By CURTIS ROCKWELL/Sports Director

HURLEY — A quartet of former East Central High standouts that helped lead the Hornets to the ultimate goal on the baseball diamond are headed for the senior college level.

T. J. Dunsford, Andrew Marble, Eli Smith and Logan Terry all recently announced their next destinations after solid seasons on the junior college level.

Marble is headed to Samford University, Dunsford to The University of Tennessee-Martin, Terry to Nicholls State and Smith to Mobile University.

Dunsford and Marble each played at Jones Junior College, while Smith was at East Central Community College and Terry at Pearl River Community College.

“All four of those guys were huge parts of us winning back-to-back championships,” veteran ECHS head coach Bo Long, who directed the Hornets to consecutive Class 5A state titles in 2022 and 2023, said Sunday. “They have all been successful everywhere they have been, and they will continue to be because of the work they put into it.”

Marble was a Second Team All-MACCC pick and two-time MACCC Player of the Week selection this season after going 5-1 with a 2.60 earned run average and 83 strikeouts in 114 innings of work at JCC this season. He closed his career 11-2 with a 2.84 ERA in 21 starts. Opponents only managed a .198 batting average against him this year.

Dunsford, an outfielder, was also a Second Team All-MACCC selection in his lone season with the Bobcats after transferring over from Lurleen B. Wallace Junior College. He batted .356 with six home runs and 32 runs batted in and led the team in hits (62), runs scored (49) and doubles (15). He originally signed with Southern Miss out of ECHS but detoured to Wallace.

Former Hornet teammates Smith and Terry each ended up making deep postseason runs with ECCC and PRCC, respectively, as they faced off twice in the NJCAA World Series, including in the semifinals with a trip to the national title tilt on the line.

Terry, the Wildcats’ starting catcher, turned into a solid bat for the Wildcats in his sophomore season hitting .324 with a .468 on-base percentage and .450 slugging percentage. He tallied 23 doubles, 21 runs and 20 walks, while collecting eight doubles and two homers, including one in the NJCAA Division II World Series. Terry helped lead Pearl River to an MACCC Championship, a Region 23 Title and an NJCAA World Series second place finish and was named Second Team All-MACCC.

Smith, who saw time in both the outfield and on the mound for the Warriors, batted .324 this season with 25 RBIs as he wrapped up his sophomore season. He saw action in 57 games, and he proved to be a threat on the base paths with 18 stolen bases and he drew 25 walks. He also made nine pitching appearances, striking out 16 in 13 innings of work as he helped lead ECCC to a third place spot nationally.