Eupora baseball coach Cole McBride will have his hands full in his first season with the Eagles.
The Eagles will enter the season with no seniors on the squad, one junior and 12 sophomores, and no freshmen on the roster.
“We are real young,” McBride said. “They are working hard and working at getting better. They come to practice excited every day. But basically, we will have all sophomores on the field. But I think we are going to throw strikes and play good defense. But we won’t really know until the lights come on.”
Junior Avery Tollison returns to play first base and will share time with Cade Adkins.
At second base will be Parker Knight and Tupelo transfer Reed Hale, who will be a utility player for the Eagles. At shortstop will be Carter May with Hale as a backup. At third base will be Tanner Fletcher while Jacob Collum and Kimble Dillinger will handle the catching duties.
In the outfield, Landon Davis and Sammy Bowie will split time in left field while Ty Murphy and Tyjuan Hughes will be in centerfield. In right field, Drew Tabb and Chris Robinson will share time.
“I think the biggest challenge for us is the experience,” McBride said. “I think the more games we play, the better off they will be. We have a couple of kids who have played a good bit. I’ve got several kids who can play different roles. I’m expecting some good things out of them. They are working hard and competing and that’s all you can ask for.”
On the mound, McBride said Atkins, Hale, Fletcher, Knight and May will get the majority of varsity innings.
“We have got a bunch of guys that can pitch,” McBride said. “I think we have to throw strikes. We have to make the routine plays and go from there. We have to do the routine things and make the routine plays. The kids are working hard every day and are excited to be there. It’s a great group of kids. I couldn’t ask for a better group of kids.”
Eupora will be competing in Division 2-2A with East Webster, Calhoun City, Bruce, Northside and Leflore County.
“I don’t know where we are in the division,” McBride said. “I know we have to be one of the top four teams to make the playoffs. I didn’t play any of those folks last year so I don’t know what anyone has coming back. I just want our guys to compete and let the chips fall where they may.”
