TN HS Team Preview: Riverdale Warriors
February 22, 2024
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: Riverdale High School
Head Coach: Barry Messer
Classification: AAAA
District + Region Number: 7AAAA + Region IV
2023 Record (Finish): 22-19
No. of Returning Positional Starters: 7
No. of Returning Pitchers: 15
Team Strengths: Experience, returning players, should be a good offensive lineup as well as a good pitching staff
TOP RETURNING PLAYERS
- C/OF Gunnar Waldrop (2025)
- OF/P Bradley Pippin (2024, MTSU)
- OF Caleb Jordan (2024, Lincoln-Memorial)
- P/1B Jaxon Pridgen (2024, Tennessee Tech)
- RHP Camden Sholar (2024, Motlow State CC)
- MIF Bryce Messer (2025)
MORE UPPERCLASS FOLLOWS
Class of 2024
- OF Brayden Leverette (2024)
- P/SS Bryston Greene (2024)
Class of 2025
- RHP Jacob Pugh (2025)
- LHP Grant Smotherman (2025)
TOP UNDERCLASSMEN
- C/1B Liam Goodhart (2026)
- INF Davis Wilson (2026)
TEAM OUTLOOK
Riverdale comes into the spring with a reloaded roster that has plenty of experience on the offensive side of the ball with a deep pitching staff. Finishing 22-19 a year ago with loses in the district tournament to eventual sub-state participant Smyrna, the Warriors are looking to place their stake back on top of the district. The club returns a handful of senior arms that not only carry valuable innings, but have some talent behind them as well. MTSU signee Bradley Pippin was 4A District 7 player of the year in 2022 as a sophomore and comes with a lot of athletic ability and production on both sides of the ball. He should hit somewhere in the middle part of the lineup, while also being a consistent arm in the rotation. Senior P/1B Jaxon Pridgen is a Tennessee Tech signee and should be their ace going into the year with improved velocity and command. Finished with 60 K’s in 44 IP a season ago to a tune of a 2.7 ERA. Senior pitcher Samden Sholar is a veteran returner in the group who was has been one of the Warriors most consistent arms over the last two seasons. He finished with 55 IP last season with a 2.0 ERA, while also carrying 50 K’s. He remains unsigned but should find a home at the next level before the season is over with. Senior Caleb Jordan is a Lincoln Memorial signee with some juice in the bat. He is another all district 7 player who hit .320 last season and should slide somewhere in the top of the lineup. Senior OF Brayden Levertte is a left handed hitter that carries present pop in the bat and played a lot of innings a season ago and a guy college coaches wil want to have multiple looks at this year. Senior Bryston Greene offers two-way capabilities this year for the Warriors as he comes in with a ¾ arm slot in the low to mid 80’s mph and shows ability to mix multiple pitches for strikes. Uncommitted junior backstop Gunner Waldrop offers real D1 potential behind the plate where he has clean actions and a run stopper. He hit .340 last season before injuring his arm before the summer, costing him additional exposure but should bring a lot of looks his way as he gets going this year. Junior Bryce Messer is another guy that started second base every game last season and hit .321 in district play, while leading the team in BB’s at 23. He is looking to continue to build off of last year and should slide somewhere in the bottom half of the order. Other junior players that will fill roles this season include P Grant Smotherman who has a projectable lanky frame and P Jacob Pugh. Both those guys should offer relief type of appearances and will eat up innings. The Warriors will also have a pair of sophomores on varsity this season with Liam Goodhart and Davis Wilson who should get spot starts and at-bats as they gain valuable experience for the future. This is a team that could end up being top 15 in the state when it's all said and done and they should be in line to lead a retooled District 7. It wouldn’t surprise me one bit to see them host the district tournament yet again with eyes on getting past regionals, where they faltered a year ago. This is a very experienced club with the right pieces in place, especially on the mound to seriously compete for a state tournament appearance.
Find more information on the 2024 Riverdale program below:
+ Follow them on X: @RdaleWarriorBaseball
+ Visit the Prep Baseball Tennessee Team Previews Page
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