East Mississippi Community College set to open 2026 baseball season

SCOOBA – East Mississippi Community College's 2026 baseball season is set to get underway Thursday (Jan. 29) with an 11:00 a.m. doubleheader at Marion Military Institute in Marion, Ala. The scheduled EMCC-MMI rematch set for Saturday (Jan. 31) on the Scooba campus, however, has been cancelled due to sub-freezing temperatures forecasted for the area.

With the cancellation of Saturday's scheduled home opener against Marion Military, the EMCC Lions will now look to next week's home-and-home doubleheader against Snead State Community College to make their 2026 home baseball debut. A scheduled Thursday (Feb. 5) road twin bill against Snead State in Boaz, Ala. is slated to be followed two days later by a Saturday (Feb. 7) doubleheader rematch versus the Parsons at Gerald Poole Field on the Scooba campus. First pitch is set for 2 p.m. for EMCC's pair of doubleheaders against Snead State.

For the second straight year, eighth-year EMCC head baseball coach Brett Kimbrel's Lions will venture to Marianna, Fla. to take on host Chipola College and Wallace-Dothan during consecutive days (Feb. 13-14) in the Sunshine State.

EMCC's month of February also features a pair of non-conference, three-way events against MACCC competition that will be hosted by Hinds (Feb. 17) and East Central (Feb. 25). Jones College will be the third league foe competing in Raymond, while Meridian Community College will round out the trio participating in Decatur.

EMCC is also slated to play host to Dyersburg State, out of Tennessee, for a pair of home doubleheaders in Scooba during consecutive days (Feb. 20-21) before closing out the month of February with home-and-home twin bills against Gadsden State on Feb. 26 (in Gadsden, Ala.) and Feb. 28 (in Scooba).

In their third three-way MACCC event of the pre-conference schedule, the Lions will welcome reigning NJCAA Division II national runner-up Pearl River and Southwest Mississippi to the Scooba campus on March 3 to close out the non-conference portion of their schedule.

East Mississippi's MACCC baseball slate begins at Holmes with a March 11 conference doubleheader in Goodman. The Lions are also set for road league matchups at Pearl River (March 21), Northwest Mississippi (March 25), Copiah-Lincoln (April 3), Coahoma (April 14), Hinds (April 18), and East Central (April 29).

EMCC's seven MACCC home twin bills will feature Southwest Mississippi (March 14), Mississippi Delta (March 17), Meridian (March 28), Itawamba (March 31), Jones (April 11), Northeast Mississippi (April 22), and Mississippi Gulf Coast (April 25) all coming to the Scooba campus.

With Kimbrel joined by assistant coaches Dylan Earnest, Wesley Sides and Chase Honeycutt, the 2026 EMCC Lions are comprised of 15 returners and 19 newcomers. Leading the way among returning players will be the third-year middle infield tandem of Miles Mitchell at shortstop and Colin Boyd at second base. Mitchell, who was a medical redshirt in 2024, bounced back to hit .288 last year with 26 runs batted in. Boyd hit a solid .302 with 12 extra-base hits in 2024 and was batting at a .400 clip a season ago before having to go the medical redshirt route.

Further strengthening EMCC's defensive play up the middle will be the return of sophomore centerfielder Sam McClinton at the top of the Lions' batting order. A proven game-changer with his range and speed in the outfield and on the base paths, McClinton is the team's leading returning hitter (.345) from a year ago along with his 28 stolen bases.

The Lions also have the luxury of returning two of their top pitchers from last year's staff. Between them, left-hander Trace Tingle and right-hander Evan Hilliard combined for eight pitching victories, 20 games started on the mound and six complete games thrown while also having compiled the two lowest earned run averages for EMCC a season ago.

Also returning from last year's EMCC baseball team are Cooper Bates, Caidan Bullard, Ty Harden, Andrew McCary, Nick McCoy, Jamie Muse Jr., Jacob Nunn, Gabe Roberts, Walker Seymour, and Elijah Young.

East Mississippi's incoming class of first-year players consists of Jonas Coleman, Stephen Eakes, Mason Ellis, Logan Flaskamp, Jax Joyner, Whit Key, Conner Lewis, Smythe McCoy, Chris Newson, Colin Perrigin, Tinnin Potts, Garrett Pound, Jon Reynolds, Hunter Russell, Matthan Weaver, Aydn Westmoreland, Braxton Whiteside, Ty Wiggins, and Jack Willis.