Weston Hopkins (seated center) signs to play baseball at Marion Military Institute. He is joined by his parents (seated), Bill Hopkins Jr. and Shannon Hopkins, (standing) Coach J.R. Dilbeck, sister Emma Hopkins, and uncle and coach Shane Hopkins.| Joy Haynes

Weston Hopkins, shortstop for the Priceville Bulldogs, signed a letter of intent to play baseball at Marion Military Institute in Marion Thursday.

Hopkins said he fulfilled a lifelong dream with that signing.

“I’ve always wanted to play baseball in college, but I’ve been working really hard to make it happen over the last few years,” Hopkins said. “I first toured Marion the weekend before I signed, and I just really loved it. It really felt like home, and I couldn’t be more excited.”

His mother Shannon Hopkins said she has never seen him so happy.

“He has really fallen in love with the school, and he’s so happy to be continuing his baseball career,” she said. “He is really excited that they have his intended area of study. He wants to either do building construction science or petroleum engineering, and Marion has both of those.”

Marion is a military institute, but Hopkins has not decided to enlist. It is a two-year college located in central Alabama.

Shannon said he had been working hard on his own to get to this point.

“He is always come up to the batting cages to hit with his sister’s boyfriend, and he has worked with Joel Rivera for a number of years,” Shannon said. “He has been a part of two state championship teams and a world series championship team with the North Alabama Titans.”

Hopkins is also the salutatorian of his class, taking several AP classes. He expects to enter college with at least 19 credit hours under his belt.
“Academics has always come first no matter what,” Hopkins said. “Luckily they came pretty easily to me, but I still had to work hard. I knew I would have to keep my grades up if I wanted to play college ball.”

His father Morgan County School Superintendent Bill Hopkins Jr. said he has played baseball since he was 6.

“It’s really a family thing, so he got started young and played for 12 years,” Bill said. “He watched his uncle play four years of college ball, so I guess he decided he wanted to do the same. He has been a three-year starter at Priceville, and he plays for his uncle Shane.”