A trio of baseball players from Bayside Academy signed with their future college teams during a ceremony at the high school Nov. 9 as part of National Signing Day.

Jake DeValk will stay in state and head to South Alabama to become a Jaguar, Josh Gunther is heading to North Carolina to join the Wake Forest Demon Deacons and Jack Woods inked his commitment to the Delta State Statesman and will take his talents to Mississippi.

Those three athletes helped their squad to the Class 3A state quarterfinals last season after a state runner-up campaign in 2021. They also extended the Admiral baseball squad’s playoff streak to 18 consecutive seasons.

Because of those top finishes, Bayside Academy was promoted to Class 4A for the 2022 season after the Alabama High School Athletic Association’s Competitive Balance Factor. This season, the Admirals will square off with Orange Beach, St. Michael Catholic and UMS-Wright to fight for the top spot in Area 1.

DeValk, listed as a 6’ 4”, 210-pound pitcher and third baseman, earned a Perfect Game grade of 9 which is reserved for the highest-level college prospect.

He was named to the all-tournament team from March’s high school showdown at the Hoover Met, then over the summer competed in the PG 17U National Elite Championship and the WWBA 17U National Championship. DeValk registered a top fastball and infield velocity of 91 mph at separate events in June, 2021.

Similarly, Gunther – a 6’, 200-pound pitcher, first, second and third baseman – has also earned a Perfect Game grade of 9 after he participated in the same two national championships this past summer. He was named to the all-tournament team for the WWBA 17U tournament where his fastball recorded a personal-best 91 mph.

Woods is listed as a 6’ 2”, 185-pound outfielder with a top exit velocity of 89 mph, hand speed of 24.6 mpg, bat speed of 72.5 mph and a 60-yard dash time of 7.29 seconds according to Prep Baseball Report. At this summer at PBR's Alabama All-State Games, he added an outfield velocity of 78 mph, a top speed of 19.2 mph and a jump power of 1,555.

The Bayside Academy trio also earned slots on all three Baldwin County All-Star teams as awarded by the Mobile Baseball Connection. DeValk was one of three Admirals on the first team, Gunther was a second-team representative and Woods was named to the third team.

Gunther also represented Bayside Academy at the AHSAA North-South All-Star game over the summer where he started Game 2 on the mound and pitched two-plus innings and allowed five hits, two runs, one earned run and struck out three batters.