By BY BRUCE HIXON – SPORTS EDITOR
His top recruit bolted for the Division I level. A couple of other players he had interest in chose other programs.
Overall Jefferson Davis Community College Warhawks baseball coach Darrell Blevins is excited about his 2008 recruiting class.
JDCC is coming off an 18-33 mark this spring, which included a 9-21 record in the Alabama Community College Conference.
Blevins has signed 13 scholarship players for next spring with one scholarship position still left. Blevins hopes to fill that spot within the next few days.
Six of the scholarship signings are by pitchers. That includes righthanders Kyle Wyatt (Edgewood Academy), Derek Lowery (West Florida Tech), Hunter Brown (Choctawhatchee, Fla.) and Mackie Jackson (T.R. Miller) as well as lefthanders Michael Clay (Smiths Station) and Cody White (Tate, Fla.).
One name no longer on the pitching recruits list is righthander Shane Ikner of West Florida Tech High School in Pensacola, Fla. Ikner signed with JDCC before the high school season began, but later pulled out of that commitment for an opportunity to sign with Division I member Troy University.
JDCC has signed one catcher, Brady Adams (Lowndes Academy). It has also signed infielders C.J. Lindsey (Woodham, Fla.), Justin Reeves (Edgewood), Cody Sanderson (West Florida Tech) and Ben Blodgett (Washington, Fla.). Brown is also being penciled in as an infielder in addition to his pitching duties.
Blevins has inked three outfielders. They include Bryant Hall, a transfer from Wallace State-Hanceville College, Allen Thompson (Gulf Shores) and Eric St. Cin (Lowndes Academy).
Blevins also has 22 walk-ons who are scheduled to join the program along with the scholarship players. Those walk-ons include T.R. Miller third baseman Becker Denton and W.S.
Neal shortstop/pitcher Josh Sawyer.
Six walk-on players have left as scholarship players in Blevins two seasons at JDCC.