For Mississippi baseball fans, Sunday night’s Little League Classic between the Braves and Brewers might feel a little more familiar than a neutral-site game in Pennsylvania should.
The Atlanta Braves and Milwaukee Brewers will meet Sunday night at Historic Bowman Field in Williamsport, only a few miles from where the Little League World Series is being played. First pitch is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. ET on ESPN, and both franchises are making their first appearance in the event. This year’s game will also honor Hank Aaron, the Hall of Famer whose career connects Milwaukee and Atlanta, as well as Mobile and the Gulf Coast.
But there is another connection running through Sunday’s game, one that stretches more than 1,000 miles south from Williamsport.
Mississippi.
Look through the two clubhouses and you’ll find players who grew up playing baseball in Mississippi, starred at Mississippi high schools or spent important stretches of their climb to the majors playing Double-A baseball in Pearl and Biloxi.
For years, Trustmark Park and what is now Keesler Federal Park were two of the best places in Mississippi to see tomorrow’s Major Leaguers before the rest of baseball knew their names. Sunday night, quite a few of those former prospects will be on the same field in Williamsport.
Austin Riley’s Mississippi story is different from everybody else’s
The most recognizable Mississippi connection is Austin Riley. Technically, Riley was born across the state line in Memphis. Baseball-wise, however, his roots are planted firmly in Mississippi. He attended DeSoto Central High School in Southaven, where he developed into one of the country’s best high-school prospects before Atlanta selected him 41st overall in the 2015 draft. His first tase of playing at Trustmark Park came in 2015 during his senior year when his DeSoto Central team won the Class 6A State Championships at Trustmark Park.
Riley then got another Mississippi homecoming on his way through the Braves organization. He reached Double-A Mississippi in 2017 and immediately looked like a player who would not stay there long. Riley hit .315 in 48 games, collecting 56 hits, nine doubles, eight home runs and 27 RBIs. His on-base percentage was .389 and he slugged .511.
He returned briefly in 2018 and was even better, batting .333 with six home runs, 20 RBIs, 10 doubles and three triples in 27 games before moving on to Triple-A Gwinnett.
A Mississippi high-school star who won a State Championship and played Double-A baseball in Pearl before becoming one of the faces of the Atlanta Braves was about as natural of a fit as the old M-Braves ever had. And Riley isn’t the only member of Atlanta’s current roster who once called Pearl home.
Ronald Acuña Jr. was a teenager when Mississippi got its first look
Before Ronald Acuña Jr. became an MVP, before the 40-home run seasons and before he became one of baseball’s biggest stars, he spent part of the summer of 2017 playing center field for the Mississippi Braves. He was only 19.
Acuña played 57 games for Mississippi and hit .326, piling up 72 hits, 14 doubles, nine home runs, 30 RBIs and 19 stolen bases. His .895 OPS was another indication that Double-A pitching wasn’t going to hold him very long. He also represented Mississippi in the Southern League All-Star Game that summer in Pensacola.
By the end of 2017 he had gone from High-A Florida to Mississippi to Triple-A Gwinnett. By April 2018, he was in Atlanta. Months later he was the National League Rookie of the Year.
Mississippi fans essentially got a 57-game preview of what was coming.
Ozzie Albies tore through the Southern League
Ozzie Albies’ stay in Mississippi came one year earlier in 2016. At just 19 years old, Albies played 82 games with the M-Braves and hit .321 with 106 hits, 22 doubles, seven triples, four home runs, 33 RBIs and 21 stolen bases. He posted a .391 on-base percentage and an .858 OPS. It was the kind of season that made his future seem fairly obvious.
Albies was facing Double-A players several years older than him and still hitting .321. Less than a year later, he reached Atlanta. That means Sunday’s likely Braves lineup could feature Riley, Acuña and Albies, three longtime Atlanta stars who all passed through Mississippi on the way to the majors.
Michael Harris basically went straight from Mississippi to Atlanta
Michael Harris’ Mississippi story may be the best example of how quickly things can change in baseball. He began the 2022 season with the Mississippi Braves. He never made it to Triple-A. On May 27, 2022, after a game in Pensacola in which he went 2-5, with 2 RBI he was off to Atlanta and made his debut just 24 hours later.
