Sam Temple has happily mined the fertile baseball fields of Warren County while building a championship program at Hinds Community College.

This week, he added another bumper crop of local talent.

Three Warren Central players — pitcher Blake Jobe, shortstop Beau Wallace and third baseman-catcher Carlos Gonzalez — signed letters of intent to play at Hinds on Tuesday. Porters Chapel Academy pitcher Montana McDaniel signed this morning.

The signings bring to 14 the number of Warren County players projected to be on the 2012 Hinds roster. There are 11 on this year’s 30-man squad, which will begin the season ranked eighth in the country in Collegiate Baseball’s junior college poll.

“It happens in cycles, just like teams,” Temple, a Vicksburg native, said in explaining the large number of Warren County players. “I think we’re going through another influx of Warren County players, which has me smiling. There’s just something about Warren County players, that they always play hard.”

Temple was beaming over this year’s group of signees.

Jobe’s record was just 2-3 last season, but he had a 2.15 ERA and 25 strikeouts in 26 innings pitched. Wallace hit .330 and scored 32 runs, while the versatile Gonzalez hit .365 with nine doubles and 20 RBIs.

McDaniel, the 2009 Vicksburg Post co-player of the year, is 18-9 with 244 strikeouts in three full seasons in PCA’s rotation. He also has a career .362 batting average.

“Blake Jobe has unlimited potential on the mound. He’s just beginning to grow into that dominant pitcher Warren Central needs. I think he’s going to have a big year in high school baseball,” Temple said. “Beau is the best shortstop in our district and one of the best in the state … Carlos has the potential to be a middle of the lineup hitter for us right off the bat, and be one of the most feared power hitters in our league.”

That league, the Mississippi Association of Junior and Community Colleges, was won by Hinds last season. That loaded team included nine Division I signees.

The team and individual success enjoyed by Hinds recently was not lost on its newest players.

“It’s definitely somewhere I want to go, a team that’s ranked eighth in the nation,” Gonzalez said. “Temple is one of the best coaches that can produce players and get there.”

Jobe said the large number of friends and classmates on the roster was also a selling point with Hinds. Three former Warren Central players — pitcher Jay Harper, and outfielders Dee White and Jimmie Elliott — are among the Vicksburg contingent in Raymond.

“I know a lot of people that are playing there,” Jobe said. “It’s just familiar. I know the place well and a lot of the people from last year went there.”

For all three players, the opportunity that awaits in two years was also an attraction. Success often breeds success, and Hinds is on an upswing. If they can go to Raymond and continue to build on its recent surge, plenty of offers from four-year schools could await this year’s signees after their sophomore seasons.

“It’s a big opportunity. I’m looking forward to it,” Wallace said. “It’s a good program. That’s my plan.”