Simmons, Moses finish strong minor league seasons

Former Southeast Missouri State baseball stars Shae Simmons and Trenton Moses recently concluded impressive second professional baseball seasons in the Atlanta Braves organization.

Simmons, a pitcher from Scott City High School drafted by Atlanta in the 22nd round last year, was promoted late in the season to Class AA Mississippi after he dominated the South Atlantic League as the closer at low-Class A Rome (Ga.).

The right-hander, a South Atlantic League All-Star, was leading the league with 24 saves when he got called up and he still finished second in the league in saves. He went 1-1 with a 1.49 ERA, allowing 26 hits, walking 15 and striking out 66 over 42 1/3 innings.

Simmons sports a mid-90s fastball despite standing only about 5 foot 9. He was not used as the closer in Class AA, but he performed well, compiling a 2.45 ERA in 11 innings spanning 11 appearances. He allowed five hits, struck out 16 and walked seven. He did not record a save or have a decision.

Simmons made so much of an impression this year that he is among eight Braves prospects, including four pitchers, selected by the organization to participate in the Arizona Fall League.

Being tabbed for the Arizona Fall League means Simmons is regarded as one of the Braves' better minor league prospects and is clearly on the organization's radar regarding a possible future promotion to the major-league club.

Moses, a first baseman from Advance High School drafted by the Braves in the 26th round last year, overcame a slow start and finished strong after he was promoted to Lynchburg (Va.), the Braves' highest Class A team.

Moses was mired with a batting average around .200 before catching fire. He wound up hitting .259 with three home runs, 18 doubles, a triple and 37 RBIs in 64 games.

That came after Moses -- who played third base during an All-American career at Southeast -- batted a team-high .364 with two homers, 11 doubles and 16 RBIs in 33 games at Rome before being promoted.

I hope Moses and Simmons, who both experienced plenty of success during their rookie pro seasons in 2012, will continue their strong progress next year.

And after that, maybe it won't be too long before we see them in the big leagues.

Now that would really be something.

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I know a lot of people in this area -- me included -- are excited for Saturday's first-ever football game at Busch Stadium in St. Louis between longtime rivals Southeast and SIU Carbondale.

No doubt most excited for the matchup are the players, especially the ones from the St. Louis area.

According to Southeast officials, the Redhawks have 26 players from the greater metropolitan St. Louis area on this year's roster. SIU also has quite a few.

Southeast, which is 0-2 against rugged competition -- the losses were 45-7 at Southeastern Louisiana and 31-13 at Mississippi -- basically has two weeks to prepare for SIU because of last week's open date. Who knows how much that helps the Redhawks, if it does at all.

SIU (1-2) also dropped its first two games against tough opponents, falling at Illinois 34-26 and at home against ninth-ranked Eastern Illinois 40-37 in double-overtime. The Salukis broke into the win column Saturday with a 31-10 victory at home over Division II Charleston (W.Va.).

The news was not all good for the Salukis on Saturday. Senior quarterback Kory Faulkner, a Ste. Genevieve High School graduate who was off to a strong start, suffered an injury to his non-throwing shoulder in the second quarter.

According to the Southern Illinoisan, X-rays showed no structural damage to Faulkner's shoulder, but SIU coach Dale Lennon said he would be surprised if his senior played against Southeast although he would know more by mid-week.

SIU will be a formidable opponent with or without Faulkner -- redshirt freshman Ryan West, who saw his first collegiate action Saturday after Faulkner went down, is expected to start against Southeast if Faulkner can't go -- but the Redhawks' chances for an upset would certainly increase if Faulkner is out.

The Redhawks can use any edge possible against a team that has dominated them in recent years.

SIU has won six of the past seven meetings with Southeast, all by at least 21 points. The combined score in those six victories is 243-81.

Southeast lost 35-14 last year in Carbondale and 38-10 in 2011 in Cape Girardeau, although the Redhawks did rally from an 18-point deficit to stun SIU 24-21 in 2010 in Carbondale.

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No area high school football team has been more impressive during the early part of the season than Chaffee, which is off to its first 3-0 start since 1969 after Friday's rare win over Hayti.

The Red Devils pounded the host Indians 47-20 to break a 14-game losing streak against Hayti.

Chaffee has outscored its opening three opponents by a combined 136-49, with its closest margin of victory being 17 points at St. Pius.

The Red Devils figure to have a strong shot at picking up quite a few more wins in what could be shaping up as their best season in years.

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Major kudos to Central High School graduate Eric Schott for recently being named the national Division II athlete of the week by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association.

Schott, a junior at Missouri Southern in Joplin, Mo., was recognized for his performance at the Arkansas double dual Sept. 6. The competition included fifth-ranked Arkansas, Missouri and Missouri Southern.

Schott placed third overall and beat every runner from Missouri. His time was an impressive 20:15.3 over the 6.6K course as he finished less than seven seconds behind two of Arkansas' top runners in Stanley Kebenei and Kemoy Campbell.

Marty Mishow is a sports writer for the Southeast Missourian.