ITTA BENA – Mississippi Valley State head baseball coach Doug Shanks has announced the signing of three student-athletes to his program.

Tre Hobbs of Riverside High School and Xzavier Franklin and Terrance Steele from East Central Community College have signed on join the Delta Devil baseball team next season.  

Hobbs became Riverside’s first-ever Division-I signee. The left-handed pitcher and outfielder chose MVSU over several other programs.

“We’re ecstatic about signing him,” said Shanks, who’s entering his 13^th year on the bench. “We think he’ll be a big time pitcher. And we’re delighted he’s a Delta kid. That gives us about four on the team, which is really great.”

At Riverside High in Avon, Miss., Hobbs was named the 2012 Offensive Player of the Year after his junior year and the 2011 MVP during his sophomore season. He finished his junior year with a batting average of .473 on 43 hits and 36 RBIs.

“We think he can play at this level,” said Shanks. “He’s a very good athlete. He’s a dual-position guy. With college baseball as it is now, if you get a guy that can do two things, he becomes very valuable to you.”

Meanwhile, Franklin, a Decatur, Miss. native and Steel, a Philadelphia, Miss. native, join a long line of former ECCC Warrior players who have joined the MVSU program. Over the past eight years, Shanks has signed 13 former ECCC student-athletes.

Franklin, who played at Newton County High School before going to ECCC, was named the 2012 Player of the Year in the Performance Sports Academy’s Wood Bat League. He hit .415 with 23 RBIs and 28 stolen bases in the 20-game summer league. During the 2012 season at ECCC, he hit .292 and played in the outfield.

Steele, who played at Neshoba Central High School before joining ECCC, hit .216 last season for the Warriors. He had 22 hits (4 doubles), 27 runs and 19 stolen bases.