Hopper to play baseball for Edward Waters

On Wednesday, July 28, nearly two dozen family members and friends joined in the celebration at Port St. Joe Jr./Sr. High School as Jacob Hopper became the fourth Tiger Shark baseball player from this year’s senior class to sign a college scholarship.

Hopper, a shortstop, will be attending Edward Waters University in Jacksonville, trading his Tiger Shark jersey for that of a Tiger as he prepares to report on campus the second week of August.

Coach Ashley Summerlin said Hopper would be the seventh baseball player to sign a college scholarship during his time as Port St. Joe’s head coach, and that he was “very excited for Jacob to continue his career.

“As I told him before, this game will do a lot for you. Some people are privileged to…make it a career, but other people use it as a tool to take them (to) different places,” he said.

Proud of his program and the players in it, Summerlin spoke of the college coaches who call and “want to know about our kids. It’s just a testament to the hard work that they put in” to the team’s success.

Hopper chose Edward Waters because of the “good people, the good coaches,” and the expectation of “playing time the first year.”

Also a standout on the Port St. Joe football squad this past season, Hopper plans on studying sports fitness and to “maybe become a coach.”

Carter Dorsch, Kevin Lacivita, and Caden Turrell are the other Tiger Shark baseball players who have signed scholarships this summer.