By Thomas Sellers Jr.
Those associated with Tipton-Rosemark Academy Baseball are hoping a March baseball record won’t be an indicator of May outcomes.
Co-Head Coaches Trysten Barlow and Conner McLemore knew the first three weeks of the 2026 would be an onslaught. Teams like Covington, Wilson Central, Mount Juliet, Lawrence County and Marshall Academy all humbled the Rebels.
“We got off to a rough start,” Barlow acknowledged. “We’re playing Collierville, Briarcrest and Christian Brothers. Then we go down to the beach. We play some bigger schools down there.
“I thought we competed well in the first game down there,” he added. “Other than that, we came back here and faced Memphis Home School. We played St. George’s twice and now we look to turn the page into the new season as we start district play.”
On Friday evening, the Rebels welcomed the Ripley Tigers to Rebel Field and utilized all those tough lessons from previous games to emerge victorious 11-1 in six innings.
“The purpose of all those tough games was to really get us tested,” Barlow said. “I feel like if we don’t schedule hard in the beginning, we won’t be tested. Then we would kind of freeze up when everything gets hard for us.”
TRA jumped out 5-1 after three innings against Ripley. Junior hurler Tristan Marcum handled the Tiger lineup from the mound holding them to just the first inning run.
“To be honest I felt we came out flat,” Barlow acknowledged. “I felt like we kind of overlooked the game going into Monday facing JCS. To me I think we would have been a lot better with our approaches earlier. Trying to lift the ball when our approach is trying to stay on top of the ball trying to do too much in the wrong times.”
In the fifth inning the Rebels started the frame with a double from Owen Van Meter. Three batters later Duncan Hughes used a sacrifice bunt to score Van Meter to make the tally 6-1.
The Rebels were up 7-1 after five innings when Wesley Pinner drove in a runner with a sac fly. TRA closed out the game with a four-run sixth inning highlighted by Colby Funk driving in the clinching RBI with a double off the wall.
“I would say we closed out well because our approach got better as the game went on,” Barlow concluded. “And now we have to turn the page going into Monday.”
