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Title hopefuls abound as spring sports begin
A long offseason of preparation has come to an end for the Chattanooga area’s prep athletes who are ready to rock and roll into their respective spring sports schedules.
Monday marks the official return on the TSSAA calendar for five spring sports: baseball, softball, tennis, track and field, and boys’ soccer.
The area produced three team state championships at last year’s Spring Fling, while 10 individual athletes won titles in track and field events.
Here are some of the top storylines to watch for as the 2024 spring sports season for Tennessee high schools gets underway.
ULTIMATE REIGN
Chattanooga’s claim as Tennessee’s prep softball capital is more than solid: The city has had a state champion every year since 2003 with 29 total titles in that stretch, and when expanding to include Meigs County, it’s 32 for the area.
The streak doesn’t seem likely to end soon.
Baylor owns a TSSAA-record 16 softball state championships, having won half of those in the past eight years. With five of their current seniors already college signees — Holly Merritt, Riley Oleksik, Avery Shamblin, Kaylee Snyder and Addi Yates — the Lady Red Raiders should be considered the favorite to win their ninth title in a row under legendary coach Kelli Smith.
While Baylor rules atop Division II-AA, the same can be said for Silverdale Baptist Academy in Division II-A.
One of the most impressive things about Silverdale’s 35-win ride to last year’s state title was that the Lady Seahawks won it all with one senior on the team. They have just two seniors this year — Ella Cunningham and Kennedy Stinson — but they’re also two of the area’s best players.
“Ella and Kennedy are unbelievably special on the field, but off it as well,” said Silverdale coach Jackie Freeland, who was a Chattanooga prep star at GPS before becoming a four-time All-American with the Alabama Crimson Tide.
“What I am most proud of is their leadership, character and integrity. We took the softball team on a mission trip to Eleuthera, Bahamas, in January that was life changing for all of us. Seeing Ella and Kennedy lead daily devotions and work with kids was incredible. They have a heart for the Lord, and all of the girls on the team look up to them.”
Freeland and the Seahawks could be building a dynasty, too, with six major contributors to last season’s team in either the eighth or ninth grade.
The Lady Seahawks led the state a year ago with 57 home runs, and the players responsible for 55 of those are back. So are their entire pitching staff of Cunningham, Bita Cox and Allie Weber, who combined for a 1.04 ERA over 223 innings with 323 strikeouts to 43 walks.
Another team to watch is Class 3A’s Soddy Daisy, which will be led by Abigail Faires, Skylar Gooden and Regan Rowan.
TORNADIC ACTIVITY
If McCallie can win its fifth consecutive DII-AA team state championship, the Blue Tornado will tie the TSSAA boys’ tennis record set by Memphis University School (1998-2002).
Their roster is loaded again despite losing three-time reigning regional champion Andreas Sillaste, the Guerry Boys’ Tennis Award winner in Times Free Press Best of Preps recognition last year.
The Blue Tornado will be led by seniors Juozas Cioladis and Gabe Getz, while juniors Drew Holland and Henry Imorde are two other notable players returning, along with sophomore Sean Clark.
Cioladis was the region runner-up to Sillaste last season in singles competition, while Clark won the region title in doubles. Meanwhile, Getz was a doubles state champion in 2021 and Imorde was a doubles state finalist in 2022.
McCallie was the area’s lone state champion in team tennis competition in 2023, the first year since 1995 when no area team boasted an individual state champ in the sport.
MIGHT BE MAJOR
Cooper Kinney set the area baseball scene ablaze three years ago with an incredible senior season at Baylor, which was followed by the Tampa Bay Rays selecting him in the first round of the MLB draft.
Pro scouts should be regulars in town again this season, especially to watch Boyd Buchanan senior Brodie Johnston and Baylor’s Tomas Valincius, who last year became the Red Raiders’ third straight DII-AA Mr. Baseball winner, following Kinney and Henry Godbout. Prep Baseball Report has both Johnston and Valincius ranked among the top four senior prospects for the state. The 6-foot-2, 200-pound
Johnston — a Vanderbilt signee — has unreal pop at the plate and can turn ballparks into launchpads. He frequently has 100 mph exit velocities off his bat and has received a rare perfect 10 rating from Perfect Game. He was the MVP at the World Wood Bat Association 17U National Championship last summer, hitting .481 with three home runs and a 1.652 on-base plus slugging percentage for his Power Baseball select team.
Now hopes to help DII-A’s Buccaneers to more success, too.
“I look forward to our team winning a state championship this season,” said the Boyd Buchanan star, who has 22 home runs in 76 career games on the high school level. “This is our oldest team yet, and I feel like we can really win it all this year. We have really been working hard, and I believe in this group.”
Valincius had 14 doubles and 10 homers last season for Baylor, but he is an even better prospect as a left-handed pitcher. The 6-2, 210-pound Virginia signee can hit 94 mph and mixes in a cutter, slider and changeup to keep hitters off balance.
He did not allow an earned run in six of his eight starts last season for the Red Raiders, including five when he allowed no more than one hit.
EVEN FASTER?
A pair of area track stars came close to setting state records in their TSSAA championship runs last season.
Brainerd's Danielle Dunning blazed to the 100- and 200-meter dash championships in Class A. She was just .02 second off the state championship meet’s fastest time in the 100 (11.60) and .26 away in the 200 (24.30). Now a junior, she is one of the area’s most successful sprinters since Howard’s LaQuisha Jackson.
Cleveland’s Owen Clemons set the Class AAA scene on fire as a freshman, when he was the individual cross country champion in fall 2022 and the 3200 champion last spring. Clemons was just .40 second off the fastest 3200 time at the state meet, finishing in 9 minutes, 12.75 seconds.
TRY, TRY, TRY
The Boyd Buchanan boys’ soccer team has been the DII-A runner-up the past two seasons.
After totaling 35 wins and just six losses in that span, the Bucs should field another successful team — with hopes the season culminates in the program’s second state championship.