The East Marion Eagles are still searching for their identity five games into the season, but the one thing they have going for them is their ability to score runs, averaging more than nine runs per game.
East Marion (1-4), however, is giving up 15.2 runs per game, coupling inexperience on the mound with inexperience in the field.
Head coach Mandell Echols said the Eagles are starting to build some resilience though. During the first couple of games, he said players would start dropping their heads when they faced any type of adversity, but now they’re learning how to battle through it.
“They’re starting to fight back,” he said.
The Eagles had their worst offensive showing of the young season March 2 at home in a 11-3 loss to Richton. Friday with Jeff Davis County in town, the offense woke up and guided East Marion to its first win in walk-off fashion, 18-17 in eight innings.
Errors were once again an issue Monday against Tylertown at home in a 15-13 loss. East Marion trailed 15-7 at one point but battled back to score six runs and make it competitive at the end.
East Marion remains a very young team, with several of its upperclassmen being “baseball young,” according to Echols. He referenced junior Amere Woodham, who is playing for the first time since seventh grade, as an example because several players have returned to the diamond late in their prep careers.
The Eagles are also fielding several young starters such as sophomores LJ Andrews (shortstop) and Ka’Ron Weary (center fielder) and freshman Kyler Collins (first baseman). An eighth grader, Caden Mingo, is getting some innings on the mound and did a great job in relief against Tylertown Monday, according to Echols.
In East Marion’s first three games, the Eagles walked a horrid 41 batters and consistently put themselves in bad spots. The past two games, they have started to clean that up some, walking just 11. Ja’Quarious Jones and Andrews are returning pitchers, and Jacob Johnson, Collins and Mingo are getting their first cracks at throwing varsity innings.
Echols said Weary has upside on the mound with a live arm, but he needs to build some confidence and trust himself. He said the sophomore tries to not throw his hardest to gain more command, but he would rather Weary just let it go and try to find his release point.
Where Echols would love to see some development is in East Marion’s leadership. He said a lot of his players are used to following others and haven’t taken the natural progression to be the leaders themselves yet.
The Eagles played host to Jeff Davis Tuesday, but results were unavailable at press time. They will play the Jaguars again Friday on the road.
