West Marion’s Shelby Terrell ushered in a new era of Trojans baseball and led the program to two south state championship appearances. Now the graduate has several more awards to add to his resume as both The Columbian-Progress Most Valuable Player of the Year and Pitcher of the Year.
Last year Terrell claimed Pitcher of the Year award and is a two-time recipient of the honor to go along with county MVP and Mississippi Class 3A Player of the Year.
Terrell said it means a lot to him to be selected, especially because of the amount of talent in Marion County.
“That definitely steps it up a notch from just getting the one award last year,” he said. “It feels good to get both.”
The righty compiled an 11-1 record as a senior with a 1.38 ERA, three complete-game shutouts and 119 strikeouts to only 11 walks in 81 1/3 innings. He also hit .291 with two home runs, 20 RBI, 23 runs scored and six stolen bases offensively.
The Pearl River Community College signee’s nearly 11:1 strikeout-to-walk ratio is among the best in the country and an anomaly at any level.
“A lot of times when you see guys who have big velocity like he has, it’s typical in high school that the walk numbers are really high,” Trojans head coach Derrick Jerkins said. “They’re all over the place so it really says a lot for him that he’s so refined with what he’s already able to do. He had 119 strikeouts and 11 walks. A lot of high school pitchers that throw 90 miles an hour will walk the bases loaded then strike three in a row out. That’s never been him since he started with us in seventh grade to his senior year. That’s pretty remarkable he’s able to throw so many strikes.”
Terrell has a four pitch mix with a four-seam fastball that maxed out at 93 miles per hour in a start against Columbia Academy, a two-seamer, a knuckle curve and a changeup. Jerkins said that Terrell didn’t need to throw his changeup much in high school because he was able to blow batters away with his heater but that the off-speed offering will be a big factor for him at the collegiate level.
Pearl River has a track record of elevating West Marion pitchers, most notably Mississippi State’s Colby White. Jerkins said if Terrell continues to work as hard as he did in high school that he could develop into a mid-90s starter that could go all the way.
“His ceiling is really, really high. He has not even began to touch what his ceiling is,” he said.
Jerkins said Terrell’s passion for the game is evident in the amount of work he puts in to hone his craft on the mound.
“He takes a lot of pride in what he does and plays the game with a lot of passion,” he said. “It’s definitely helped him out a lot.”
“I just like to go out and compete any time I get the chance to get out there on the mound,” Terrell added. “I like to go out there and have a big, competitive attitude towards it and pitch as hard as I can.”
Terrell finished his high school career with 333 strikeouts in 257 1/3 innings with 26 wins and a 2.12 ERA. He had 101 hits with a .307 average, six homers and 64 RBI.
Pictured Above: West Marion's Shelby Terrell throws a two-seam fastball in the south state championship. | Photo by Joshua Campbell
