Five Pace baseball rising seniors announce college commitments; four are staying local

Five members of the Pace baseball team's strong senior class have recently announced their college commitments.

Four of the rising seniors are staying local to the Pensacola area, while one of them is headed to a premier Division I program.

Nash Pires, Madox Land, Glenn Brooks, Grant Walters and Tucker Ricks are set to play at the collegiate level after the 2025 varsity season with the Patriots.

Nash Pires commits to Division I Alabama

Another Division I commit to come out of the Pace baseball program, Nash Pires officially put "@AlabamaBSB commit" in his X, formerly Twitter, bio – tagging the Crimson Tide's baseball team's account.

Officially official – well, as official as it can be until signing day.

During the 2024 season, Pires posted a .277 batting average and a .371 on-base percentage, tacking on 23 hits with five doubles and a home run. Pires batted in 17 runs, scoring 20 himself, with nine stolen bases.

Pires also pitches, but was battling a shoulder injury last season, Patriots head coach Jason McBride said, and only pitched a handful of innings. Alabama likes Pires "as an athlete," McBride noted.

"Nash is a big kid and a good athlete that can run," McBride said. "He will be one of our guys this year on the mound."

Pires joins TJ McCants as a recent Pensacola native to play for the Crimson Tide. McCants transferred to Alabama after playing at Ole Miss , and recently signed with the Chicago White Sox after being drafted in the 16th round of the 2024 MLB Draft.

Madox Land, Glenn Brooks and Grant Walters stay local with Pensacola State

After spending the first three years of his varsity career at Tate, Madox Land will be joining the Patriots for his senior season. Land announced his commitment to Pensacola State at the end of July.

He's been a standout for the Aggies ever since his freshman year, where he posted a .338 batting average that season with 24 hits, including a triple, and 16 RBIs.

As a junior, Land recorded a .293 batting average, going 21-for-75 with the Aggies. He tackled on 10 doubles and a pair of home runs, He also posted 11 RBIs and nine stolen bases. The infielder made four appearances on the mound for Tate last season, striking out seven batters, allowing two hits and two earned runs.

Announcing his commitment around a similar time, Glenn Brooks is also headed to Pensacola State. A First Team All-Area selection in both 2023 and 2024, Brooks was one of the top hitters for the Patriots this past spring.

Brooks, who primarily plays center field, posted a .340 batting average and an on-base percentage of .480. He tacked on five doubles and five home runs, batting in 20 runs in the process. He scored 34 runs and stole 16 bases in the spring.

Rounding out the trio of future Pirates, Grant Walters posted his commitment to Pensacola State on Thursday. Walters is also a two-time First Team All-Area selection as an infielder and won the PNJ Newcomer of the Year award for baseball in 2023.

Walters played at short stop during the spring, posting a .411 batting average – something he's done in both seasons at the varsity level in Class 6A – with an on-base percentage of .550. He recorded 30 hits, including 11 doubles and four home runs, adding on 17 RBIs. He scored 27 times and stole 18 bases, drawing 21 walks.

Tucker Ricks joining strong Division II program at UWF

One of the Patriots' aces this past season, Ricks posted his commitment to UWF on Aug. 15. He'll join former Pace stars Kobe Hesters and Parker Tubb who were both juniors last season for the Argos.

Ricks pitched 60 2/3 innings for Pace last season, posting a 9-3 record on the mound. He recorded 68 strikeouts, 17 walks and an earned-runs against average of 1.154. In both 2023 and this past spring, Ricks was named a PNJ First Team All-Area selection at pitcher.

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Five Pace baseball rising seniors announce college commitments; four are staying local