Harris played 43 games at Double-A, hit .305 with 16 doubles, two triples, five home runs, 33 RBIs and 11 stolen bases, then received one of the more aggressive promotions in the Braves organization: straight from Pearl to Atlanta. His OPS with Mississippi was .878.
By the end of that season, Harris was the National League Rookie of the Year. For anyone who watched the M-Braves during those first couple of months in 2022, the leap wasn’t as surprising as it might have looked nationally. Harris had reached base safely in 41 of his 43 games with Mississippi.
Drake Baldwin was part of the final generation of M-Braves
Drake Baldwin’s Mississippi connection is much more recent. Baldwin first reached Pearl late in 2023 and hit .321 in 14 games, with 17 hits, a home run, five RBIs and a .390 on-base percentage. He returned for a longer stint in 2024, the final season of Mississippi Braves baseball. Baldwin played 52 games, batting .244 with six doubles, four homers and 33 RBIs before earning a promotion to Triple-A Gwinnett.
That makes Baldwin one of the last future Atlanta regulars developed through the old Pearl affiliate before the Braves moved their Double-A club to Columbus, Georgia.
Bryce Elder dominated during his Mississippi stop
The position players aren’t the only former M-Braves on Atlanta’s active roster. Bryce Elder made nine starts for Mississippi during his first professional season in 2021 and went 7-1 with a 3.21 ERA. In 56 innings, Elder struck out 60, walked only 17 and posted a 1.00 WHIP.
That run earned him a promotion to Triple-A Gwinnett and helped establish Elder as one of the fastest-moving pitchers in Atlanta’s system.
Dylan Dodd’s 2022 run through Pearl
Dylan Dodd spent the second half of 2022 in Mississippi after being promoted from Rome. Across nine starts for the M-Braves, the left-hander went 2-4 with a 3.11 ERA, striking out 55 hitters against only 13 walks in 46â…“ innings. He allowed no more than two runs in seven of his nine starts before being bumped to Triple-A.
Dodd impressed well during Spring Training 2023, and opened the 2023 Season in Atlanta’s rotation. 3 years later he is key piece to the Braves bullpen and on Atlanta’s active roster for the Williamsport trip.
AJ Smith-Shawver barely stopped in Mississippi
AJ Smith-Shawver’s stay was much shorter. Atlanta pushed him aggressively through the farm system in 2023, and Mississippi was essentially a brief layover.
Smith-Shawver made only two starts for the M-Braves, but he didn’t allow a run. In seven innings, he surrendered five hits, walked three and struck out nine. His Double-A ERA: 0.00. Two weeks after arriving in Pearl, he was headed to Triple-A.
By the end of May, he was a Major Leaguer. Smith-Shawver spent the first half of the 2026 season on the IL but was recalled again by Atlanta on August 18 and is part of the Braves roster headed to Williamsport.
Milwaukee’s Mississippi connection runs through Biloxi
If the Atlanta side feels like a reunion for people who used to make the drive to Trustmark Park, Milwaukee’s clubhouse could practically hold a Biloxi Shuckers alumni gathering.
The Brewers’ current roster includes a remarkable collection of players who developed on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. And the biggest Mississippi connection of them all is Milwaukee’s young shortstop.
Cooper Pratt went from Magnolia Heights to Biloxi to Milwaukee
Cooper Pratt wasn’t born in Mississippi, he was born in Hialeah, Florida. But Mississippi is where his name became known nationally.
The younger brother of former Southern Miss shortstop Ozzie Pratt starred at Magnolia Heights School in Senatobia. As a senior in 2023, he hit .469 and was named Mississippi’s Gatorade Player of the Year before Milwaukee selected him in the sixth round of the draft. He was drafted in the first round by the Brewers in 2023.
By 2025 he was back in Mississippi, this time as the starting shortstop for Double-A Biloxi. Pratt played 120 games for the Shuckers, hitting .238 with 22 doubles, eight home runs, 62 RBIs and 31 stolen bases. He also walked 67 times and reached base at a .343 clip.
