EMCC Lions to open 2025 baseball slate with pair of home-and-home series

SCOOBA – Coming off the program's winningest season in 10 years, the 2025 East Mississippi Community College baseball team is set to open the new campaign with a pair of home-and-home series against Alabama-based Marion Military Institute and Snead State Community College.

On Thursday (Jan. 30) and Saturday (Feb. 1) of this week, head coach Brett Kimbrel's EMCC Lions will play host to MMI in a Thursday noon doubleheader from Scooba before traveling to Marion two days later for another scheduled noon twin bill against the Tigers.

EMCC will basically have an identical second week of the season with a Thursday (Feb. 6) home doubleheader versus Snead State followed by a Saturday (Feb. 8) road twin bill against the Parsons in Boaz. Both days are set for 2 p.m. first pitches.

EMCC is slated to play away from home for a couple of weeks before returning to the Scooba campus during the last week of February. The challenging road stretch will first take the Lions to Marianna, Fla., where they are set to take on preseason 12^th-ranked (NJCAA DI) and host Chipola College and No. 6 Wallace-Dothan (NJCAA DII) twice on consecutive days (Feb. 14-15). Following the Florida trip, EMCC is scheduled to travel to Poplarville on Feb. 18 to meet preseason fifth-ranked and host Pearl River along with fellow MACCC foe Holmes in solo non-conference contests. The Lions will conclude their ambitious two-week span of road action by competing against NJCAA Division I members Indian Hills Community College and Missouri State University-West Plains at the prestigious Flag City Classic, Feb. 22, to be played at USA Stadium in Millington, Tenn.

EMCC's demanding pre-conference baseball slate will continue with home non-conference outings versus preseason ranked MACCC foes Meridian (#20) and East Central (#2) on Feb. 26 along with No. 12 Jones College two days later (Feb. 28) again in Scooba to close out the month. Non-conference play is scheduled to conclude on March 4 with the Lions heading to Senatobia to take on MACCC opponents Northwest Mississippi and Coahoma in single matchups.

On the heels of last year's 30-22 overall record, 15-13 MACCC mark and third consecutive postseason tournament appearance, the 2025 EMCC Lions return 15 players from a year ago in addition to having added 18 newcomers. Their regular-season conference schedule includes home dates with East Central (March 12), Hinds (March 22), Coahoma (March 26), Copiah-Lincoln (April 5), Northwest Mississippi (April 15), Pearl River (April 18), and Holmes (April 29).

The Lions' MACCC road baseball slate will take them to Mississippi Gulf Coast (March 15), Northeast Mississippi (March 18), Jones (March 29), Itawamba (April 9), Meridian (April 12), Mississippi Delta (April 23), and Southwest Mississippi (April 26).  

EMCC's collection of 15 returning players includes pitchers Sam Malone, Matthew Birdsong, Jacob Nunn, Riley Myers, Jackson Crow, Eli Basham, and Otis Brooks III. The Lions also bring back position players Colin Boyd, Miles Mitchell, Hugh LeMasters, Ty Murphy, Jackson Rodgers, Chipper Moore, Luke Sides and Gabe Roberts.

Along with the return of the experienced players from last season, the Lions have assembled another solid recruiting class that collectively continues to vie for an assortment of starting positions in the field and hitting spots within the lineup. Including transfer catcher Josh King from Jones College and transfer pitchers Will Krehely (Meridian CC), Andrew McCary (Pearl River CC) and Tyler Harden (Mississippi Delta CC), EMCC's talent-laden group of 18 newcomers is also comprised of incoming freshmen Cooper Bates, Caidan Bullard, Caiden Chain, Sanders Griffis, Ian Henry, Evan Hilliard, Greer Manning, Sam McClinton, Nick McCoy, Jamie Muse Jr., Walker Seymour, Jayson Smith Jr., Trace Tingle and Elijah Young.