Three local seniors are among the finalists for the Tennessee Baseball Coaches Association’s annual Mr. Baseball awards.
There will be six winners in all with one for each TSSAA classification, and Wednesday’s announcement of the three finalists in each class included Lookout Valley’s Rylan Collins in Class 1A, Boyd Buchanan’s Cooper Jones (Division II-A) and Baylor’s Tomas Valincius (DII-AA). Winners will be announced at noon next Tuesday — which is also the first day of state tournament competition at the Spring Fling — at the Family Worship Center in Murfreesboro.
Valincius, who won the award last year, could become Baylor’s fourth consecutive Mr. Baseball winner after Cooper Kinney won it in 2021 and Henry Godbout was honored in 2022.
The 6-foot-2, 205-pound Valincius, a Virginia signee, entered Wednesday carrying a 7-0 record as a pitcher this spring with a 0.74 ERA, 69 strikeouts, six walks and 19 hits allowed in 38 innings. The left-hander had also batted .462 with 10 home runs and 39 RBIs, and he has drawn 24 walks while striking out nine times.
He also helped Baylor sweep the DII-AA East Region regular-season and tournament titles.