Three Tiger Sharks sign college deals
Three of the top players on Port St. Joe High School’s 20-7 year in 2024 on the baseball diamond are headed to play ball in college.
At a signing ceremony July 31 in the high school gymnasium, Tiger Shark baseball coach Ashley Summerlin paid tribute to the three seniors, Fisher Vandertulip, Max Godwin and C.J. Conway, before they each signed their letter of intent.
Vandertulip is headed for Auburn University at Montgomery, an NCAA Division II program in the Gulf South Conference, where he is poised to pitch for the Warhawks.
Godwin, who played shortstop for the Tiger Sharks, is headed to Enterprise State Community College in Enterprise, Alabama, where he’ll play for the Weevils, a member of the Alabama Community College Conference.
Conway, a catcher, will be a walk-on at Southeastern University in Lakeland, where he’ll play for the Fire, which competes in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics’ Sun Conference.
“They’re extremely hard workers,” said Summerlin. “Fisher has always been a great pitcher and a guy that’s been able to do a lot of things really well.
“He had ‘little Tommy John surgery’ at the start of the year, and he was able to overcome that, and play well enough that he could go and get an opportunity to play at UAM,” said the coach.
He noted that Vandertulip had pitched “the game of all games” in March with a two-hit 1-0 win over the defending state champ Chipley Tigers, in which he struck out nine. That snapped a five-game losing streak for Port St. Joe, and propelled the Tiger Sharks to 14 straight wins.
“Max is a kid who turned the corner this year just by working in the weight room. I think he gained about 25 pounds in the offseason and that changed his game tremendously. He was able to hit a lot of extra base hits for us this year.
“C.J. played at JV and he was a starter for the last two years,” said Summerlin. “He’s completely changed his game, where he was a kid who might have hit .250 but this year he worked so hard and he ended up hitting over .350 this year. That’s a big jump for a kid.”
Summerlin said this class of kids “won right around 60 games” during their three years together. “None of them played as freshmen,” he said. “But they all started as 10th graders. They go and won a district championship, beating Bozeman at their place.
“Every year they’ve been in the top 25 in the state, the past two years they’ve been in the top 10,” Summerlin said.
“There are a lot of avenues people use to get where they want to be at,” said the coach about their upcoming college opportunities. “Where I’m at is a testament to me playing baseball (in college).
“I was able to use that to propel, it held me accountable,” he said. “Whenever you’re part of a team, that’s the life, and when you leave and go get a job, well, there’s another team you’re a part of.”
Vandertulip said he’s looking forward to playing for the Warhawks, which has a large crop of freshmen. He said he may play a position other than pitcher or be worked into the lineup as a reliever.
He said he feels great following ligament surgery on this throwing arm one year ago, and credits the excellent care he got both from his doctors and from First Choice Physical therapy in Panama City.
Godwin said his biggest lesson in high school was “how to grow up. You have to be tough and hunker down and get it done. I learned a lot of grit and leadership.”
He said Summerlin, who played at Enterprise State and who knows the coach there well, put in a good for him. Godwin said his plan is to play two years at Enterprise and then head to a four-year school to finish his college career.
Conway, who batted over .390 from the sixth spot this past year, said his senior year was his best. “I definitely improved a lot from my junior year,” he said. “I’m excited for the competition. I know it’s going to be a challenge and it’s going to push me but I know it will make me better.”
He said he plans to minor in ministry at the private Assembly of God school, and major in business, with plans to become a youth pastor.
High school stats
The following are baseball stats for the three Tiger Sharks for their careers at Port St. Joe High School.
Fisher Vandertulip. 8 wins and 7 losses, 145 innings pitched, 2.41 earned run average, 161 strikeouts, 129 hits, 60 earned runs. Batting average .281. in 76 games played, 56 hits, 45 runs batted in, 11 doubles, 9 triples, 6 home runs. .900 fielding percentage
Max Godwin. 5 wins and 0 losses, 29 innings pitched, 1.69 earned run average, 34 strikeouts, 16 hits, 7 earned runs. Batting average .317 in 78 games played, 78 hits, 57 runs batted in, 17 doubles, 3 triples, 2 home runs, .877 fielding percentage
C.J. Conway. Batting average .365 in 36 games played, 27 hits, 12 runs batted in, 2 doubles. .985 fielding percentage
Meet the Editor
David Adlerstein, The Apalachicola Times’ digital editor, started with the news outlet in January 2002 as a reporter.
Prior to then, David Adlerstein began as a newspaperman with a small Boston weekly, after graduating magna cum laude from Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts. He later edited the weekly Bellville Times, and as business reporter for the daily Marion Star, both not far from his hometown of Columbus, Ohio.
In 1995, he moved to South Florida, and worked as a business reporter and editor of Medical Business newspaper. In Jan. 2002, he began with the Apalachicola Times, first as reporter and later as editor, and in Oct. 2020, also began editing the Port St. Joe Star.