Pickens County Players Named to All-State Teams

By Brian Hamilton, Sports Correspondent

The Alabama Sports Writers Association (ASWA) recently unveiled its 2018 all-state baseball and softball teams. There were sevral players from Pickens County receiving honors this year.

Gordo baseball led the way with three all-state selections in Collin Herring, Davis Vails, and Ridge Wood. The Gordo baseball team advanced to the Class 3A state semifinals before falling on the road to Mobile Christian.

Herring, a first-team selection, is committed to play football for West Alabama and will have the option to play baseball for the Tigers as well. Herring earned all-state honors in both sports this season and has played varsity baseball for the Green Wave since 7th grade.

“The thing that sets Collin apart from other athletes is just his mentality,” Gordo coach Jonathan Pate said. “He was a kid who just absolutely hated to lose and did not like the idea of anybody else being better than him. I think that’s what made him so successful; just the will to be the best.”

Senior Davis Vails was named to second-team all-state as a utility player. Pate said that Vails was an undersized player that excelled due to his competitiveness and work ethic.

“Davis was a guy who put an extreme amount of time in at practice,” Pate said. “From a size standpoint, I think he may have weighed 145 or 155 pounds. He wasn’t that big at all, but he was another kid who was very competitive. He was that way from junior high school and graduated the same way.”

Ridge Wood rounded out the group of Gordo seniors to earn all-state honors, as he was selected to the honorable mention team as a designated hitter. Wood played catcher for the Green Wave.