HATTIESBURG, Miss.- The C Spire Ferris Trophy, given to the best college baseball player in the state of Mississippi, was awarded to Southern Miss senior right-hander James McMahon at a luncheon on Monday at the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame in Jackson.
A reliever his first three seasons, McMahon had never started a game for the Golden Eagles until his senior year. He converted to a starter, and posted an 11-1 record in 14 starts, with an ERA of 1.72. Earlier in the season, he was named Conference USA Pitcher of the Week twice, and National Pitcher of the Week once by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association after shutting down Mississippi State for 3 2/3 innings in limited pitch count, and then went on to shut Rice out later that week.
A Hattiesburg native and Oak Grove High School product, McMahon beat out Mississippi State first-baseman Wes Rea, Jackson State infielder Melvin Rodriguez, Millsaps infielder/RHP Keith Shumaker, and Ole Miss pitcher Scott Weathersby for the title. 90% of the vote was comprised of head coaches and scouts, while C Spire conducted a fan vote that accounted for the remaining ten percent.
Since the award’s inception in 2004, McMahon is the second USM player to receive the honor. Tyler Koelling was the first one to win it in 2011.
UPDATE: The Conference-USA postseason awards were announced Tuesday, and James was named C-USA Pitcher of the Year, as well as first team All-Conference. This is McMahon’s second honor awarded to him in as many days.
