BY TIM GAYLE
SPORTS WRITER – SPECIAL TO EAN
Top Photo: From left are Taylor Lowe, Tommy Goodson and Jackson Reed.
Prattville Christian Academy held a signing ceremony in the school gym on Monday to honor seniors from the current school year that have accepted offers to continue playing their sport at the collegiate level.
Among those signing were the school’s first wrestling signee, a football player and three baseball players in the male sports, along with the school’s leading scorer in basketball, the Panthers’ leadoff hitter in softball and one of its top volleyball players representing the female sports.
Andrew Allen was the first-ever PCA wrestler to accept an effort to pursue the sport collegiately and was honored on Monday after accepting an offer from the University of the Cumberlands. Allen was wrestling in a national tournament in Virginia Beach this past summer and caught the eye of the Patriot coaching staff, who offered him an opportunity to wrestle at the NAIA school.
Allen was 36-9 this past year, a wrestler since the seventh grade who holds the school record with 126 career wins and is the first Panther to win his weight division in the Julian McPhillips Invitational.
“Andrew has set the bar for future wrestlers in our program,” PCA coach Trent Staggs said. “He’s a talented athlete but an even better young man. He knows where his gift comes from and rarely misses an opportunity to openly pray before and after matches. His influence on our program and the sport of wrestling is tremendous, and I can’t be more excited for his future.”
Coleman Hunter, a member of the PCA offensive line on the football team, accepted an offer to continue his career with Rob Gray’s Faulkner Eagles.
Edrick Yelder has been a standout for the Panthers on the baseball diamond and was offered a Division I-A scholarship to play at Alabama State.
Yelder is one of three PCA baseball players continuing their careers at the collegiate level. In addition, Jackson Reed signed with Columbia State Community College and Taylor Lowe accepted an offer to pitch at Millsaps College.
Reed, a varsity starter since his freshman year, first gained attention prior to his freshman year, when he was one of just 175 student-athletes invited to play in the 2019 preseason baseball tournaments hosted by Under Armour’s Baseball Factory. He had several offers but chose the junior college route in Columbia, Tenn.
Lowe plays third base when he’s not on the mound and attracted the NCAA Division III school from Jackson, Miss., as he developed into one of the Panthers’ best all-around hitters.
Among the female signees, Ella Jane Connell will attend Faulkner on a basketball scholarship, Jersee Carter will continue her softball career at Chipola Junior College and Naomi Taake will continue her volleyball career at Brewton Parker.
Connell finished her career as the school’s all-time leading scorer after leading the Panthers to back-to-back state championships and earning back-to-back 3A Player of the Year honors.
Carter is playing in the state tournament this week after leading the Panthers to a second-place finish in the Central Regional this past week. As the team’s leadoff batters, she scores 71 percent of the time she gets a hit this season. The slapper has a team-high .480 batting average and has stolen 37 bases this year.
