EATON — Eaton baseball coach Bob Ebright felt it was just a matter of time before his squad would start to come together.

The Eagles third-year boss saw his team drop five straight games to fall below the .500 mark mainly due to a lack of inexperience and offense.

Now, after a 10-7 win over Talawanda last week and two more wins after that, Ebright believes his team is starting to turn the corner.

“We’ve had a little struggle over the last few games getting some runs. It was a good team effort,” Ebright said after the win over the Brave. “A lot of guys had better at-bats tonight, put the ball in play, made them field some things. It was nice to get some runs and have our offense do their part for once.”

Ebright said the team has relied on solid pitching to keep them in games.

Senior JT Gels and junior Gavin Winings are leading the way on the mound. The team is also getting solid showings from Ian Ruebush, Trevor Davis and Dillon Fletcher.

“JT’s thrown the ball extremely well. We always thought he had it in him and as a senior he’s rising to the occasion on the mound” Ebright said. “Gavin has given us some good quality innings. Ian Ruebush, every time we throw him out there it just seems like he battles for us and gets outs. So, it’s really nice to see that for him. He’s worked hard in the off-season to get better for us.”

Ebright said the coaching staff’s focus for the team has been to get better each day.

“We talk about just trying to get better every day,” Ebright said. “I think this was a positive step offensively for us and hopefully just keep building. The league’s still there, but the tournament is coming around.”

Although the team is made up of mostly juniors and seniors some are experiencing playing at the varsity level for the first time.

“We were a little inexperienced earlier in the year so hopefully we’re maturing, getting some more at bats, seeing more pitches, getting more plays,” Ebright said. “Hopefully we’re maturing at the right time to get ready for tournament.

“A lot of these guys are new to being varsity guys. They might be juniors and seniors, but they’re new to this so it’s good to see them start growing and I think we have. Even the tough losses in the last few games I think we’re growing.”

In addition to the win over Talawanda, Eaton knocked off Oakwood 3-0 behind a 3-hit pitching performance from Winings on Thursday, May 2. On Friday, the Eagles run-ruled Tri-County North 13-1 in 6-innings.

Eaton (9-9, 4-5 SWBL) enters the final week of the regular season with a full slate of games scheduled.

They were scheduled to play at Greenville on Monday, May 6 and host Oakwood on Tuesday.

Eaton will travel to Middletown Madison on Wednesday and host the Mohawks on Friday. In between they will host state-ranked Coldwater on Thursday.

Reach Eddie Mowen Jr. at 937-683-4061 and follow on X @emowenjr.