Thanks guys!

He/she was definitely a baby and very harmless. Never even hissed, just rolled onto it's back and played dead with the mouth open, haha. I even held it despite my phobia. We observed it for the afternoon and then let it go in the fields beyond our property so our cats wouldn't get it again. I'm glad our cat didn't kill it.

I'm slightly disappointed that it was eastern instead of southern because I thought we'd found something kind of rare. Definitely a pretty snake.