Stanhope Elmore’s Woodham commits to Jacksonville State baseball

By DALTON MIDDLETON Sports Editor

Stanhope Elmore pitcher Colin Woodham has been dominating the high school level for years, and now the southpaw will get the chance to do so at the college level.

Woodham, a senior, has committed to play college baseball at Jacksonville State.

While pitching in a summer league game at the University of Montevallo, Jacksonville State assistant coach Mike Murphree was watching Woodham. Woodham ended up pitching a solid four innings of work, and Murphree reached out.

After a few weeks of backand-forth talking, JSU head coach Jim Case reached out and extended an offer in the middle of July. A few weeks later, Woodham committed.

“It really was a bunch of things that led me to picking JSU,” Woodham said. “Just the way the coaches interacted with each other and the other players and with me, it seemed like they had a great time being there. I really liked them and the facilities are top notch and really nice. The campus itself was really nice and just walking around it made me feel like I was at home. I really didn’t want to leave there.”

Woodham isn’t a pitcher who is going to step on the mound and overpower hitters, and he knows that. He works to his strengths, which are commanding every pitch for a strike and having extreme movement on his pitches.

He pitches to contact, and his off speed pitches can make batter after batter roll over or pop out to the infield. His fastball is stellar as well, though, sitting between 81 and 84 mph while it has some very strong movement to keep batters on their toes.

He’s shown all of that and more at the high school level as he’s been one of the Mustangs’ top pitchers since he was in eighth grade.

As a junior in the spring of 2022, Woodham finished therewith a 1.65 earned run average with 91 strikeouts and only 16 walks in 68 innings. Opposing hitters had a .180 batting average against him.

“I think I can go out there and get outs,” Woodham said of what he can bring to JSU. “I know i’m not going to overpower anybody with my velocity, but I can come out there and throw strikes. I definitely think I’m going to give the team a chance to win when I’m on the mound.”

The Gamecocks have had over a .500 record in conference play in each of the last two seasons, and they’ve had success against top-notch programs in non-conference games.

Just last season, the Gamecocks faced Kentucky, Alabama, Auburn, and Southern Miss. They even beat Auburn in a mid-week game.

Just three years ago, the Gamecocks beat both Auburn and Georgia en route to an NCAA Tournament appearance and a 39-win season. The Gamecocks lost to Ole Miss in the regional round that season.

Playing premier programs was a huge selling point for Woodham when he made his commitment decision.

“I know that we’re going to play a lot of good competition,” Woodham said of JSU. “I know they play Auburn, Alabama and Kentucky. They’ll be playing Ole Miss and Mississippi State. So as a player, I want to play the best. To go in there and compete against the best is going to be really fun and it will get me seen by scouts. So that will be cool.

THURSDAY, SEPT. 15

HIGH SCHOOL VOLLEYBALL

Wetumpka at Tallassee

Elmore County at Holtville

Stanhope Elmore at Chilton County Edgewood Academy at Lakeside Academy

FRIDAY, SEPT. 16

HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL

Carver at Stanhope Elmore Marbury at Tallassee

Wetumpka at Russell County Edgewood Academy at Lowndes High School Volleyball Edgewood Academy at Florida USA Challenge

SATURDAY, SEPT. 17

HIGH SCHOOL VOLLEYBALL

Elmore County Block Party Edgewood Academy at Florida USA Challenge

MONDAY, SEPT. 19

HIGH SCHOOL VOLLEYBALL

Elmore County at Horseshoe Bend Marbury at Tallassee Lowndes Academy at Edgewood Academy

TUESDAY, SEPT. 20

HIGH SCHOOL VOLLEYBALL

Stanhope Elmore at Wetumpka Tallassee at Elmore County Morgan Academy at Edgewood Academy find any success through the air.

As well as defending passes, Caffee stepped up and made five tackles in the matchup as well. He stopped receivers from getting to the end zone and helped contain Russell County’s Drew Pickett from breaking off multiple big runs.

Stanhope Elmore did not play in Week 4, as they had their bye week. The Mustangs now turn their attention back to region play as they travel to Montgomery Carver on Friday, Sept. 16. Carver is currently undefeated at 3-0 with a 2-0 record in region play.