For many teams around the country, the COVID-19 pandemic meant the end of several senior players’ careers prematurely. For Eupora, they had to say goodbye to senior Avery Tollison, but 2020 was mostly about previewing just how special 2021 could be for this team. The Eagles went 9-16 in 2019 with a lineup almost exclusively of eighth graders and sophomores. This year, those players were a little older and were more seasoned than the season before and the results were showing that. As they made their way into the Class 2A, Region 2 schedule, Eupora had already won six games including triumphs over Houston, West Point and Choctaw County. They ended the year with a 3-1 win over Scott Central in what was one of the final sporting events in the area just before the Mississippi High School Activities Association shut things down temporarily and, ultimately for good. “It’s rough. I’m not going to lie,” coach Cole McBride said of the abrupt ending. “I know the sacrifices they’ve made and the work they’ve put in. I understand it’s all for the greater good, but from a coaching standpoint, to see how much work they’ve put in, it’s rough.” On the bright side of things, 2021 is setting up to be pretty special for McBride and his team. They return seniors like Parker Knight who was batting .423, Reed Hale who had 13 RBIs and Carter May who had 12 with two home runs in 11 games. The Eagles also bring back all of their pitching which includes Knight, Hale, sophomore Chris Robinson and others. For now, McBride and the players are sad that this season didn’t get to play out but they’re also excited for what’s coming as the foundation has been laid from hard work this year. “These kids show up every day and they work hard. I demand a lot out of them, and they buckle up and go to work,” McBride said. “We had to go through some bumps last year, but they came back every day ready to compete and get after it. We’ve grown a lot this year and our pitchers have stepped up.”
