Elmore County’s Rogers signs with Lurleen B. Wallace baseball

By DALTON MIDDLETON Sports Editor

Cooper Rogers’ route to college baseball hasn’t been the easiest one, but the Elmore County senior finally achieved his goal.

Rogers, a left-handed pitcher, signed his National Letter of Intent with Lurleen B. Wallace Community College last Wednesday. Rogers learned the hard way that coaches don’t “come to you.”

So Rogers went out and found the coach- es himself, and he showed the coaches what he could do. In that process, he picked up multiple college offers and ultimately picked Lurleen B. Wallace over the others.

“It’s just good to know you’re wanted somewhere and you’re going to go somewhere after high school,” Rogers said.

“They have a really good coaching staff and they were all really down to earth. I knew they wanted something out of me and

By DALTON MIDDLETON Sports Editor

Elmore County had no answer for Wetumpka’s Zariah Fannin last week.

Fannin, Wetumpka’s star senior, scored 25 points as the Lady Indians beat Elmore County, 66-24, in Wetumpka’s home opener.

Fannin scored 17 of her 25 points in the first half as Wetumpka (3-1) jumped out to nearly a 20-point lead. She added two 3-pointers and another two in the third quarter as the Lady Indians pulled away.

“When Zariah is on, she’s on,” head coach Harriett Winchester said. I love that about her. What we have to do is make sure she’s a threat at the 3-point line and attacking. Tonight, I challenged her to do that and she made it happen.”

The other half of Wetumpka’s dynamic duo also had a good night.

Khloe Harris added 11 points and was the only other player to reach double digits for Wetumpka.

She came out hot in the second half and was a big reason for the Lady Indians pulling away like they did. She hit three 3-pointers in the third quarter and did not miss an attempt in the quarter.

“I am seeing her improve,” Winchester said of Harris’ shooting. “I had the seniors come in during seventh period and get as many shots up as they could. When I got out here, she told me made over 200 and that she was ready for tonight.”

Elmore County was led by Emily Mason with nine points.

On the boys side of things, Wetumpka cruised past Elmore County with a balanced attack. The Indians won their opener, 71-41.

Wetumpka was led in scoring by Nate Rogers with 14 points, but five Indians scored over eight points while three scored in double digits. Landon Sargent scored 13 points as D’Marcus Peake added 10.

“We have to work on our offensive flow, but I like the aggressiveness that a lot of our guys had,” Wetumpka boys coach Steven Thomas said. “I want to make sure they get the flow of the offense and they understand the opportunities to attack and being aggressive. They need to understand that if they move the ball, they’ll get the opportunities as a group and not just an individual.”

Elmore County was playing without star point guard and 2021 Herald Player of the Year Payton Stephenson, but the Panthers showed flashes of offensive talent.

Jaden Eason led all scorers with 19 points and hit five 3-pointers in the game, while point guard Garrett Allen added 12 points to complement Eason.

By DALTON MIDDLETON Sports Editor

Sam Silas finally achieved his goal of becoming a college baseball player.

Silas, a senior shortstop at Holtville high school, signed his National Letter of Intent with Jacksonville State University.

Silas has been committed to Jacksonville State since January 28, but said finally signing takes a load of pressure off of his shoulders.

“When you finally put pen to paper, there’s no more stress and no more anxiety about possibly losing that scholarship,” Silas said. “You can just go out there and play baseball. You have to continue to work hard of course, and now I’m ready to get over there and get on the field.”

Silas had multiple offers over the last year or so, but most of his offers were spread out across the entire country. He had offers from the University of San Diego, Army West Point, and the University of Tennessee-Martin.

So once the Jacksonville State offer came in, it was an easy and quick decision to pick the hometown team.

“When I looked at colleges, I wanted to go somewhere I could develop that had nice facilities and a great coaching staff,” Silas said. “I have a great relationship with the coaching staff at Jacksonville State and they checked off every box I wanted to check. Jacksonville State is close to home. When they offered, I knew that’s where I wanted to go.”

Silas has proven to be one of the top all-around baseball players across the entire state during the last two seasons. As a junior last year, Silas hit .401 with a team-high 55 hits, five triples, one home run, 40 RBIs, 49 runs scored, and 30 stolen bases.

He has totaled 90 hits and 50 stolen bases over the last two seasons and has been an elite defender. At shortstop, Silas posted a .924 fielding percentage and had only two games last season where he recorded more than one error.

Outside of his two games where he recorded five total errors, he had six errors in 40 games.

“I think I will be a plus defender and I think I can elevate all of the things that I do well in high school,” Silas said about what he can bring to the college level. “I think I can be a strength at the plate. I can make my strengths stronger and I’ll continue to work on things my weaknesses. Right now, I’m working on my mental training and trying to get my mindset right going into games.”

Silas is joining a talented Jacksonville State squad. The Gamecocks has been a premier Division I baseball team in the Atlantic Sun Conference over the last few years, and that doesn’t look to change anytime soon.

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.