Chattanooga Christian baseball standout and University of Kentucky commit John Rhodes poses for a portrait at the Chattanooga Christian School baseball field on Wednesday, March 7, 2018, in Chattanooga, Tenn. THREE PLAYERS TO WATCH
› John Rhodes (CCS): The versatile junior is bound for Kentucky.› Andre Tarver (Ringgold): The junior outfielder, who’s also a football star, has committed to Mississippi State’s baseball program.› Cole Wilcox (Heritage): The senior pitcher is one of the highest-rated prospects the area has had in recent years. He’s committed to Georgia.
THREE TEAMS TO WATCH
› Baylor: The Red Raiders return three key starters from last season — 1B Teddy Lepcio (.313 average, 28 RBIs), RF Stan King (.313 average, 17 RBIs) and sophomore 3B Gehrig Ebel (.318 average).› Signal Mountain: The Eagles must replace eight players from last year’s Spring Fling squad that won 29 games, but having SS/P Drew Lowry and OF/P Collin Farr back will help.› Lookout Valley: The Yellow Jackets return eight starters, including their entire infield, and have four seniors with plenty of experience.
John Rhodes always has understood the importance of first impressions.
As a 4-year-old, despite the bat standing nearly as tall as he was, he connected on his first swing of tee-ball practice and sent the ball soaring over the fence for a home run. He was immediately moved up to play in the league for 5-year-olds.
With just one season's experience as a starter on Chattanooga Christian School's basketball team, he was named the district player of the year, and after one year of varsity baseball he was recruited by Georgia, Mississippi State, Tennessee and Vanderbilt among others before opting to commit to Kentucky.
"He's just an incredible talent who seems to be naturally gifted at just about anything he does," said second-year CCS baseball coach Ben Wharton. "He has a rare blend of size, strength and speed that really separates him. He can make an impact anywhere we play him, at any position.
"Our first game last year was against Boyd-Buchanan and it was about 34 degrees, just freezing cold, so nothing was carrying for anybody. But John unloads on one and hits it a ton to left field for a home run. That kind of made me take notice."
As the prep baseball season begins this week in Tennessee, the 6-foot, 195-pound junior hopes to make plenty of other folks take notice and build on last spring's breakout season when he batted .471 with 15 doubles, six home runs and 43 RBIs and was 22-for-22 in stolen-base attempts. He also finished with a 3-1 pitching record, plus two saves and 18 strikeouts. He earned district MVP and all-state honors, and he was named by Tennessee Baseball Report as one of the nine best players in the state for all classes.
"Baseball is what I love to do," Rhodes said. "Basketball can be kind of a grind, but I'm always looking for a reason to go to the cage and hit or do something around baseball that's going to make me better.
"I've had so many missed calls or texts from my parents wondering where I was because I forgot to tell them that I was going somewhere to take BP with my friends. Whatever my God-given talent is, I don't want to rest on it when I could be working to get better.
"It is fun, but I'm not just out there goofing off. I'm working at the game. I enjoy it, but I also want to have an uncommon work ethic."
Rhodes has proven repeatedly those are not hollow words, first proving his dedication last year when he took countless extra ground balls just to be prepared to help at shortstop.
"He hadn't played that position until we asked him to step in for some spot duty last season," Wharton said. "The first practice after I asked him, we wound up staying out on the field for so long after everybody else had left that I finally just said, 'John, I have to get home.'"
And again, just two weeks ago after the CCS basketball team returned home around 9 p.m. from a loss in the state tournament, Rhodes went straight to an indoor batting cage for a couple of hours.
"We had just run up and down the court a few times, so I wasn't tired or ready to go home," Rhodes said with a shrug. "I was ready to take some swings and start getting ready for baseball season.
"I get antsy when I'm not playing sports. But one of the things I always tell myself is that I don't want to let a good game or a bad game define me. I want to be the same person at the end of the day no matter what. And that's just a good guy who loves to play the game with my friends."
Contact Stephen Hargis at shargis@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6293. Follow him on Twitter @StephenHargis.