The Eagles got off to a slow start last week on the diamond but are slowly starting to fill some big holes from last year’s team.
East Marion (0-2) only graduated one starter, but it lost its entire starting outfield for a variety of reasons. Center fielder Vashon Sims was injured in a car accident during the summer and is taking the year off to recuperate for his senior year, and the Eagles had one outfielder move and another one quit.
To begin the year the Eagles had a game they’d like to forget with a 17-2 loss at Sacred Heart Feb. 25. However, they rebounded well Friday night and nearly got a victory but came up short at home 11-10 in a rematch against the Crusaders.
Through the first two games, head coach Mandell Echols said he’s seen that his younger players are ready to step up even though they are still making some mistakes because of their youth.
“We’re making little errors getting used to playing in high school,” he said. “Pitching wise we’re making mental errors where we’ll get two quick outs then walk two or three people. It’s just growing pains.”
Echols said Ashton Allred made some big plays defensively in the outfield to save some runs Friday night against Sacred Heart. He said John Johnson played well behind the dish in his first high school game as a freshman. He singled out Devin Daniels, who he said always plays well, too.
The main concern Echols has right now is cleaning up East Marion’s situational baseball. He said the pitchers have been trying to do too much to get strikeouts rather than inducing weak contact, especially with two outs.
“If we can get that cleaned and our two-strike approach hitting wise, we’ll be good,” he said. “Other than those things, that’s about it.”
The Eagles have entered a new district this year with their bump up to Class 2A and are joined by St. Patrick, North Forrest, Perry Central and Collins. The four teams are a combined 1-12 to begin the season, and Echols said he believes East Marion has the talent to beat any of them.
“I think we have a chance with Collins and everyone else. I think we should (compete) for district,” he said.
The Eagles will play host to Richton Friday night before getting a week off before playing at Lumberton March 13.
