By TOMMY REZAC
St. Joseph Post
St. Joseph Central senior and softball star Jaylee Wilson made it official Friday, signing her national letter of intent to continue her softball career at Division I South Dakota State.
Wilson is officially a Jackrabbit after verbally committing to the University of Iowa in the fall of 2020. But after making a recent visit to Brookings, Wilson found her college destination.
She verbally committed to SDSU this past December, where she'll major in exercise science and play middle infield.
"It felt like home when I went up there," Wilson said. "The coaching staff is amazing, the coaching staff is amazing and the program is amazing. Academically, I'm going to do well up there and I'm just excited to be a Jackrabbit."
Wilson concluded a storied, four-year softball career with Central this past fall, helping the Indians to a school-record 26 wins and a district runner-up finish.
A four-year starter, Wilson led Central in 2021 with a .552 batting average, while hitting nine home runs and tallying 51 RBIs. Her 23 singles and 24 doubles this past fall are a single season school record.
She's also second in the MSHSAA career record books in career doubles. Wilson was named a first-team all-conference and city player, while also being named second-team all Region.
"We definitely put Central on the map," Wilson said of her team's run this past fall. "I think it has to do with practicing, being around each other for a long time and having that great coaching overall. And just cheering everyone on."
Coach Kendra Hodgin, who just wrapped up her fourth season with Central, has seen three of her seniors sign to play college softball over the last few months.
Myah Dwyer to Lincoln University, Chloe Bell to North Central Missouri College and now Wilson to SDSU.
"They were part of my first class as my first year here at Central," Hodgin pointed out. "They've been with me for all four years. It's just been awesome and we're going to miss them tremendously."
You can follow Tommy on Twitter @TommyKFEQ and St. Joseph Post @StJosephPost.