Trio of local players honored
Published 7:00 am Saturday, June 28, 2014
A trio of local baseball players have been honored for their play on the diamond this past season.
Picayune’s Peyton Lee and Pearl River Central’s Dylan Spiers were each named second team Class 5A All-State while Poplarville’s Luke Goodwin was named second team Class 4A All-State.
The prestigious teams were selected by the Mississippi Association of Coaches. Spiers was chosen as a pitcher while Lee was selected as a utility player. Goodwin was picked as a catcher.
George County pitcher Justin Steele was named 5A Player of the Year.
The senior left-hander went 5-1 with a 0.98 ERA and 92 strikeouts in 43 innings pitched and also batted .418 with two home runs and 20 RBIs in 2014 for the Rebels, who finished 19-7 and won the Region 8-5A championship. Steele tossed two no-hitters, and was among three Gulf Coast players on the first team, along with East Central pitcher Konnor Pilkington and George County pitcher/outfielder Logan Robbins.
In addition to Lee and Spiers, the only other Gulf Coast player on the second team was Pascagoula shortstop Corley Reynolds.
Steele, who signed a scholarship with the University of Southern Mississippi, was selected in the fifth round of the Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft recently, going to the Chicago Cubs with the 139th overall pick.
In 6A, Ocean Springs’ Billy Cox was among three Coast players who made first-team all-state.
Cox was joined on the first team by Harrison Central first baseman Bobby Bradley and Gulfport pitcher Daniel Keating.
In Class 4A, Goodwin and a pair of players from St. Stanislaus were the only Gulf Coast area players that were selected for either first team or second team honors.
Joining Goodwin on the second team were Rockachaw pitcher Dustin Aime as well as SSC’s Greer Holston who was chosen as a utility player.
All three local players led their respective teams to the South State playoffs this past season, while Lee and Spiers both helped their teams to district titles. Goodwin helped the Hornets to a win over Magee in the first round of the Class 4A playoffs.
