By SAM STAFF/Sports Writer

At least a pair of prep football standouts signed scholarships with four-year schools on Wednesday during the second National Signing Day.
George County versatile senior Marlin Odom inked a deal with Troy University in the Sun Belt Conference.
The 6-foot-2, 175-pound Odom played on both sides of the ball for the Rebels last season seeing time at both wide receiver and in the Secondary. He is expected to be a defensive back for the Trojans.

First-year Troy head coach Gerad Parker just got the job in December, and he told AL.com’s Creg Stephenson he was pleased by his first recruiting class.
“The class is filled with great kids and great families,” Parker told Stephenson. “We wanted to pull from all three buckets (high school, junior college, transfers). It is critical for us to recruit high school kids, especially in such a talent-rich area we’re in, in the state of Alabama. The junior-college market is always going to be good to us, and we have strong ties to it with a couple of the guys we have on our staff, and then four-year transfers will always be a piece of it.”
Local fans should have a few chances to see Odom in action with the Trojans, as both Southern Mississippi and South Alabama are Sun Belt Conference foes.
Also, Pascagoula running back Cameron Deflanders will move on to Mississippi Valley State next season and compete in the Southwestern Athletic Conference.
The Delta Devils went just 1-10 under first-year head coach Kendrick Wade last season. Deflanders will join a pair of former “Southern Six” stalwarts in Itta Bena as well as Biloxi’s Jordan Montgomery is a senior defensive back at MVSU and Gulfport’s Jamison Lindsey is a junior in the Delta Devils secondary as well.

Baseball is on deck
The completion of the region basketball tournaments across the state of Mississippi always signals the appearance of yet another season on the diamond as well as both baseball and softball will begin play in the “Southern Six” next week.
Many jamborees in each sport will be played over the weekend with regular season play beginning as early as Monday and Tuesday for some teams on the diamond.
SouthMiss6 Sports will provide extensive coverage of both sports over the next few months. Check our social media pages for updates.

Soccer playoffs
Also, quite a few “Southern Six” squads are still alive in the state soccer playoffs as the postseason heads towards the state championship round next week.
Boys teams left playing are St. Patrick and St. Stanislaus in Class I, Bay High and Pass Christian in Class 4A, Stone in Class 5A, Picayune, Long Beah and George County in Class 6A, and Ocean Springs and Gulfport in Class 7A.
Girls’ teams still competing are OLA and St. Patrick in Class I, Bay High and Poplarville in Class 4A, Stone in Class 5A, George County, Long Beach and West Harrison in Class 6A and Ocean Springs in Class 6A.