The 2024 high school baseball season is quickly approaching and as usual, excitement abounds throughout the state. Players and coaches have been working in preparation for the upcoming season and, as is the case each year, there are some very talented players and teams across Tennessee.

Teams across the state have goals and aspirations to finish their seasons in Murfreesboro at The Spring Fling as they compete for a state championship, but there is plenty of work to be done before that becomes reality. We hope to familiarize our readers with many of the teams across the state as we preview individual teams across Tennessee. We will take you right up to first pitch this season with these team previews and by continuing other pieces of content covering the Volunteer State.

Please keep checking back throughout the season as we will be your one-stop shop for everything related to high school baseball across the state. Each week we will be releasing our players of the week, updating the Power 25 and much more.

*Please note the information has been gathered from head coaches across the state, based on their replies to the questionnaire we distributed over this offseason.

High School: Farragut
Head Coach: Matt Buckner
Classification: 4A
District + Region Number: District 4 + Region 2
2023 Record (Finish): 36-8

 

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TOP RETURNING PLAYERS

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TEAM OUTLOOK

Farragut comes into the spring 2024 season with about as high of expectations one can have with a veteran lineup that has already won the state tournament in back to back seasons. Coach Buckner may have the most talented team that he has ever assembled this season as they return pretty much their entire team from last year’s 36-8 record run. The admirals are loaded with D1 talent as 7 positional starters are back with 10 arms that have varsity experience on the mound. Senior shortstop and Mississippi State signee Lukas Buckner looks to lead things off where he comes in with a blend of hitting and speed ability from the leadoff spot (42 GP, 144 AB, .458 AVG, 66 H, 13 2B, 1 3B, 1 HR, 43 RBI, 40 R, 23 BB, 11 K, 8 SB.) He is also one of the best defensive infielders in all of the state with a smooth glove that can make all the plays to both sides of his body. In the 2-hole will be another Bulldog in Mississippi State signee outfielder Landis Davila. Davila has tremendous upside with a left-handed bat that will run into his fair share of homeruns, while hitting for a high average (37 GP, 127 AB, .394 AVG, 50 H, 18 2B, 1 3B, 7 HR, 42 RBI, 45 R, 14 BB, 18 K, 7 SB.) He has a lot of tools to work with, while already being an above average defensive outfielder with range. The 3-hole looks to be UAB signee Jake Merrick. The 3rd baseman has well above average bat speed (Max: 77 mph) and extremely quick hands at 25 mph. He gets often overlooked on such a deep team but will be a major factor in how far the Admirals go this season and the talent is only getting stronger with him. Senior first baseman and ETSU signee Eli Evans looks to be back in the cleanup spot where the right handed hitter looks to be a run producer, while he should lock up over double digit doubles this season (39 GP, 118 AB, .390 AVG, 46 H, 9 2B, 1 3B, 5 HR, 36 RBI, 38 R, 29 BB, 22 K, 3 SB.) In the middle heart of the order will be senior Tennessee signee and centerfielder Brennon Seigler. He has been a consistent name to know throughout his high school career. He won’t necessarily hit a ton of homeruns, but will be a doubles machine, while being a consistent threat on the basepaths (44 GP, 150 AB, .400 AVG, 60 H, 9 2B, 1 3B, 2 HR, 34 RBI, 36 R, 12 BB, 22 K, 12 SB.) At the catching position will be a pair of seniors in Gavin Brewer and Mason Grube. The Cincinnati signee Brewer isn't a prototypical catchers build as he comes in with an athletically slimmer profile but the power looks like it has taken another step and will be a mainstay in the middle of the lineup and he will walk more than strikeout (35 GP, 90 AB, .322 AVG, 29 H, 3 2B, 1 HR, 17 RBI, 20 BB, 10 K.) The Admirals will also have Alabama State signee Mason Grube. He was a recent transfer from Colorado and can play a variety of positions defensively, as he comes in with present athleticism and will make half of the ½ punch backstop tandem. Senior outfielder and Samford signee Charlie Bozeman will make up the bottom half of the lineup card and comes in with a physical profile that should hit plenty of extra base knocks. The lineup is stacked throughout but the true strength of the club looks to be on the mound where they have a group of Power 5 signees to run out there in a row. Army signee Michael Delph took home the most innings last season with 53.2. He had a flawless resume that saw him go 8-0 with only surrendering 9 ER last season. The strike throwing ability is clearly present with him noticeable by his 75 K’s to 9 BB and 1.17 ERA finish. He likely gets the nod first but they can't really go wrong with a host of talented arms at their disposal. Senior RHP and Tennessee signee Stratton Scott is a really talented arm that can get it up into the 90’s at times and finished 2023 with 43 innings, going 6-2 and racking up 44 K’s. Running out there as their final district starter looks to be either Mississippi State signee Cade O’Leary or Wofford signee and Prep Baseball Future Games alum Cole Draper. O’Leary comes in with heat where he has been clocked up to 94 on the bump with high-level arm talent. Draper comes in differently with a low 3/4 arm slot that just gets a ton of arm side run on his fastball in the mid to upper 80’s. The slider is also wipeout and had a standout performance in the TSSAA state championship where he went a complete game shutout against crosstown rival Hardin Valley. The Admirals not only have high-end starting pitching, but also come into the 2024 spring season with a load of bullpen and spot-starting depth. Senior Ranger College signee Matt Heflin has eaten up a lot of innings and is the younger brother of former Tennessee LHP Will Heflin. They also have a pair of left-handed senior Cleveland State signees in Ben Johnson and Ryan Wallace. Senior Lee University signee Braylon Hall looks to be their main non-district starter where he went almost 30 innings last season and the expectation is for him to get more innings this season. Another senior arm they have to run out there is Tennessee Tech signee right-hander Braxton Lewis. He is another guy with serious arm strength as he should creep into the 90 mph range and will either start non-district or be one of the first guys out of the pen. The club also has a pair of talented uncommitted junior right-handers in Brodie Roberts and Reid Thomason. Both of them should eat up innings this season when called upon and with the schedule shaking out with a lot of tournament format settings, should get time to start at some point. Clearly the Admirals are an older group with 16 seniors and 3 juniors set to get the bulk of opportunities this season. They really may be the most complete all-around team that we have seen in some time as they are strong all over the field. There are a lot of expectations and balancing that with a consistent target on their backs will not be easy but with the experience that they come in with, they should be able to handle that just fine. A state tournament appearance looks to be the floor for Farragut this season. It has consistently been a blue-blood program in the state for the last 15 years, but this just may be their best team they have ever had. All eyes are set on Murfreesboro being the ultimate goal and they look like they have the composure to not get too high on themselves as they most likely lead district 4 this season to hosting throughout the postseason. 

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