West Lauderdale High School hosted a signing ceremony in the school’s gym on Wednesday for 11 West Lauderdale athletes who will be moving on to play their sports in college. Four members of the baseball team, two members of the softball team, two members of the boys soccer team, two members of the tennis team and a member of the volleyball team all signed to move on to the next level.
Baseball:
Four West Lauderdale baseball players signed to attend four different colleges on Wednesday. Ian Herrington will play for College of Charleston, Cannon Graham will play for Pearl River Community College, Caden Boswell will play for Meridian Community College and Leeds Jenkins will play for East Central Community College.
Herrington chose to go to Charleston because he has long dreamed of playing Division I baseball, and he likes the athletics and coaches at the college. Herrington, who plans to study chemistry so that he can go to dental school, said he also likes the school’s academic offerings.
“It’s been great playing here,” Herrington said of his time at West. “I’ve had a lot of great coaches help out with me and my talent, and it’s always fun to be on a winning team, and it’s just been fun in and out of practice hanging out with these guys, and I’ll miss them next year.”
Graham said Pearl River has had a lot of success the past few years and has sent a lot of athletes beyond the community college level, and he chose to play for Pearl River because he believes it could provide a path to an even bigger baseball program someday. He said he likes the Pearl River coaching staff, and they recruited him well. He is planning to study business at this point.
“It’s been fun, it’s been awesome,” Graham said on playing for West. “Got the chance to start my 10th grade year, and that was awesome, coaches helped me out and everything. We’ve had a lot of good teams my ninth through 11th grade years. We won a state championship, went to another and lost it, but hopefully we’ll be back this year and better than before. Maybe we can add one this senior year, that would be something special.”
Boswell said he chose MCC because it is a great school with great baseball coaches, and because his brother had a good career there. He is undecided on what he wants to study at this time.
“It was fun,” Boswell said of playing for West Lauderdale. “Very competitive here, and great coaches and great teammates.”
Jenkins said he has worked all his life to play college baseball, and he chose to play at ECCC because it offers a winning program filled with players that work hard. He wants to study either business or HVAC.
“I loved it here,” Jenkins said. “It’s just a winning atmosphere. We’re all a family. I mean, every year we’re competing for state, and I’ve been playing with my best friends for my whole life, so I’m going to miss it.”
Softball:
Breelyn Cain signed to play softball at Jones Community College on Wednesday, while Carsyn Mott will play for Pearl River Community College. Cain, who plans to study nursing, said she likes the family-like atmosphere at Jones, and she chose the college because she believes she will be able to adjust easily.
“(Winning a state championship) is definitely one of those memories that’s always going to be there, but just making the friendships along the way is something that is going to really stick,” Cain said on playing for West Lauderdale.
Mott said she loves the campus, the coaches and the softball program at Pearl River, and she chose the college because she believes she can be successful there. She plans to study biology so that she can eventually study dermatology.
“I loved it so much,” Mott said on playing for West Lauderdale. “The community and atmosphere here is really amazing, the girls are amazing, the coaches are my number one supporters for sure, and they’re just there for me all the time.”
Boys Soccer:
Boys soccer players Josh Deweese and Colby Epting will play together in college after each signed to attend East Mississippi Community College on Wednesday. Deweese and Epting both said it feels great to be moving on to the next level with a teammate.
Deweese wants to study sports management, and he said he chose East Mississippi because he likes the coaching staff, while Epting, who is undecided on what he will study, said he likes how close to home the college is. Both said they wanted the opportunity to play for a young college program.
“It was a great time, lots of great memories, and I’ll cherish it,” Epting said of his time playing for West Lauderdale.
Tennis:
West Lauderdale’s tennis team saw two of its athletes, Katherine Bounds and Elizabeth Shirley, sign to play for Meridian Community College on Wednesday. Bounds, who is considering studying nursing, said she chose MCC because of the people, the campus and the proximity to home.
“I’ll remember the people, and just how special it was to me,” Bounds said of her time playing for West Lauderdale. “We felt like a family.”
Shirley said she chose MCC because of her familiarity with the college’s tennis program and her love for the college’s tennis community. She wants to study kinesiology before eventually getting into the physical therapy field.
“I loved it, I enjoyed it so much, I think it was so fun,” Shirley said about playing for West Lauderdale.
Volleyball:
Hailey Duque was the lone volleyball player from West to sign on Wednesday, and she chose to sign to play at Jones Community College. She wants to study criminal justice in college, and she said she signed with Jones because she likes the coaches, the campus and the opportunity to play for the school’s first volleyball team.
“I was on the first team here too, so it’s kind of like history is repeating itself,” Duque said. “I’m going to miss my teammates and my coaches and the memories we had.”