Harrison Central Baseball Signing Day

Two Harrison Central Baseball standouts signed to play at the next level today.

Kannon Varnado and Devin Culberson, soon-to-be teammates twice over, as both players put pen to paper with Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College. The two will actually be roommates at Perk following their senior season, ready to build off a junior campaign in which the duo combined for nine doubles, two homers, 29 RBI, 32 runs, and 28 stolen bases as well as 80 strikeouts in just under 80 innings pitched.

A full circle kind of day, especially for Varnado, who continues to carry out his father’s legacy on the diamond. The late Sgt. Daniel Ryan Varnado was a Red Rebel himself before going to play for the Bulldogs in the early 2000s, but passed away tragically serving in Iraq in 2005.

Harrison Central Head Coach Neil Frederic is a man that knows both father and son, having coached Daniel as an assistant at Gulf Coast, and now Kannon since the eighth grade. Varnado said, “Dad went there and family has been there, so it just kind of hit the spot. My dad was there early 2000’s and passed away in Iraq, so it just really meant a lot to go there. It’s been awesome. I just can’t stop thinking about him and how much it really would’ve meant to him.”

Coach Frederic said, “I coached Kannon’s father at Perk, so it’s really, really cool that I got to coach him. Good story about those jerseys up there, those are actually two of the jerseys that his dad actually wore at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College. I had those stored away, and I thought it was the right moment to provide a jersey, and I guess have a part of his father in this signing.”

Coach Frederic says Varnado is changing his number for his senior year from 2 to 16 to match his father’s number from his playing days.