MOULTRIE – Turner Sircy will not change once he gets to college baseball. He will certainly look to improve as a left-handed pitcher, but he’s not going to tone down on the vocal encouragement no matter how good – or bad – his outing is.

On Wednesday, Sircy signed his papers to be a part of Fayetteville Technical College, a two-year program in North Carolina. At Colquitt County High, his primary role for now retired head coach Tony Kirkland was out of the bullpen. In the 2019 season, Sircy appeared in a team-leading 15 games and struck out 27 batters against 14 walks in 28 2/3 innings. As a junior on a team loaded with senior arms, he won five times out of his 10 appearances with a 0.67 earned run average in 21 innings.

“He’s been awesome for us the last couple of years,” said former pitching coach Taylor Barber, who led the ceremony in place of Kirkland, who could not attend for family reasons.

“My teammates, I appreciate you guys,” said Sircy, the son of Frank and Ceciley Sircy. “We’ve been to war all these years since we were kids playing the sport we love. This isn’t just an individual accomplishment. This is all of us. Everything you have taught me and the stuff we’ve done growing up, it’s really meant a lot to me.

“My coaches have really been big for my upbringing, not just baseball. The conversations we get to have. I appreciate all the relationships we’ve been able to gain. (Coach Barber), you’ve been my pitching coach these four years, and I can’t tell you how much that’s meant to me, to have you on my side through thick and thin. When I’m shutting people down or getting jacked, you always helped me.”

Sircy did get emotional talking about family and the sacrifices they made for him to play baseball. The rides to ball games would start at 6 a.m., he said, adding they helped him reach a dream that began with a plastic bat at age 5.

“None of this is possible without the blessings I’ve been given,” said Sircy.

This latest blessing will take him to North Carolina.

“I went to visit at Fayetteville, and coach (Billy) Gaskins really swept me off my feet,” said Sircy. “I threw a bullpen for them, and they said they really liked what I had. They were really impressed with my arm action as a lefty. He said I was one of the best lefties that went up there and threw for them. It just seemed like a really good fit. It’s a good atmosphere up there. I’m excited to play for them.

“I am going to have to work out every day like I have been. Nothing’s been given to me my whole life, so I am going to work like I always have. I just want to get out there and throw. I want to go up there and win. That’s the only thing that matters to me.”

And he will let his new Trojan teammates know who he is and what he expects out of them. Things like, “Do your job” and “Find a way,” which could always be heard coming out of the Packer dugout.

“That’s not going to get tamed just because I’m going to college,” said Sircy. “I’ll be the same guy I’ve always been and give some life to my teammates and try to make our team the best we can be.”

In school, Sircy plans to major in psychology looking at a career in sports psychology working with teams.