Photo Gallery: Signing day in Warren County
Published 2:58 pm Friday, November 1, 2019
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SIGNED WITH MISSISSIPPI DELTA: St. Aloysius baseball player Haden Luke signed with Mississippi Delta Community College on Friday. Pictured, clockwise from bottom left, are Haden Luke, brother Chandler Luke, sister Kinslet Luke, and parents Kenneth and Suzanne Luke. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)
SIGNED WITH PEARL RIVER: Porter’s Chapel Academy softball player Hannah Embry signed with Pearl River Community College on Friday. Embry led the Lady Eagles to a second-place finish in the MAIS Class 2A state tournament this season and was selected to the Class 2A All-MAIS team. Seated alongside Embry in the front row are her parents Alicia and Lee Embry. Standing, from left, are her grandparents Chester and Katherine Day and sister Sabrina Embry. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)
SIGNED WITH HINDS: Warren Central soccer player Maddie Watkins has signed with Hinds Community College. Seated alongside her in the front row are her grandparents Nancy and Sonny Hale. standing in the back row, from left, are WC coaches Amber Davis and Jason York, brother Austin Watkins, parents Craig and Belinda Watkins, brother Blake Watkins, and coaches Greg Head and Jeremy Lawrence. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)
SIGNED WITH HOLMES: Warren Central soccer player Madelyn Polk has signed with Holmes Community College. Seated alongside her in the front row are her parents Danea and Max Polk. Standing, from left, are WC coach Greg Head, grandfather Gary Olin, sister Jordan Polk, grandmother Diane Olin, and coaches Jason York and jeremy Lawrence. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)
SIGNED WITH NORTHWEST: Warren Central baseball player Alan Kivett signed with Northwest Mississippi Community College on Friday. Pictured with him are his mother Tammy Kivett, sister Faith Kivett, father Rick Kivett, and brother Kasten Kivett. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)
Five Warren County athletes signed with Mississippi junior colleges on Friday morning, the first day athletes in sports other than football were allowed to do so.
St. Aloysius baseball player Haden Luke (Mississippi Delta), Porter’s Chapel Academy softball star Hannah Embry (Pearl River), Warren Central baseball player Alan Kivett (Northwest Mississippi), and WC soccer players Maddie Watkins (Hinds) and Madelyn Polk (Holmes) are all headed to the next level.
Luke is a three-sport star for St. Al. He is a starting lineman on the football team and the goal keeper for the two-time defending MAIS state championship soccer team. In baseball, he is a pitcher and infielder. On the mound, Luke went 3-4 with a 2.64 ERA and 33 strikeouts in 39 2/3 innings pitched last season.
Embry, a pitcher, led PCA to a runner-up finish in the MAIS Class 2A state tournament this season. She also was an MAIS all-star and was selected to the Class 2A All-MAIS team. She posted a 23-7 record in the pitcher’s circle, with a 0.95 ERA and 250 strikeouts in 161 2/3 innings pitched. She also led the Lady Eagles in hitting, with a .544 batting average, 14 doubles, five triples, 28 RBIs and 32 runs scored.
Kivett is a pitcher and infielder for Warren Central’s baseball team. An arm injury limited him to just six pitching appearances last season, but he continued to play as a designated hitter and finished with a .360 batting average, 10 RBIs and 22 runs scored in 25 games.
Watkins and Polk have helped Warren Central’s girls’ soccer team to a winning records each of the past two seasons. Watkins, a midfielder, had six goals and five assists last season, while the forward Polk led the Lady Vikes with 11 goals.
Polk has scored 87 goals in four varsity seasons, including three at St. Aloysius.
About Ernest Bowker
Ernest Bowker is The Vicksburg Post's sports editor. He has been a member of The Vicksburg Post's sports staff since 1998, making him one of the longest-tenured reporters in the paper's 140-year history. The New Jersey native is a graduate of LSU. In his career, he has won more than 50 awards from the Mississippi Press Association and Associated Press for his coverage of local sports in Vicksburg.
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