A year later, he reached the majors.
Pratt debuted for Milwaukee on June 16, 2026, and returned from the injured list earlier this week, putting him on the Brewers’ active roster for the Little League Classic.
For Mississippi baseball fans, he’s probably the most interesting player in Sunday’s game: a former Mississippi high-school star who spent an entire Double-A season in Biloxi and is now starting in the majors at 22.
Jackson Chourio became a star in Biloxi
Long before the Brewers committed to Jackson Chourio as a cornerstone of the franchise, the Mississippi Gulf Coast watched him become one of baseball’s elite prospects. Chourio had a six-game introduction to Double-A at the end of 2022, then spent nearly the entire 2023 season in Biloxi.
He was spectacular. In 122 games for the Shuckers in 2023, Chourio hit .280 with 22 home runs, 89 RBIs and 43 stolen bases. He led the Southern League with 143 hits and 238 total bases and tied for the league lead with 84 runs.
He was 19 years old. Months later Milwaukee signed him to an eight-year Major League contract before he had played a single MLB game.
Jacob Misiorowski gave the Coast a preview of what was coming
Anybody who watched Jacob Misiorowski pitch in Biloxi knew the stuff wasn’t normal. He made five Double-A starts in 2023, including a six-inning, one-hit performance against the Mississippi Braves in which he struck out 12.
Then came 2024. Misiorowski made 19 starts for Biloxi, posting a 3.50 ERA with 105 strikeouts in 79â…” innings while holding opponents to a .181 batting average. He recorded back-to-back double-digit strikeout performances in July before being promoted to Nashville.
Now he’s one of the most overpowering pitchers in baseball. That sentence isn’t hyperbole in 2026. Misiorowski entered this weekend with an ERA under 2.00 and well over 160 strikeouts.
Brice Turang was Biloxi’s everyday shortstop
Before becoming Milwaukee’s second baseman, Brice Turang spent the first half of the 2021 season playing shortstop in Biloxi.Turang appeared in 73 games, batting .264 with 76 hits, 14 doubles, three triples, five home runs, 39 RBIs and 11 stolen bases. At the time of his promotion to Triple-A, he led the Shuckers in hits, RBIs, stolen bases, runs and total bases.
Today he’s one of the players around whom Milwaukee’s lineup is built.
Sal Frelick’s Biloxi stay didn’t last long
Sal Frelick arrived in Biloxi in 2022 and hit his way out of town. Over 52 games, Frelick batted .317 with 71 hits, 12 doubles, three triples, five home runs, 25 RBIs and nine stolen bases. His on-base percentage was .380 and his OPS was .844.
He was promoted to Triple-A Nashville and hit .365 there. Less than a year later, he was playing in Milwaukee.
Garrett Mitchell spent parts of two years on the Coast
Garrett Mitchell had a longer relationship with Biloxi.
In 2021, his first season at Double-A, Mitchell struggled offensively, batting .186 with three home runs, 10 RBIs and five steals in 35 games. He came back in 2022 and looked much more like the first-round pick Milwaukee believed it had drafted. Mitchell hit .277 with nine doubles, two triples, four home runs, 25 RBIs and seven stolen bases in 44 games before being promoted to Nashville.
He reached Milwaukee later that same summer.
David Hamilton is back in the organization where his pro career started
David Hamilton’s career has taken a strange path back to Milwaukee.
The former University of Texas infielder was originally drafted by the Brewers and reached Double-A Biloxi in 2021. In 33 games for the Shuckers, Hamilton hit .248 with five doubles, four triples, three home runs, 12 RBIs and 11 stolen bases.
Milwaukee traded him to Boston after that season as part of the Hunter Renfroe deal. Years later, Hamilton is back with the Brewers, and back on a roster alongside several players he once shared the Biloxi system with.
Logan Henderson climbed through Biloxi in a hurry
Logan Henderson’s 2024 season was essentially a tour of the Brewers’ farm system. He went from the Arizona Complex League to Wisconsin, then Biloxi and eventually Nashville.
