Six baseball Gators hold joint signing ceremony
Published 11:43 am Tuesday, March 11, 2025
Six Greenwood student-athletes take part in a signing ceremony to announce where they will play collegiate sports next season on Monday at Greenwood High School. (LD PHOTOGRAPHY)
Greenwood senior Zach Davis took part in a signing ceremony Monday at Greenwood High School. Davis will play college baseball at Louisville. (LD PHOTOGRAPHY)
Greenwood senior Easton Talley took part in a signing ceremony Monday at Greenwood High School. Talley will play college baseball at Lindsey Wilson. (LD PHOTOGRAPHY)
Greenwood senior Nathan Howard took part in a signing ceremony Monday at Greenwood High School. Howard will play college baseball at Oakland City University. (LD PHOTOGRAPHY)
Greenwood senior Andrew Jolly took part in a signing ceremony Monday at Greenwood High School. Jolly will play college baseball at Brescia. (LD PHOTOGRAPHY)
Greenwood senior Jake Flickinger took part in a signing ceremony Monday at Greenwood High School. Flickinger will play college baseball at Campbellsville. (LD PHOTOGRAPHY)
Greenwood senior Ryan Loiars took part in a signing ceremony Monday at Greenwood High School. Loiars will play men's college golf at Kentucky Wesleyan. (LD PHOTOGRAPHY)
Monday’s signing-day ceremony at Greenwood High School certainly bodes well for the Gators’ baseball team.
Six Greenwood students, who all play on the varsity baseball team, signed with their colleges of choice on Monday in the school gymnasium. Five of them will play college baseball, the other men’s college golf. Before that, all six will join together for one final season of high school baseball.
“We all hope to make a good run at state,” said Greenwood senior Easton Talley, who signed to play baseball at Lindsey Wilson. “Definitely going to go for winning the region and we’re just going to go as far as we can.”
Talley, Zach Davis (Louisville), Nathan Howard (Oakland City), Andrew Jolly (Brescia) and Jake Flickinger (Campbellsville) all signed to play college baseball, while Ryan Loiars (Kentucky Wesleyan) signed to play golf.
Loiars is in baseball mode right now.
“I can’t mix the baseball and golf swing — if I do that, they’re both wonky,” said Loiars, who primarily pitched for the Gators last year. “I haven’t up a club since October, since the state tournament. I’ve been really focused on baseball right now. After baseball season, I’ll pick up a club again and practice throughout the summer and maybe play a couple tournaments here and there.”
Davis landed a Division I spot after excelling in a summer tournament and catching the eye of a Louisville coach.
“He contacted me and I went over to a camp and they saw something in me,” Davis said. “It just all happened from there.”
Davis, who was recruited as middle infielder with a focus at shortstop, offers the speed the Cardinals look for in recruits. Davis was 18-of-19 on stolen-base attempts last season for Greenwood and batted .347 with nine doubles.
“From 10 years old, I wanted to play the highest level of baseball that I could,” Davis said. “I fell in love with it. For a little bit there it got rough — I didn’t know if I would be able to play D1 baseball or not. But Louisville came about and I think it’s God’s plan telling me I can do it.”
Talley will be a second-generation player at Lindsey Wilson, where his father also played college baseball.
“It’s always been in the family,” said Talley, who said the Blue Raiders are looking at him primarily as a right-handed pitcher. “My dad went there, his brother went there, so it’s kind of already set up for me. I decided to work for it. I got the offer and I was like, ‘Let’s do it.’ ”
Talley will play in the NAIA Mid-South Conference, which is where his teammate Jake Flickinger is also headed after signing with Campbellsville — the Tigers are longtime rivals of Lindsey Wilson, and Flickinger looks forward to a friendly rivalry with Talley. Flickinger said Campbellsville might try him as a pitcher, but expects to settle in at third base or as a corner outfielder in college.
“We’ve already talked about going to watch Campbellsville and Lindsey play this year,” Flickinger said.
Howard and Jolly will also be conference rivals at the collegiate level, with both Oakland City and Brescia part of the NAIA-level River States Conference.
Howard had multiple offers, but said Oakland City felt like the best fit.
“It’s close to home, it’s a great offer and I really connected with the coach,” Howard said. “It’s about two and a half hours, it’s around Evansville, Indiana.”
Howard said he was told he would definitely pitch his freshman year for the Mighty Oaks. The right-hander has already topped out in the low-90 mph range with his fastball.
Jolly also likes the proximity of his future college home — Brescia is located in Owensboro, just more than an hour from Bowling Green.
“Coach has said he wants me to pitch there, and then maybe work into a first baseman spot later on,” said Jolly, a left-hander. “I like doing both, being versatile and stuff.”
