The 2024 high school baseball season is quickly approaching and as usual, excitement abounds throughout the state. Players and coaches have been working in preparation for the upcoming season and, as is the case each year, there are some very talented players and teams across Mississippi.

Teams across the state have goals and aspirations to finish their seasons in Pearl, MS at Trustmark Park as they compete for a state championship, but there is plenty of work to be done before that becomes reality. We hope to familiarize our readers with many of the teams across the state as we preview individual teams across Mississippi. We will take you right up to first pitch this season with these team previews and by continuing other pieces of content covering the Magnolia State.

Please keep checking back throughout the season as we will be your one-stop shop for everything related to high school baseball across the state. Each week we will be releasing our players of the week, updating the Top 10 in each MHSAA classification as well as a Power 25.

*Please note the information has been gathered from head coaches across the state, based on their replies to the questionnaire we distributed over this offseason.

High School: Independence High School
Head Coach: Jordan Edwards
Classification: MHSAA 3A
District Number: 3A, Region 2
2023 Record (Finish): 19-14
No. of Returning Positional Starters: 6
No. of Returning Pitchers: 3
Team Strengths: We return a lot of young starters and only 2 seniors. Even though we are young we are very experienced. Depending on our pitcher, we could have a lot of guys adding to the depth. A lot of our returners have played a lot of good innings, so we should have a lot of experience.

 

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TOP RETURNING PLAYERS

P Ethan Wright (2024)
MIF Miller Owens (2025)
C Dallas Stepp (2025)
3B Eli Stepp (2028)

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TOP UNDERCLASSMEN

1B Braylon Davis 1B (2026)

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TEAM OUTLOOK

After a solid 2023 season in which Independence finished 19-14 including a second round playoff loss to Water Valley, Coach Jordan Edwards feels his squad is ready to take the next step. His young, though very experienced team, hopes to have a different mentality when looking to finish off games with late inning leads, something that bit the Wildcats last season.

Top returners for the Wildcats include senior Ethan Wright (RHP), juniors Miller Owens (MIF) and Dallas Stepp (Catcher), and 8th grader Eli Stepp (3B).

Wright finished 2nd on the staff last year with 74 strikeouts in just 61 innings and should be a go to arm in big games. He also added 10 doubles and 22 runs batted in on offense, while hitting at a .327 clip. Owens is another productive offensive player returning from the 2023 lineup after hitting .418 and driving in 29 runs. Stepp showed his dual threat ability last season while hitting .368 with 32 rbi’s and posting a 2.84 ERA in 32 innings for the Wildcats. Young Eli Stepp was impressive as a 7th grader last season as he hit .315 in over 100 plate appearances. Stepp could also see his innings increase as well this season after getting some limited time on the mound in 2023. Coach Edwards feels sophomore first baseman Braylon Davis could be ready to step up this spring after quite a bit of experience as a freshman a year ago.

The Wildcats began regular season play on February 15th vs. Charleston.

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Find more information on the 2024 Independence High School program below:

+ Follow them on X: @IHS_WildcatBSB
+ Visit the Prep Baseball Mississippi, 2024 HS Team Previews

 

FOLLOW PREP BASEBALL MISSISSIPPI THROUGHOUT THE SPRING

+ Prep Baseball Mississippi on X
+ Prep Baseball Mississippi on Instagram
+ Prep Baseball Mississippi on Facebook

 

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