Three Northeast Jones baseball standouts signed JUCO scholarships on Wednesday morning. Dalton Tanner and Sam Mansell signed with Jones College, while Eli Collins inked with East Central Community College.
“Their class has always been small for us,” said Northeast Jones head baseball coach Jeremy Parker. “We typically move between four and six players depending on the year. So having all three of those guys being the nucleus of that group has really helped.
“All three of them having to contribute as freshman helped us, even with us getting cut short last season due to COVID. They’ve gotten playoff experience during their freshman and sophomore years.”
Tanner holds a 9-3 record on the mound since his freshman year. In his last full year (sophomore), the southpaw went 5-2 with a 1.07 ERA.
Mansell went 2-0 on the mound in 2020 before the season was called due to COVID. At the plate, Mansell led NEJ with a .375 batting average with 12 hits and nine RBI.
As for Collins, he finished the 2020 shortened season with a .200 batting average with five hits and five RBI.
Parker said he looked forward to what the seniors would bring to the table in the 2021 season.
“I look for all three of them to help lead us into the season [as seniors],” added Parker.
Here’s what Parker had to say about each player individually:
Dalton Tanner
"Dalton's been a mainstay in our rotation [on the mound] since his freshman year. He was coming off an injury, and then we had a couple of guys go down [with injuires], and he had to step into our district role. He handled that well. He had a great sophomore year, and last year he was off to a hot start. He had 33 strikeouts and one walk before we got shut down.
"He's been very solid for us on the mound, and we look for him to be very solid for Jones College as well."
Sam Mansell
"Sam has been another kid that's played a lot for since his freshman year. He played shortstop his sophomore year, and we moved him to second base last year because we were planning to use him a lot on the mound. He signs with Jones College as a dual player. His fastball velocity has jumped up in the last year or so. He also had our highest batting average last year. He's a good contact hitter. I also look for him to be successful at the next level."
Eli Collins
"Eli, pound for pound, is probably one of the best athletes we've ever had come through our program. He's extremely fast. At the State Games tryout this past summer, he ran a 6.60, and at multiple other tryouts, he was at 6.6 and 6.7. We felt confident putting him at shortstop, second base, and outfield.
"I've talked with Coach Hollman at East Central, and he feels like Eli will be good at either of those three positions. He'll be able to contribute and help them pretty well."
