Important day for Eupora’s Murphy includes signing with EMCC Lions

On Thursday morning, Eupora High School announced Ty Murphy was Mr. Eupora.

It was about the least surprising news of the year for someone that has earned that distinction probably as much as anyone before him. During football season, Murphy was an All-state quarterback that earned the Starkville Daily News Co-offensive Player of the Year award and led his team to the North State championship and a district title for the first time in over a decade.

Switching gears to baseball, there's been much of the same for Murphy. He's become just as big a part of things as he was on the gridiron and his coach says it's because of the hard work and the leadership that he brings every day.

“Ty is the kind of kid you'd love to have around for a long time,” Eupora baseball coach Ben Aldridge said. “He's going to get there early on the weekends and he's going to stay late. If things aren't going his way, you would never know by his demeanor. He's done it all for us. He'll go out there, say `yes sir' and get after it.”

Since he was in eighth grade, Murphy has been a part of things for the Eagles on the diamond. His sophomore year was a breakthrough season as he batted .361 with 26 hits and 18 RBI. Last year he batted .386 with 27 hits, six doubles, and three home runs in 29 games on his way to being selected All-area.

His work on the baseball field earned him recognition from colleges as well as he was able to grab offers from Holmes Community College, Copiah-lincoln Community College and East

Fr., BHP

Mississippi Community College. Thursday not only saw him grab Mr. Eupora and Most Athletic distinction from the school, he also got to celebrate signing a scholarship to play baseball for the Lions of Scooba. He had some opportunities in football as well, but baseball was where he sees his future.

“I've always loved baseball,” Murphy said. “I've been playing it since a young age and felt like EMCC was the place for me to be next year. I felt like I had a good connection with the coaching staff. They really want me to come develop off the field and on the field. Their coaching staff and the way that they run things. It's the place that I want to be.”

A year after the outfielder Murphy and his team won just six games in Aldridge's first year, the team has already equaled that production in just 10 games starting 6-4 for the year. As the team has gotten a year older, players have started developing at the plate, in the field and on the mound.

Murphy has pulled his weight in all three areas and they'll have to continue that trend to compete for a championship this year. It's a solid start.

“It's not even comparable to where we started last year,” Murphy said. “We've taken huge strides in the right direction and hopefully we can keep that going,” Murphy said. “We've got to just keep staying consistent. It starts with our pitching. We've got to throw strikes. Lineup has got to come around. Everything is going the way we want it. We've just got to keep progressing and stay consistent.”

Aldridge hopes that he has Murphy for the better part of two more months or so with a possible district title and a run in the playoffs. There's no doubt about it that if the team does do that, Murphy will be a big reason for it.

For the last two years since Aldridge has been in town, he's seen a player that has done all the right things on and off the field. Transitioning that to the next level is almost a given in Aldridge's eyes in Eupora's loss is about to be EMCC'S gain.

“The biggest thing that he has is leadership ability,” Aldridge said.“the guys just rally around him. He's got a way of meeting people where they are. He's on our leadership council and one of the things that he mentioned was making sure when he's graduated and gone that we have some consistency going on. The big part is that locker room presence and even in the dugout. He's a great athlete, but the leadership he brings off the field is the big thing.”