Itawamba Community College baseball coach Rick Collier announced the signing of Hamilton High School standout Austin Welch on Thursday.
Welch, a first baseman and outfielder, batted .375 with 21 RBI and a team-high 10 doubles to go along with a .405 on-base percentage and .575 slugging percentage to help the Lions go 17-7 as a junior. He is currently batting .429 with a .485 on-base percentage, a team-high .786 slugging percentage and .985 field percentage.
"It feels real good knowing I'm getting the chance to move on to the next level," said Welch. "I've been playing baseball my whole life and didn't want it to end after high school. It's a great feeling knowing that I have that opportunity to play with a successful program like ICC."
"Austin has been one of the big keys in the success of our program over the past three years," said Hamilton baseball coach Lewis Earnest. "He had an outstanding sophomore and junior years and is having another great year for us this season. I feel like his success will carry over next season and he'll be able to do some big things for Coach Collier and his program."