His best stretch came on the Coast. Henderson made nine starts for Biloxi. In June alone, he went 4-0 with a 1.66 ERA, striking out 29 hitters in 21â…” innings and earning Southern League Pitcher of the Month honors.
By 2025, he was a Major Leaguer. By 2026, he had become an important part of Milwaukee’s rotation.
Robert Gasser arrived in Biloxi in the Josh Hader trade
Robert Gasser’s stay on the Coast lasted only a month, but it came at an important point in Brewers history. Milwaukee acquired Gasser from San Diego in the 2022 Josh Hader trade and immediately assigned him to Biloxi.
He made four starts for the Shuckers, going 1-1 with a 2.21 ERA, striking out 26 in 20â…“ innings and holding hitters to a .194 average. By the end of August he was already in Triple-A with the Nashville Sounds.
Luis Lara was in Biloxi just last season
For longtime Mississippi baseball fans, some of these names require going back several years. Luis Lara doesn’t.
He was playing for the Shuckers in 2025. Lara played 136 games in Biloxi, hitting .257 with 132 hits, 32 doubles, three triples, two home runs, 40 RBIs and 44 stolen bases. He led the Southern League in games, at-bats, runs and doubles and won a Minor League Gold Glove.
A year later, he’s in Milwaukee and on the roster headed to Williamsport.
Mississippi connections in Milwaukee: William Contreras and Bryse Wilson
Not all of Milwaukee’s Mississippi connections run through Biloxi. William Contreras and Bryse Wilson both came through the Atlanta organization and spent time with the Mississippi Braves in Pearl before reaching the majors.
Contreras joined Mississippi as a 21-year-old in 2019 and played 60 games, hitting .246 with 56 hits, 11 doubles, three home runs and 25 RBIs. He reached Atlanta the following season and eventually became an All-Star with the Braves, hitting 20 home runs in 2022 before being sent to Milwaukee in the three-team trade that brought Sean Murphy to Atlanta.
Wilson’s trip through Pearl came in 2018. Only 20 years old at the time, the right-hander made 15 starts for Mississippi, going 3-5 with a 3.97 ERA and 89 strikeouts in 77 innings. He moved quickly from Double-A to Triple-A and made his Atlanta debut later that same summer. Wilson eventually left the Braves organization for Pittsburgh before finding his way to Milwaukee.
That gives Contreras and Wilson a different connection to Sunday’s game than many of their Brewers teammates. They never came through the Biloxi Shuckers. Instead, both wore a Mississippi Braves uniform before an Atlanta Braves uniform, and now they’ll be on the Milwaukee side of the Braves-Brewers matchup in Williamsport.
From Pearl and Biloxi to Williamsport
That’s what makes Sunday’s game unusually interesting from a Mississippi perspective.
This isn’t just Austin Riley. It isn’t just Cooper Pratt.
It’s Acuña playing in Pearl before he became an MVP. Albies hitting .321 there as a teenager. Harris going almost directly from Trustmark Park to Atlanta. Baldwin playing during the M-Braves’ final season.
On the other side, it’s Chourio tearing through the Southern League in Biloxi. Turang playing shortstop on the Coast. Frelick hitting .317 there. Mitchell getting healthy and figuring out Double-A pitching. Misiorowski throwing 100 mph at Keesler Federal Park. Henderson carving through Southern League lineups. Pratt going from Senatobia to Biloxi and then Milwaukee in the span of a few years.
Sunday night is supposed to be about the road from Little League to the Major Leagues.
For a surprising number of the players taking the field in Williamsport, that road had a stop in Mississippi.
GAME INFO
Atlanta Braves (75-55) vs. Milwaukee Brewers (81-49)
2026 MLB Little League Classic
When: Sunday, August 23, 2026
First Pitch: 6:10 p.m. CT / 7:10 p.m. ET
Where: Journey Bank Ballpark at Historic Bowman Field
Location: Williamsport, Pennsylvania
TV: ESPN
Streaming: ESPN App
Radio: ESPN Radio
Probable Pitchers:
Braves: RHP Tyler Mahle — 4-10, 4.53 ERA, 108 K
Brewers: LHP Shane Drohan — 6-4, 3.86 ERA, 99 K
About The Author
