NATCHEZ — The University of Southern Mississippi was deciding whether to offer Trinity Episcopal pitcher Jake Winston a scholarship.

Then Winston recently broke a State Games of Mississippi record by striking out 15 batters from the Jackson district, considered the best district in Mississippi.

That was enough for the Southern Miss coaching staff, and Winston, who will be a senior in the fall, accepted the Golden Eagles’ scholarship offer and committed to them Wednesday.

“It’s always been a dream of mine (to play there),” Winston said. “Ever since I was a kid, I liked the Hoffpauirs (Jarrett and Josh) and Barry Bowden, and they all went to USM.”

And Winston credited his personal coach, Chris Rayborn, for helping him get into the Southern Miss coaches’ radar.

“When he opened up Advance Sports, he was looking for people to help get the place running,” Winston said.

“Once he got to see me, he started calling people and getting my name out there. I guess after that I played well enough to impress the coaches.”

Rayborn said Southern Miss is a great fit for Winston.

“They were my coaches at Meridian Community College,” Rayborn said. “Their pitching coach Mike Federico, their assistant coach Chad Caillet and their head coach Scott Berry, I knew them all really well.”

And Rayborn said he’s especially high on Federico.

“He’s the best baseball guy in the United States, in my opinion,” Rayborn said. “He motivates, inspires and stays on you, and he does his job by going 100 percent.”

Winston said he built up a good relationship with the Southern Miss coaches that goes beyond just a player-coach relationship.

“I talked to them as if they were my friends, not just my future coaches,” Winston said. “Whenever we talked, we didn’t talk baseball as much as we did everyday life. I wasn’t really talking to anyone else, and it seemed like they really wanted me.”

Winston’s pitching repertoire includes a fastball, slider and changeup, and he said his slider is by far his best pitch.

“It’s my out pitch, what I throw when I want to strike someone out,” Winston said. “My fastball’s not overpowering, but it has a lot of movement, so it gets a lot of ground balls, and my changeup is developing.”