EMCC quartet earns All-MACCC honorable mention baseball honors

SCOOBA — East Mississippi Community College's Austin Beech, Blayze Berry, Cade Davis and Rye McGlothin have all earned All-MACCC honorable mention baseball honors, as announced Monday by the Mississippi Association of Community Colleges Conference after being voted on by the MACCC's head baseball coaches.   

Beech, a third-year sophomore outfielder, led Coach Brett Kimbrel's 18-18 EMCC Lions in batting average (.333), hits (40), extra-base hits (15), runs scored (38), RBIs (32), total bases (73) and slugging percentage (.608) this past season.  He also ranked second on the team with eight home runs, 21 walks, 10 stolen bases and a .432 on-base percentage as a 36-game starter.

A product of Pascagoula High School, Beech batted .314 for his EMCC career with 86 starts in 90 career games played for the Lions.  His 30 career extra-base hits included 16 doubles, nine homers and five triples.  Beech also totaled 62 career RBIs along with 71 runs scored and 56 walks during his three years on the Scooba campus.

Beech previously earned second-team all-conference honors as a freshman starter after leading the 2019 Lions in on-base percentage (.447) and ranking second in batting average (.331).  As an EMCC rookie, Beech also tied for the club lead with 29 runs scored while smacking eight doubles and driving home 26 runs.

Berry, a transfer from Mississippi State, led this year's EMCC team with his .460 on-base percentage and ranked second behind Beech by hitting .324 on the year.  Along with his team-high seven doubles and club-most 25 walks, Berry hit four home runs with 24 RBIs and 22 runs scored as the Lions' starting second baseman.

As a pitcher for EMCC, Berry made nine appearances on the mound with 31 strikeouts and only eight walks in 22 innings of work.  With a win and a save on the season, Berry made his collegiate debut by earning MACCC Pitcher of the Week honors after helping the Lions to season-opening wins over Itawamba and Northeast Mississippi.

During his prep playing days, Berry previously collected MAIS Class AAA Player of the Year honors as a junior after helping lead Heritage Academy to the 2019 MAIS Class AAA state championship.  Prior to the shortened 2020 baseball season, Berry was a Clarion Ledger Dandy Dozen preseason selection and was rated among the top 10 of Prep Baseball Report's Mississippi 2020 state rankings. 

Leading the way on the mound for the Lions, Davis posted a team-best 6-3 record with four complete games in 10 starting assignments.  The freshman right-hander had 45 strikeouts and 14 walks in 50 innings pitched this past season for EMCC.

A product of Ripley High School, Davis picked up MACCC Pitcher of the Week honors this past March after striking out eight with no walks during a complete-game three-hitter against Southwest Mississippi.

The 6-foot-6 Davis previously compiled a three-year high school record of 15-3 as the Ripley Tigers' pitching ace.

McGlothin topped this year's EMCC squad with nine home runs, including two-homer games during wins over Mississippi Delta (Feb. 23) and Copiah-Lincoln (March 6).  He also ranked second on the team with 26 runs batted in while dividing his 32 starts between first base and as EMCC's designated hitter.     

McGlothin previously starred at New Hope High School, where he helped lead the 27-5 Trojans to the 2019 MHSAA Class 4A state championship.