Josh West

Joshua Dale West, known as Josh, was a Mississippi State University baseball outfielder, a Hamilton High School state champion, and a quiet outdoorsman from Aberdeen and Hamilton, Mississippi. He died on Thursday, September 10, 2026, at the age of 47. His family announced his death through Tisdale-Lann Memorial Funeral Home in Aberdeen, and his college career was later remembered in national sports coverage that revisited the catches and championships that defined his years in maroon and white.

Born on May 20, 1979, Josh was the first-born son of Rubel Dale West and DeAndra "DeDe" Robinson West. Almost from the time he could walk and hold a baseball, family recalled, he was in the yard throwing with his father. At Hamilton High School he helped lead the Lions to a Class 1A state championship in 1997 and was named the Daily Journal All-Area Player of the Year. He graduated in 1997 and signed with Mississippi State University, a dream come true for a young player who hoped someday to coach.

At Mississippi State from 1998 to 2001 he made an immediate mark, hitting a home run in his first collegiate at-bat. He played on the 1998 College World Series team and, in 2001, secured a lasting place in Bulldog lore with the game-winning catch against LSU that clinched the SEC Tournament championship. That same season he earned All-SEC Tournament Team honors and led the team in RBIs as a senior while batting .282 with five home runs. He earned a Bachelor of Science in Kinesiology from Mississippi State.

Away from the diamond Josh loved fishing and the quiet of the outdoors, and he was skilled at woodworking. He is survived by his father Rubel Dale West (Tanya Scott West) of Aberdeen; his mother DeAndra "DeDe" Robinson West of Hamilton; sisters Jade West Smith (Jake Smith) of Columbus, Katelyn White Johnson of Hamilton, and Gracie West; brother Ethan West of Aberdeen; and grandmother Betty Jean Irvin Robinson. Visitation and a private family chapel ceremony were arranged through Tisdale-Lann Memorial Funeral Home in Aberdeen. His family asked that remembrances support a memorial baseball scholarship at Hamilton High School, where his path from state champion to SEC hero began.