Booth said.
Three Bulldogs Earn Spots on NCBWA All-America Teams (si.com)
This week on Behind the Lens: “Paraquat and Parkinson’s.” Wayne County, Mississippi is the largest emitter of paraquat in the world, an herbicide linked to the fastest-growing neurodegenerative disease. Environmental reporter Delaney Nolan explains the safety concerns and what they could mean for affected communities.
Theme music by Podington Bear. Additional music includes “Rumor” by Podington Bear (soundofpicture.com) and “Big Yellow Taxi” by Joni Mitchell.
This story is a product of the Mississippi River Basin Ag & Water Desk, an independent reporting network based at the University of Missouri, in partnership with Report for America, with major funding from the Walton Family Foundation.
Music Credits:
Theme music by Podington Bear
Additional music “Rumor” by Podington Bear from soundofpicture.com and “Big Yellow Taxi” by Joni Mitchel
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Powerball jackpots are about to be much larger. Reporter explains.
USA TODAY’s Fernando Cervantes explains the historic agreement with the UK National Lottery.
Check your Powerball tickets. One sold in Mississippi is worth at least $2 million.
Across the U.S., at least 91 lottery tickets won $1 million in the Wednesday, April 29 drawing, according to the Powerball website.
That includes two tickets that won the jackpot. They were sold in Indiana and Kansas.
The estimated jackpot was $143.4 million ($65.2 million cash prize).
The winning numbers were 3, 19, 35, 51, 67 and Powerball 15. The multiplier was 2x.
Here’s what we know about where the winning ticket was bought, how many tickets are worth at least $1 million and how to file for lottery winnings in Mississippi.
Where was the $2 million Powerball ticket sold in Mississippi?
One ticket in Mississippi matched all five white balls and had the Power Play option. The odds of matching the five white balls is 1 in 11,688,053.52, according to the Powerball website.
The Mississippi Lottery Corporation said the multi-million-dollar-winning ticket was sold at Doc’s Quick Stop Exxon in Byhalia.
27 tickets win $2 million in latest drawing
Just because you didn’t get the Powerball doesn’t mean you didn’t win big.
Twenty-seven tickets matched the five white balls and had the Power Play option to win $2 million each. They were sold in:
- Arkansas: 1
- Illinois: 1
- Indiana: 5
- Kansas: 1
- Louisiana: 5
- Mississippi: 1
- New Jersey: 4
- Oregon: 3
- Pennsylvania : 2
- Rhode Island: 1
- South Carolina: 1
- Wisconsin: 2
How many Powerball tickets are worth $1 million?
Sixty-two tickets matched the five white balls to win $1 million each. They were sold in:
- Arkansas: 1
- Arizona: 1
- California: 1
- Georgia: 1
- Illinois: 3
- Indiana: 14
- Kansas: 5
- Kentucky: 1
- Louisiana: 6
- Michigan: 1
- Minnesota: 1
- Missouri: 1
- Nebraska: 2
- New Jersey: 14
- Oregon: 1
- Pennsylvania: 5
- Wisconsin: 4
Some are calling Wednesday’s Powerball drawing the luckiest ever.
A news release announcing where jackpot-winning tickets were sold is usually posted to the Powerball website the morning after a drawing. However, a news release related to the Wednesday drawing winners had not been posted as of 1 p.m. Thursday, April 30.
Can you claim a lottery jackpot anonymously in Mississippi? How?
Yes, Mississippi lets lottery winners claim a jackpot of any size anonymously.
Mississippi Lottery won’t disclose your identity without written permission.
I won the lottery in Mississippi! How do I get my money?
The Mississippi Lottery advises people to sign the back of their winning ticket immediately.
If your prize is less than $600, you can claim that at any place that sells Mississippi Lottery tickets.
If you win $600-$99,999, you can claim by mail or by going to the Mississippi Lottery Headquarters in Flowood.
All prizes more than $100,000 must be claimed at the Mississippi Lottery Headquarters.
What are the rules to claim a Powerball prize?
Powerball prizes must be claimed within one year from the date of the drawing.
Powerball jackpot winners may choose to receive their prize as an annuity, paid in 30 graduated payments over 29 years, or a lump-sum payment. Both advertised prize options are prior to federal and jurisdictional taxes, according to the Powerball website.
A Mississippi man is charged with killing his mother after authorities allegedly found him trying to flush pieces of her flesh down a toilet in what a local sheriff called one of “the most heinous crimes that I’ve ever witnessed in my entire life.”
Zachary Lavel Jackson Jr., 29, faces charges of first-degree murder, second-degree murder, mayhem and tampering with evidence in connection with the death of his mother, Lana Brown Bradley, 62, a retired teacher.
The Adams County Sheriff’s Office said deputies initially responded April 4 to Bradley’s home in Natchez, after her relatives reported her missing.
Jackson was initially identified as a family member of Bradley before investigators confirmed he was her son.
“This is by far the most heinous crime that I’ve ever witnessed in my entire life. We weren’t out there that day; this was one of those things when we walked up. This was one of those cases that you will never, ever forget in your life. This is the type of case that follows you home,” Adams County Sheriff Travis Patten told WJTV.
Deputies were called to Bradley’s home after her oldest son could not reach her the previous day. Two of Bradley’s other sons lived with her.
“As soon as they walked in the house, they could just see where somebody had been cleaning up, and they could smell chemicals all throughout the house. Floor was extremely slippery. And the older son said that this is just unusual for the youngest son to be cleaning up the house like that,” Patten explained.
Jackson, the youngest son, was found in a bathroom where deputies allegedly saw a black substance in the toilet.
“I can say what was in the toilet, and it was her flesh. He chopped her up in pieces and dismembered her in a way that whoever came looking for her would have to do their due diligence to find her, and that’s just what we did,” the sheriff said.
Authorities stated that Jackson had allegedly placed his mother’s body parts in a suitcase and flushed the rest down the toilet after dismembering her.
Bradley had threatened to evict her son from the home, according to the sheriff, who cited interviews with family members stating that Jackson was mentally unstable.
However, Patten noted that Jackson was “very calculating” when he allegedly committed the crime.
“He had threatened her the day before because she was looking to have him evicted from the home. She was in the process of doing so and had just gone to court the day before to have him removed from the home,” Patten explained.
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