FAIRHOPE — The Fairhope High School gym was filled with student-athletes Monday morning to celebrate 17 Pirates who signed with college athletic programs across six different sports.

Football players Lashavion Brown, Cory Devole, Caden Creel, Qualin McCants and Mickey Herrick were joined by cheerleader Michelle Bossard and cross country runner Zachery Wyatt in signing National Letters of Intent.

Also penning their commitments included baseball players Jacob Conway, Hollon Brock, Jackson Hatcher, Ben Moseley and Brooks Brasfield, softball players Edy Gavin and Ryley Harrison as well as soccer players Madeline Dicksey and Addison and Emily Smith. Ben Perry was also set to be recognized but was competing at the Class 7A Section 1 Championship the same day.

This group of senior Fairhope athletes closes its time as Pirates with plenty of postseason experience and accolades.

Harrison helped lead a run to the softball state finals as a sophomore and the soccer trio did the same last spring. This past fall, Bossard, after battling through injuries, cheered with the Fairhope squad at the state championship meet and Creel represented the Pirates as a North-South football all-star then contributed to the Fairhope basketball team’s state semifinal season.

The most common schools chosen by the 17 signees included Lurleen B. Wallace, Mobile and West Florida. Three baseball players — Brock, Hatcher and Moseley — signed with the Saints, Bossard and Conway both selected the Rams across the bay and the Smith twins are both taking their soccer talents to the Argonauts.

Division I signees included Harrison to South Alabama softball, Creel to Jacksonville State football and Dicksey to Alabama State soccer.

Find Gulf Coast Media on Facebook for more photos from the event. Below are more tidbits on Monday’s Fairhope signees by sport.

FOOTBALL: Sha Sha Brown to Hutchinson; Caden Creel to Jacksonville State; Cory Devole to Belhaven; Mickey Herrick and Qualin McCants TBA

Brown and Devole were among the football players who put pen to paper on National Signing Day Feb. 1 and Creel signed in the early football window Dec. 21, 2022. Both Herrick and McCants were weighing some last-minute options and looked to have a final answer within the next couple of weeks.

All five football players were named to Baldwin County Public School’s all-county team after they helped the Pirates to their highest state ranking since 2014.

CHEERLEADING: Michelle Bossard to Mobile

After she fought through a potential career-ending injury, Bossard not only competed at the state championship meet but also represented Fairhope as an All-American cheerleader at the Cheez-It Citrus Bowl in Orlando.

Pirate head cheerleading coach Pam Brewer said there were a few more Fairhope cheerleaders in the Class of 2024 that are set for college tryouts soon and could add to the team’s college competitors.

Bossard previously signed with Mobile during a January ceremony.

CROSS COUNTRY: Zachery Wyatt to Coastal Alabama

Not long ago, Wyatt was part of a three-headed monster that featured Baxter Friedman (Class of 2022) and Lane Watson (Class of 2024) to lead the Pirates’ distance runners. Now, Wyatt will get a chance to compete against Friedman, who runs for Mississippi College, at the collegiate level with an opportunity Watson files in next.

BASEBALL: Jacob Conway to Mobile; Hollon Brock, Jackson Hatcher and Ben Moseley to Lurleen B. Wallace; Brooks Brasfield TBA

Some of the staples of Fairhope’s infield shared their signing ceremony between first baseman Conway, third baseman Hatcher, catcher Brock as well as middle infielders and pitchers in Moseley and Brasfield.

Conway announced his commitment last fall and Brock and Hatcher signed with LBW last month before Moseley recently made his decision to retain them as teammates. Brasfield was also weighing multiple offers and will have his final answer soon as well.

The Pirates currently own a 16-game win streak entering this weekend’s area series with the Daphne Trojans.

SOFTBALL: Edy Gavin to Wallace State; Ryley Harrison to South Alabama

Having played at the club level together growing up, Gavin transferred to Fairhope for her senior year to team up with Harrison and the pair of been leading the Pirate squad with a 27-4 record and a No. 4 ranking in the Alabama Sports Writers Association’s poll.

Both are getting it done on both sides of the ball but especially offensively where they each have a batting average over .400.

Gavin has collected 12 home runs and 28 RBIs from the leadoff spot to go along with a .442 average and 23 stolen bases. Harrison owns a .483 batting average with 13 home runs and 47 RBIs but has been dominant in the pitcher’s circle with a 14-0 record and 135 strikeouts in 79 innings to complement a .031 earned-run average.

SOCCER: Addison and Emily Smith to West Florida; Madeline Dicksey to Alabama State

In the three years that the Smith twins and Dicksey have served as catalysts for the Fairhope squad, the Pirates have won 46 of 54 games with two trips to the elite eight and last spring’s run to the finals. Not only that, but Fairhope soccer coach Ben Monk said the team has also outscored its opponents by averaging more than four goals a game while allowing less than one.

Although both Dicksey and Addison Smith have been sidelined with injuries this season, Monk said they have served as extra coaches on the bench and will both be ready for their collegiate seasons this fall. The trio also previously signed their National Letters of Intent in November.

TENNIS: Ben Perry to Reinhardt

Although he was not able to be present at the ceremony, Perry will join an Eagles squad that qualified for the NAIA National Championship Tournament last year and went to the Appalachian Athletic Conference’s championship match in 2021.

Last spring, Perry helped the Pirates claim the Class 7A Section 1 championship before he represented Fairhope at the state tennis tournament in both singles and doubles where he won his opening singles match over Enterprise’s Tripp Rascoe.

Perry also previously signed his National Letter of Intent in February.