University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Baseball Adds Two More Signees for 2009 Season
11/21/2007 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Nov. 21, 2007
HATTIESBURG, Miss. - Southern Miss baseball coach Corky Palmer announced today the signings of Travis Graves (Sunnyvale, Texas) and Chad Poe (Simpson, La.) to national letters of intent and grants in aid for the 2008-09 academic year.
Graves, a 6-foot-1 catcher, currently plays for coach Michael Martin at Eastfield College in Mesquite, Texas, where he batted .340 as a freshman last spring with 15 doubles, a triple, 10 home runs, 40 runs batted in and 40 runs scored. For his play, he was selected to play in the NJCAA All-Star game that was played at Baylor University.
As a prep standout at John Horn High School, Graves batted .335 with 13 doubles and 36 RBIs on his way to his team's Most Valuable Player honors, as well as an all-district pick. Graves added a .325 average as a junior with 10 doubles and 30 RBIs, while collecting a .310 average. As a sophomore, he had six doubles, 27 RBIs to lead his team to a Bi-District championship.
Graves also was a member of the Honor Roll there, as well as being named to the President's list with a 3.9 GPA at his high school.
"Currently with a veteran catching staff, Travis can hit for power and is a good defensive catcher," Palmer said. "He was by far the best catcher that we saw in our recruiting process and we think he will make a quick impact in this program."
Poe, a 6-foot-3 right-handed pitcher who was drafted in the 40th-round by the Pittsburgh Pirates last summer, played last spring at Bossier Parish Community College where he accumulated a 5-4 record with 63 strikeouts in 60 1/3 innings of work for a team that went 34-25.
During his high school days, he was a four-year All-State selection, earning the distinction three times as an infielder and once as a pitcher. Poe also garnered all-Vernon Parish honors four times, all-CENLA twice, and played on four district championship teams.
Poe played his first two seasons at Hicks High School, before transferring to Simpson High School.
"Chad is a great athlete with a great upside," Palmer said. "He throws it as high as 93 (miles per hour) and his best pitching is ahead of him. He is a pitcher that is going to have a chance to help us in the future."
Southern Miss has now signed seven players for the 2009 season including high schoolers Jake Hawkins (Sumrall, Miss./Sumrall HS), Paxton King (Brookhaven, Miss./Brookhaven HS) and B.A. Vollmuth (Biloxi, Miss./Biloxi HS), along with two junior college players, Scott Copeland (White Oak, Texas) and Taylor Walker (Senatobia, Miss.).
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