West Marion graduate and Pearl River Community College sophomore right-hander Colby White fulfilled his dream Wednesday afternoon in Poplarville.
The 6-foot, 190-pounder put ink to paper on a letter of intent, signing a full scholarship to don the maroon and white for the Mississippi State Bulldogs next season.
“The special thing about it is that was his dream coming through,” PRCC head coach Michael Avalon said. “Today is a pretty special day for him just for the fact that’s where he always dreamed of being. That became a reality, so it’s pretty special for that young man.”
Watching the Bulldogs pitching staff take care of Southern Miss’ impressive offense in the NCAA Regional last season drew White in wanting to join the program.
“I saw what (Mississippi State) did in the Regional against Southern Miss, and they were out of pitching and had to run out guys that had only pitched 10 innings all year who were throwing shutouts against a really good Southern Miss team,” he explained. “I think that goes to show how good of a pitching coach Gary Henderson is at Mississippi State, and I see how positive they are about everything. I just like the way they go about playing baseball. They play real hard, and that’s what (head) coach (Andy) Cannizaro is about. I just knew when I went up there that it was the place for me.”
After a dominant freshman season in which he went 6-3 with a 2.43 ERA, five saves and 62 strikeouts, White showed out in front of scouts last Friday in a showcase at Hinds Community College, drumming up even more interest in the electric righty.
“I had interest from Ole Miss, Alabama, LSU, South Alabama, Southern Miss, Southeastern Louisiana and Oral Roberts University. But it was mainly out of Mississippi State, Ole Miss, Southern Miss and South Alabama,” he said. “Fifteen-thousand (fans) and the Southeastern Conference sounds a little better than Conference USA and the Sun Belt.”
White added that proximity to home also played a big role in his decision.
“(Being closer to home) was a huge thing because when it comes to how far it is from home and me always wanting to play in the Southeastern Conference, it was the right place for me,” he said.
White has gone through quite the transformation since stepping foot on the Poplarville campus. He added more than 20 pounds from working hard in the weight room, increased his fastball velocity from 91 miles per hour to 97 — he usually sat around 95 — and went from being a one-inning arm in the bullpen to a long reliever to one of the aces of the starting rotation all over the course of his freshman year. For Avalon, that’s what it’s all about.
“That’s why we do what we do. Obviously being a junior college we don’t get finished products out of high school, so our job is to develop. But the credit definitely goes to Colby,” he said. “He’s the one that put the work in. He’s the one that had the drive and had the dream to play at that level. He showed that every day. It definitely helps us when other players see that to get those guys that want to come into our program and make those strides. He set that example for guys to come behind him.”
A fastball with zip that was hard for hitters to pick up was enough for White to have a stellar freshman season, but he has worked hard to develop the rest of his pitches for his first full season as a starter for the Wildcats.
“Last year to be honest, I was just throwing. It was more of throwing the fastball harder than they could catch up to,” he said. “This year I’ve actually developed my slider a lot more and have way more control with it. I’ve brought back my splitter, which I threw in high school but didn’t throw last year. I’ve got pretty good control of it, too, and I’ve worked on my changeup. I feel like I’ll be a lot more polished pitcher this year as far as off-speed and command. I think that’s what will set me apart.”
It’s one for thing for a player to say he’s improved, but Avalon said he absolutely has seen improvement in White’s off-speed pitches.
“That’s something that we put a focus on and he put a focus on was to improve that, and he did that,” he said. “He knows he still has work to do, but he’s determined to do that. If he continue to work as he does he’ll continue to improve.”
The one thing Avalon still wants to see is White being able to maintain his stuff deep into games on a consistent basis.
“The only question that we have is how long will he be able to maintain his best stuff. Going from a one-to-two-inning guy for the majority of last year to hopefully be able to go out there and throw five-plus innings every time out is obviously a strain on the body,” he said. “But he did that for us in the fall in some intersquads where we were able to extend him, and he did very well. I think he’s up for it.”
White said he’s been working on developing his core and stamina to do just that.
“I took more pride in not necessarily bulking up to throw harder like I did last year, but I’ve spent more time on becoming more flexible and working on my stamina so I could go longer in the game,” he said.
White’s commitment to MSU comes one week after current West Marion senior Trace McNabb signed with PRCC, and Avalon sees a pitching pipeline develop from Foxworth to Poplarville.
“Coach Jerkins does a good job there, and it’s great to have those guys in our backyard where we go and know that we’re going to find quality players and quality people,” he said. “With those two guys, there’s a lot of similarities in both of them coming out of high school as far as ability and velocity. One of the coolest things that I’ve heard lately is Colby say that over the summer that he and Trace worked together, and he was able to show him a lot of the things he learned here that helped him along the way.”
White had interest during the 2016 MLB Draft and from the Golden Eagles, but opted to return with one goal in mind.
“I came back to Pearl River to win a national championship,” he said. “Southern (Miss) offered me a scholarship after my freshman year, and I turned it down to come back here. Hopefully, we win a championship and I get to pitch in the SEC.”
However, White said that if he gets the right offer financially from an MLB team he would have to consider opting for pro ball instead of heading to Starkville. But that’s all just speculation at this point.
For now, White is focused on 2018 season, which begins Feb. 16 against Southeastern Community College (Iowa) for the Wildcats.
Pictured Above: Colby White, left, signed with Mississippi State Wednesday alongside teammate Simon Landry, who signed with Houston. | Photo by PRCC Sports Information
