Scott City's Simmons chooses Redhawks for baseball

Shae Simmons wanted to get his college decision out of the way early and continue his athletic career close to home.

That led the Scott City High School senior to sign a national letter of intent to play baseball at Southeast Missouri State during the early signing period that ended Wednesday.

"I'm definitely excited," Simmons said. "This way I don't have to worry about impressing anybody [during his senior season]. I can just play.

"And my friends and family will be able to see me play."

Simmons was among the top stars on a loaded Scott City team that won the Class 2 state championship in the spring.

Simmons, the Rams' shortstop and No. 2 pitcher, batted .549 with two home runs, 28 RBIs and 19 stolen bases.

On the mound, the right-handed Simmons was 6-0 with a 1.17 ERA. He struck out 73 in 36 innings.

Simmons went 5-for-6 with five runs scored at the state final four and was the winning pitcher in the title game, a 13-3, six-inning rout of Barstow during which he struck out 12.

"It was just awesome," Simmons said of the state championship. "There's nothing else you can say about it."

Southeast coach Mark Hogan said he is elated that Simmons decided to sign with the Redhawks.

"We're thrilled to get him. We're glad he was right here in our backyard," Hogan said. "We think he has a good upside."

Hogan said it's way too early to tell if Simmons will pitch or play a position for the Redhawks.

"I think he has a solid arm," Hogan said. "If I had to guess early on, I'd say on the mound, but the opportunity will be there for him to swing the bat. Either way, I think he could be a big factor for us."

Simmons, an all-stater for the Rams, said he doesn't care where he ends up playing at Southeast.

"It doesn't matter to me, I just want to go play," he said.

Now that Simmons has his college choice out of the way, he can concentrate first on his senior basketball season and then on trying to help the Rams repeat as state champs in baseball.

Although Scott City graduated ace pitcher Ryan Modglin -- another Division I signee who is at Missouri State -- and catcher Cody Carlyle, everybody else is eligible to return.

"There's always a chance [to repeat], depending on who's hot," Simmons said.

Bieser among signees

Among Southeast's three other early signees was Cole Bieser, a senior at Valle Catholic High School in Ste. Genevieve.

Bieser, an outfielder, batted .422 with 31 stolen bases as a junior to earn all-state honors.

Bieser is the son of former Southeast standout Steve Bieser, who finished at the university in 1989 and later played in 60 major league games for the Mets and Pirates in 1997 and 1998.

"We're thrilled to have a second-generation Bieser," said Hogan, who did not coach Steve Bieser at Southeast, but knows him well. "Cole is a chip off the old block. He should be a good offensive guy with speed."

Also signing were two junior college players, left-handed pitcher Jacob Wente from Rend Lake (Ill.) College and left-handed pitcher/outfielder Michael Adamson from John A. Logan (Ill.) College.

"We feel real good about those two," Hogan said. "We've got more [recruiting] work to do in the spring, but this is a good start for us."