Kevin Simmons, the first Wallace Community College Selma baseball player to get selected in the MLB Draft, will have his jersey retired Saturday.

Simmons was drafted in the 16th round of the draft by the Arizona Diamondbacks last spring and played well in his time with the Missoula Osprey, which is a rookie level minor league affiliate of the Diamondbacks.

“He’s the first player that has been drafted out of Wallace straight from here, plus being the person he is and his character, I think we really need to do that,” WCCS head baseball coach Frank Elliot said.

Wallace will play Holmes Community College at 10 a.m. Saturday in the first game of a three-team tripleheader. While the second game between Marion Military Institute and Holmes is being played, WCCS will retire Simmons jersey and then hold a reception in the student center afterwards.

An Arizona Diamondbacks scout will be on hand Saturday to present the jersey.

Simmons threw 47.1 innings last year for the Osprey in 18 games. He had 43 strikeouts and posted an ERA of 3.61, which was the best of anybody on the team that threw over 20 innings.

Elliot said he’s kept in touch with Simmons since he left WCCS to pursue his major league dreams and said while the pitcher is back in town, he’s been stopping by practice.

“He comes out to practice about two or three days a week,” Elliot said.

“He’s following the protocol sheet that his team gave him to follow until he goes back for spring training.”