Rodney Lopez

Editor’s note: This is the first in a multi-part series this month on area athletes that have continued playing sports in college. This section contains those involved in spring sports. Since many college sports are played year-round, sports seasons for this series were determined based on the high school calendar. Athletes that play multiple sports may be featured in a future story in this series.

It’s been a solid, yet rapid season for Vincennes Post 73’s return to baseball this summer with a Junior American Legion team, and now after playing over 20 games in a little over a month, Post 73 focuses on the postseason. Vincennes is hosting its five-team, double-elimination regional tournament this weekend at Jerry Blemker Field.

Cooper Collins has done much to impress in his three years as the starting catcher for Lincoln’s baseball team, and this spring as a junior, his offensive numbers caught up with what fans were already seeing from him as a defensive backstop. But Alices coach Daniel Ashby says it might be the things that fans don’t see that stand out the most about Collins’ game. “When you look at how he affects the game as a whole, I’m not sure people fully realize all he does,” Ashby said.