Holmes County ace pitcher, Colby Jones, was selected as the Florida Dairy Farmers Class 1A Player of the Year.
In his senior season, Jones led Holmes County to a 24-7 record and pitched all seven innings of their 3-1 victory over top-ranked Bozeman in the 1A State Finals.
The two-way shortstop was selected to Second Team All-State through all classifications with .511, 46 H, 33 RBI, 5 2B, 5 3B, 2 HR; 8-1, 0.87 ERA, 64.2 IP, 80 K.
Jones said winning the state title was special and earning player of the year is the icing on the cake.
“Going into the year you know, I was hoping to be the best player for my team, you know be the best leader, I didn’t even think about this award at all,” Jones said. “I had one thing in mind and that was the state championship, which we were lucky to accomplish. But, you know, receiving this award means a lot.
Holmes County High School has been around for over 100 years and this year was their first baseball state title. Jones said it was important to him to win it with the Blue Devils.
“I told my dad I’m staying here all four years and I want to get a championship in this town,” Jones said. “With us doing that, it really just, it made me speechless, you know shocked the world and all. But you know what they say with pressure comes expectations, so we lived up to it. I’m glad I lived up to it. Got the job done.”
Jones will join the Northwest Florida State baseball team in the fall.