The East Central Hornets fought through injury woes and now take aim at a title defense
Bo Long and his senior-heavy East Central ball club have seen just about everything on the diamond.
A remarkably successful class of seniors have witnessed a season cut short by a worldwide pandemic, another cut short by complacency and third end in triumph. Now, 68 wins into their high school tenures, they’re looking to break new ground with a title defense run over their final high school days.
TJ Dunsford and Logan Terry have been strapped in for the ride from the beginning. The only two of the senior class that started as freshmen, Dunsford and Terry know exactly what it takes to win.
Their class will leave ECHS having never lost more than one district game in a single season. They are the three-time reigning region champs and six of them have signed to play college ball at the next level while the seventh is mulling over a pair of offers.
“That makes your life pretty easy when you got that kind of group,” Long, now in his 11th year as the Hornets head coach, told the Sun Herald.
It’s a group that has been through its share of tough moments. Their freshman seasons were cut short and a strong finish to the 2021 season led to the team becoming too lazy in the postseason, according to Dunsford.
But a 24-3 district record over the last three seasons and the capturing of the 2022 5A state title is the proof in the Hornets’ process.
“We just play Hornet baseball, really,” Terry said. “Just play like we know how to play.”
Navigating a unique moment
A team that has experienced the lows of disappointing ends to seasons and the highs of claiming the program’s third state title is uniquely equipped to navigate yet another moment it finds itself as first-time visitors within.
As the Hornets field grounders and pop flies in front of empty stands in the equally empty days between the regular season and the final postseason many of the maroon-clad athletes will play in Hurley, it’s not lost on the stars of the show how difficult of a season their senior year’s presented them with.
Andrew Marble, a Jones College signee and the most talented pitcher on the roster, hasn’t thrown a single inning because of an injury and has been limited to first base throughout the season.
Athletic center fielder Eli Smith, an East Central C.C. signee and 1,000-yard rusher on the football team, missed all of February and a chunk of March with an injury.
All-state catcher and Pearl River C.C. signee Logan Terry missed a month in the middle of the season after requiring knee surgery. The Hornets went 4-6 in Terry’s absence, which coincided with other losses due to injury.
“When I say it’s been a completely different year (from last), it has been a tough roller coaster of a year with all the injuries and stuff that we’ve had to deal with,” Long said. “It’s going to be equally special in his own right. We’ve had to make some adjustments in different areas and they’ve done it. They’ve made those adjustments and went with it.”
Among those adjustments: Marble has a career-high .885 OPS as a full-time batter and Dunsford, a Southern Miss signee, has dramatically lowered his walk rate on the mound while tossing another season of sub-2.00 ERA baseball.
“Our confidence was down as a team,” Dunsford said. “We kind of hit our down slope and after that we kind of just had to grit our teeth and get it done. Everybody in Mississippi sees it, we’re coming back. We’re all healthy now. It’s clicking.”
East Central has won seven in a row now that it is at its strongest since February.
For Dunsford and his fellow seniors, the moments approaching represent the climactic end to a highly successful, chemistry-laced run at the South Mississippi power.
“I see it as a soak-it-all-in kind of moment,” Dunsford said. “Didn’t realize until I woke up the other day after the George County game, like, ‘wow, that was my last regular season game as a high school baseball player. It kind of hit hard then, but like I said, just got to take it all in. There’s only about another month left, hopefully.”
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Leaders and the problems they cause
Every deep senior class has its leaders, but Long considers himself blessed to have this particular group. Each one has done more than just display both the vocal and actionable traits a leader possesses.
Long says all seven seniors have personally gravitated toward their own underclassman to take under their wing and establish the culture and standard of winning baseball and everything that entails.
Some through hands-on leadership and some through unwavering commitment to the process. All through a desire to keep ECHS on top of the 5A ladder in Mississippi long after they’re gone.
“There’s a certain standard that’s expected of them and they definitely live up to all expectations,” Long said. “I think they’ve done a really good job of taking some of these young guys under their wings and showing them the ropes. That’s what to me is the most special because they’ve all already taken a ninth or a tenth grader with them. You can see them out there in drill work, they’re helping coach those young guys. A ninth grade kid is going to listen to them before they listen to me.”
Long is adamant about not asking his players for strikeouts, home runs or wins. He relies on his seniors to trust in the process and pass along the work ethic and mental focus required to compete at a high level.
But the dearth of seniors and their total unselfishness in helping mold the next generation of Hornets has created its own problem: there’s simply too much talent.
Long says he has 11 to 12 guys that could be in the lineup each game.
“Every time I write a lineup out, I’m leaving a couple kids out of the lineup that absolutely deserve to be in the starting lineup and that kills me as an old softy,” Long said. “Every game I have to look a kid in the eye and say ‘hey, it ain’t nothing you’ve done, son. It’s just this is the lineup and you’re not going to be in it.’ And we have great kids, they’re all like ‘yes sir, whatever you think it takes to win, just do it.’”
That attitude has done wonders to propel ECHS through a challenging season wrought with injuries and hurdles from the start.
Lineup spots will inevitably open for Long and his underclassmen battling for playing time, but until then, the seniors have one last chapter to write in their high school careers.
“It’s never been done here before, winning two state championships in a row, and we’re hoping to get that done,” Dunsford said. “That would leave a pretty huge mark on East Central baseball and let everybody know what we’re made of.”
The Hornets will play their first playoff game on May 2 against the winner of Hattiesburg and Florence.
