Centralia had three impact girls sign with colleges on Wednesday.
Class 3 softball player of the year Jaylynn Brown will be pitching at the University of Missouri after pitching the Lady Panthers to their first state championship since 2016. Three-time all-state basketball player Ryenn Gordon will play for Division I Murray State in Kentucky, and all-Clarence Cannon Conference outfielder Raleigh Dutton will play softball for Moberly Area Community College.
The three-time all-state pitcher Brown was co-conference player of the year, first team all-district and all-region, among a list of accolades this season, after posting an ERA of .421, and as a hitter, a batting average and OPS of .381 and 1.091. Her name is also prevalent in the school record books as she he owns the records for strikeouts in a game, strikeouts in a season, strikeouts in a career, wins in a season and wins in a career. Her 1,101 career strikeouts rank sixth all-time in Missouri high school softball history.
"It feels unreal," Brown said. "I never thought I would get to this point, but I'm so happy that I did. Now, all the hard work is paying off."
Brown plans to study interior design.
Gordon averaged 16.6 points per game last season and also averaged 4.3 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, 57 percent shooting from the field, and 83 percent from the free throw line. She was co-player of the year in the Clarence Cannon Conference and is over 1,000 career points. Gordon has one more season left this winter after the Lady Panthers won three straight district titles, including a Class 3 third-place finish three years ago.
"I wanted to play college basketball since fourth grade," Gordon said. "I knew it was Murray from the first talk I had with them during summer going into my sophomore year. It felt good to sign it today. I knew it was them, but I just couldn't do anything about it until now."
Gordon plans to study elementary education.
Read the full stories in the Wednesday, Dec. 2, 2026, edition of the Mexico Ledger.
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