Five athletes sign scholarships from Wetumpka High School
Wetumpka High School had five student-athletes sign scholarships on Wednesday including baseball players Jaxon Shineflew (South Alabama), Ty Brooks (South Alabama), Tyson Collier (Enterprise State CC), Davis Wells (Southern Union CC) and softball, Ashlynn Campbell (Purdue). (Photos by Tim Gayle)
By TIM GAYLE
WETUMPKA -- It’s not often coaches have their best student-athletes earn scholarship offers to acclaimed programs. Rarer still is the program that has two players offered by the same institution.
Wetumpka pitcher Jaxon Shineflew and shortstop Ty Brooks both earned offers to continue their careers at South Alabama, two of the five Indians who held a signing ceremony at the school on Wednesday afternoon.
In addition, Ashlynn Campbell earned a scholarship to play softball at Purdue, while pitcher Tyson Collier and catcher Davis Wells accepted junior college offers.
Shineflew and Brooks, meanwhile, made their choice independent of the other but will end up playing for the same university after both accepted offers to play at South Alabama.
“It’s crazy,” Wetumpka baseball coach Michael Dismukes said. “It’s high level and the fact that we’ve got two going to the same place is very special. It’s due to their hard work. They’ve really earned what they’re getting.”
Brooks was the first baseball player to attract college recruiters. Despite being a little undersized by college recruiting standards, the Wetumpka shortstop generated interest early in his career and sorted through offers before deciding on the Jaguars.
“His mental makeup is unbelievable,” Dismukes said. “Probably one of the toughest kids I’ve ever known. That kid was recruited by about 29 Division I-A schools, taking phone calls from LSU, Arkansas and Missouri 20 minutes before a game and he still can’t drive yet. That’s special.”
But with 11.7 scholarships divided among 27 players, the offers often range in value and Brooks took his time looking over the offers before settling on South Alabama. Getting an offer to play with Shineflew just makes the decision that much better.
“Growing up and playing with him all my life certainly had something to do with it,” Brooks said. “That place just welcomed me early. I had other options and everywhere was nice that I saw, but nothing stuck out like (South Alabama). Every time I was on the phone with them, every time they came to watch me play, I just felt wanted like no other place made me feel.”
Campbell has a similar story. The Indians’ shortstop started grabbing attention through her travel ball team as a sophomore and was looking for an opportunity to leave the state when the Boilermakers offered her a scholarship.
“A couple of years ago, I went out to California,” Campbell said. “In travel ball, I travel a lot -- like I go to Colorado and different places around the country -- and I went to California and had a really good showing out there and that’s where Purdue found me,” Campbell said. “Out of all the visits I went on, Purdue was just, overall, the best. The facilities were better, I loved the coaches and everything about Purdue was the best.”
Shineflew had his share of offers as well and the left-handed pitcher carefully considered his choices before deciding on South Alabama.
“(Brooks) committed a while before me, but we would joke about being roommates,” Shineflew said. “Then I got the offer from South and when I went down there for a tour, I just fell in love with the place. He wasn’t necessarily the reason why I went there, but I just loved the place and it just happened to work out.
“I had other places I liked, but the second I came into Mobile and went onto the university (campus), I just fell in love with it. The coaches seem so helpful and they actually care about you and not just the team.”
The Indians’ catcher, Davis Wells, elected to continue his baseball career at Southern Union Community College, while pitcher Tyson Collier was a late addition to the signing ceremony, recently electing to accept an offer from Enterprise State Community College.