Tascosa, River Road athletes highlight busy two days of signings
With the end of the year comes the last round of college commitments and signings. The week is almost halfway through, but we've already witnessed three schools with a host of signings.
Monday morning saw Randall tennis star Sunshine Lane sign her letter of intent to play collegiately at Kansas Wesleyan. She was the second tennis signing in a week for Randall and was a part of the state championship winning team last fall.
That afternoon, Tascosa joined the celebrations with three baseball stars putting pen to paper. The first was Brady Keeter, who recently won the Randy Keller Fighting Heart Scholarship. He'll be playing college baseball at Lamar Community College in Colorado.
"It's a great feeling to know that I get to continue my baseball and academic career," Keeter said. "To be alongside two of my best friends is definitely a bigger part of it for me."
One of those two best friends is Josh Bass of Bushland. The other was signing his NLI alongside Keeter on Monday in Will David.
"It's special knowing that all of these people came out to support us and congratulate us for our accomplishments," David said. "(The Tascosa community) has meant a lot. I transferred from Amarillo High my junior year and I just loved the atmosphere."
The third signee of the afternoon was Ryne Wingate, a pitcher who will join the ever growing list of local players to play for nearby Amarillo College.
"It feels awesome to get to play college baseball in my home town," Wingate said. "I'm glad to be at home still and represent Amarillo College. Especially since it's a new college program."
The signings kept rolling Tuesday with the final batch of athletes heading off to the next level from River Road. Athletic Director Bryan Welps estimates this year has seen more signings from River Road than any of the years in his time with the school.
That list includes another Amarillo College Badger with Armando Flores signing to run cross country.
"This is just a big step forward for myself and my family," Flores said. "I'm the first (in my family) to go to college overall so it's a big leap into the future."
The three other athletes signing Tuesday morning are all staying close to home by heading to Plainview. One was baseball player Keaton Cockrum, who will play in the outfield for Wayland Baptist University.
"It's close to home," Cockrum said. "When I went on my visit everyone was super friendly."
Speaking of friendly, he'll be joined at WBU by two more River Road athletes who signed to play basketball in Carlos Martinez and Jordan Malone.
"I feel good," Martinez said. "We've got (River Road head basketball coach Steve) Rhoades and he really helped out a lot."
Malone also had high praise for coach Rhoades.
"Coach Rhoades helped a lot," Malone said. "He would open the gym for me at 6 a.m. almost every day. He helped me put in a lot of work and made me a better player."
One more signing coming Wednesday will come at the Division I level. Randall's Nathan Baker made his commitment to Oral Roberts last week, joining baseball player Kole Dudding in the journey. Baker will sign his NLI on Wednesday at 4 p.m. at the Randall gym.
This article originally appeared on Amarillo Globe-News: Tascosa, River Road athletes highlight busy two days of signings
