Two players from the Choctaw County baseball team participated at the State Games of Mississippi last week. Justin Jenkins played outfield, first base and did some pitching for the District 4 team. Zay Coleman played second base. They will be seniors in the fall. “Both of them did a great job,” said East Webster coach Jordan Smith, who was head coach for District 4. “The event is full of great baseball players. I think they held their own. Both were extremely good teammates. They played hard. Both made some great plays to help our team.” Jenkins had a two-run single in a 10-6 victory over District 1. “That was big for us,” Smith said. District 4 finished second in pool play, with a 9-3 loss to District 6, followed by victories over District 2, 3-2, and District 1. As pool winner, District 6 advanced to the championship game, an 11-9 loss to District 5. “I'm super glad those two guys had an opportunity to play in the games to try to compare their talents with other kids,” said former Choctaw County baseball coach Andy Young. “It's also an opportunity for them to be seen by college coaches.” The District 4 team also included four players from East Webster – Gavin Edwards, Hastings Gibson, Kainan Reed and Jesse Roberts – three from Eupora – Reed Hale, Parker Knight and Carter May– two from Ethel – Alex Schuster and Hayden Graves – and Nolen Yuille from Kosciusko. Sixty-one players from the 29 District 4 schools tried out for team at East Central Community Colleges. Ten coaches from district schools chose 18 players and two alternates.
