Four weeks into the high-school baseball season, teams are starting to figure out who they are and can be. Conference play is already well underway in the United-8 Conference and will begin next week in the Southeastern Athletic Conference, and the Robeson County Slugfest is on the horizon, just one week away.

With seven to 10 games complete for each of Robeson County’s teams, here is a glance at the progress of each, listed alphabetically.

Fairmont Golden Tornadoes

Fairmont (4-6) is a younger team than last year’s successful group, and after playing a tough nonconference schedule has used that slate to build experience ahead of conference play.

“We’re not playing bad baseball,” Golden Tornadoes coach Kelly Chavis said. “We have moments where we show facets of the game where we’re going to be really good at, and moments where we’re not so good. I attribute that to the youth of some of our players at the varsity level.”

Kenley Callahan provides the leadership at the plate as a third-year varsity player for Fairmont, as one who can hit for both average and power. R.J. Deese has picked up the cleanup role after Mynkoda Smith went down for an injury — he’s expected back in another two to three weeks, Chavis said — and Austin Locklear and Jamarion Brown are also providing some quality at-bats.

On the mound, Deese, Parker Chavis, Callahan, Nemo Chavis and Jacob Jacobs provide a reliable top five for the Golden Tornadoes.

“It makes it tough on our team defensively when I’m having to move my shortstop to the mound for extended innings, especially with (Smith) not being able to play right now,” Kelly Chavis said. “If we had him in the lineup and doing what he does, we would be a much different team.”

Fairmont enters the Slugfest next week as the defending champion, and then heads into conference play in a league that is potentially anyone’s for the taking.

“At this point can be up for grabs for anybody. I don’t think that we can step on the field on any night and think ‘this is a win,’” Kelly Chavis said. “I think most of us are hovering around .500 record-wise.”

Fairmont opens conference play Tuesday at Midway before the teams meet again Thursday in Fairmont.

Lumberton Pirates

Lumberton (6-3, 5-1 United-8 Conference) is off to a strong start — though coach Jeff McLamb says he’s been quick to remind his team that quick starts to the last couple of seasons haven’t culminated in strong finishes.

“We’ve got to keep working hard to try to stay there,” McLamb said. “I have definitely reminded them of the last two years, decent starts and decent middles and at the end we sort of faded away. I’ve definitely reminded them of that, that every game’s important and you’ve got to come out and play and each inning, each out is important, and hopefully they’re catching on to it.”

The Pirates have scored over eight runs per game and had won six of their last seven before Thursday’s 5-2 loss to West Bladen.

“All our wins, we played good team ball and just did all the little things right, and the games that we lost we didn’t do those things,” McLamb said. “I think if we do the little things and play as a team, I think we’re a decent little ball team.”

Tashaun Stocks, J.T. Helper, Chatler Maynor, Caleb Maynor and Damian Robinson provide the offensive core for the Pirates.

“The games that we’ve won, when they get on they’ve been doing their job, bunting them over, or just doing the little things to get them on,” McLamb said. “So hopefully that can continue.”

Hepler is the Pirates’ “horse” on the mound, McLamb said, with Robinson, Shaun Henderson, Landon Claar and Caleb Maynor also pitching significant innings, with the team often taking a pitching-by-committee approach of shorter stints throughout games.

The Pirates play Tuesday at Purnell Swett in a matchup of two teams in a loss-column tie for second place in the United-8.

Purnell Swett Rams

Purnell Swett (4-3, 3-1 United-8) won the United-8 regular-season championship last year, but even with much of the same team back, coach Jeff Lamb says the Rams are still “under construction” after one month of the 2024 season.

“We had a lot of returners, but the guys we did lose have some big shoes to feel,” Lamb said. “We’re still a work in progress, trying to figure it out.”

Jacob Chavis has been the Rams’ best hitter so far this season and is the ace of the pitching staff.

Offensively, Lamb looks for the Rams to put the ball in play more often to be more successful.

“We’ve just got to figure out how to put the ball in play … make the other team make plays and we’ll be alright,” Lamb said. “We’ve been playing solid defense, but when you’re not scoring runs you’ve got to be perfect on defense.”

In addition to Chavis, Chandon Sanderson, Jaythan Locklear and Aaron Locklear provide key experience on the mound, while freshman Gavin Jones is also a contributor.

The Rams are scheduled to host 4A state title contender Hoggard on Saturday before Tuesday’s conference game with Lumberton and other United-8 battle Wednesday against Gray’s Creek.

“This coming week’s a big week for us — it’s a big week for everybody in the conference if you look,” Lamb said. “Some guys can separate themselves, or it can all be bunched up at the end of the week.”

Red Springs Red Devils

Red Springs (4-4) is at .500 entering conference play, doing so in a program that has struggled over the last few years and has freshmen as half its lineup this season.

“These freshmen I’ve got that are starting are pretty talented,” Red Devils coach Matt Strickland said. “But we’re not as consistent as I’d like to see. Some games, if we show up, I think we’re capable of playing with anybody, but some days, with how young we are, even though we are talented, some days we just don’t show up.”

Xzavier Sinclair has been a bright spot among that freshman class, as the team’s mound ace and one of its top-of-the-lineup bats.

“He doesn’t get tired early; in fact, he throws the ball harder as the ballgame goes on,” Strickland said. “He throws the ball well and he’s got a lot of confidence and commands the zone.”

Offensively, veterans Tim Hammonds, Jaydon Hammonds and T.J. Ellerbe provide the spark atop the order.

“My top five hitters have done a good job the last couple of games supplying a lot of runs, because at the beginning of the season, that was one of the biggest things, we weren’t getting it done offensively; but that has picked up the last two weeks,” Strickland said.

Strickland likes the Red Devils’ chances to compete in the Southeastern, with conference play beginning Tuesday at St. Pauls after a nonconference home tilt Monday against Seventy-First.

“If we show up playing fundamental baseball, I think the talent will take care of everything else,” Strickland said. “We are young, but we’ve got some talented ballplayers, and if we show up and play baseball like we’re supposed to, we should take care of business.”

St. Pauls Bulldogs

A young St. Pauls (3-5) team led by first-time head coach Bladen Strickland has shown its age early, but the coach hopes those growing pains lead to stronger play over the balance of the Bulldogs’ schedule.

“I said (before the season) we’d be playing good ball the last week of March, first week of April,” Bladen Strickland said. “I truly do believe that they’re growing up before my eyes every day, so I’m feeling pretty good about them.”

Five early-season losses, four of which have come by five runs or more, have come as lessons for the Bulldogs.

“We’re just taking it as we go, we’re taking our licks, but we’re learning, we don’t see them as losses, we see them as learning experiences because we are so young, and we’ll be ready,” Bladen Strickland said.

At the plate, Josh Garner, Jaden Parker, Jaylen Jacobs and Cameron McNeill have carried the Bulldogs’ offense.

“They put the ball in play hard, consistently,” Bladen Strickland said. “They don’t strike out much and they put a lot of pressure on the defense.”

Parker is the “ace” of the team’s pitching staff, Bladen Strickland said, with Skylar Lancaster and Cailen McNeill also providing key innings.

St. Pauls hosts Red Springs Tuesday to open league play, with another meeting set for Thursday in Red Springs.