With Tennessee spring sports set to officially return next Monday, Patrick MacCoon ranks the top 24 high school baseball players in southeast Tennessee for the 2024 season.
1. Tomas Valincius (Baylor, senior P/1B)
The Virginia signee and Mr. Baseball award winner was ranked the top player in the state by MaxPreps after totalling 24 extra base hits and posting a 0.74 ERA last season.
2. Brodie Johnston (Boyd Buchanan, senior SS/P)
The Vanderbilt signee has the potential to smash 20 home runs if pitchers dare to throw to him.
3. Cutter Womack (Cleveland, senior OF)
The Blue Raider star hit .524 last season with a whopping .626 on-base percentage.
4. Ben Timblin (Signal Mountain, senior SS/P)
The Wofford signee was 7-0 with a 0.75 ERA and 77 strikeouts, while also smashing .481 with 39 RBIs for the Eagles.
5. Carson Flint (Soddy-Daisy, junior P/INF)
Flint rocks and fires similar to Spencer Strider. He is aggressive and had 29 strikeouts over back-to-back starts against Red Bank and Signal Mountain last season.
6. Logan Denton (Red Bank, senior P/INF/C)
The Lions' workhorse does not walk many batters at all (12 in 55 innings last year), while he also has pop in his bat.
7. Kolton Casson (Polk County, senior P/SS/OF)
The Mr. Baseball finalist hit above .500 last year and also won seven games with a sub 2.00 ERA on the mound.
8. Jax Bishop (Baylor, junior P/OF)
The Tennesssee commit transferred in from Calhoun High School, where he had 46 strikeouts in 27 innings last season.
9. Camron James (Howard, SS/P)
Howard's first Division I baseball signee hit over .400 and was top three in the state in stolen bases last season.
10. Owen Phillips (Silverdale Baptist, senior 2B)
The Seahawks should get a huge final year out of their star infielder, who is now the go-to bat in the lineup.
11. Nolan Sergeant (McCallie, senior OF/INF)
From day one on campus Sergeant has stood out and is a career .360 hitter with speed.
12. Kamden Wellington (South Pittsburg, senior 3B/P)
The multi-sport star is an ace on the mound and the biggest power threat at the plate for the Pirates.
13. Maddox Jones (Silverdale Baptist, senior P/OF)
Jones has a nasty breaking ball to pair with his 90-plus mile per hour fastball.
14. Rylan Collins (Lookout Valley, senior C/P)
He led the Yellow Jackets in home runs and batting average, while also being invaluable behind the plate and on the bump.
15. Jack Barkeloo (Red Bank, junior OF/3B)
He broke out last year with a .493 batting average and also hit three home runs.
16. Luke Rector (South Pittsburg, senior SS/P)
Rector has good command on the mound and his experience will help the Pirates go far.
17. Jack McBrayer (Cleveland, senior SS/P)
McBrayer shined in a relief role last season and he has flashiness to his game.
18. Matt Dill (Baylor, junior P)
As a freshman, Dill was Baylor's most valuable pitcher on the staff with a sub 1.00 ERA.
19. Cooper Jones (Boyd Buchanan, senior P/1B)
The lefty is in for a big comeback season for a talented Buccaneers squad that could make a state tournament run.
20. Cooper Powe (Soddy-Daisy, junior P/OF)
The Trojans have as good of a 1-2 punch at the top of the pitching rotation as any team in town.
21. Christian Chandler (Lookout Valley, senior OF/P)
He plays the game with max effort and could have over 100 strikeouts on the mound.
22. Carson Davis (East Hamilton, junior P/OF)
He is consistently throwing in the upper 80s and should thrive in the ace role.
23. Maddox Bohannon (East Hamilton, senior INF/P)
The Carson-Newman signee should carry a strong finish from last year's sectional run over to this season.
24. Cooper Bailey (Hixson, senior P/3B)
The UT-Southern signee is the leader for the Wildcats.
Contact Patrick MacCoon at pmaccoon@timesfreepress.com.
Staff photo by Patrick MacCoon / Boyd Buchanan senior Brodie Johnston is a Vanderbilt signee who has the most pop with his bat of any player in the area.