New coaches enter state’s top high school league
By Ken Lay
The 2025 high school baseball season promises to be ultra-competitive in District 4-4A. But that’s nothing new for the league, which features three-time defending state champion Farragut.
Four new coaches are now in the district. Three of Knox County’s four teams, the Admirals, Hardin Valley Academy and West High, all have new men in charge. Maryville also has a new coach as Jason Lambert takes the reins from the recently retired Adam Sullivan, who also coached at Catholic and will soon be inducted into the East Tennessee Baseball Association Hall of Fame this summer.
At Farragut, longtime assistant coach Garrett Copeland replaces hall-of-famer Matt Buckner, who retired following the 2024 season. The Hawks welcomed in Aaron Simmons, who comes to HVA after a tenure as Lenoir City High School’s head coach. He is the Hawks’ third head coach in as many seasons.
At West, Rob Stacy faces a rebuilding campaign on Sutherland Avenue. But Stacy, the Rebels’ third coach in four years, is no stranger to reformation projects, as he reversed the fortunes at Clinton High School at his last coaching stop and his first job as a head coach.
But the more things change, the more they stay the same.
Expectations remain high in Farragut as the Admirals are off to a 1-1 start. They opened the new season by splitting a pair of home games. Farragut dropped an 8-3 decision to Catholic in its season opener last week. On Thursday, the Admirals outlasted Stacy’s Rebels, 5-3, in Stacy’s debut with the Rebels.
Farragut is also in the midst of a rebuild as it lost multiple seniors, many of whom are now playing NCAA Division I baseball.
Copeland knows that his district opponents will be eager to knock off his team.
“Nobody is going to feel sorry for us and I wouldn’t feel sorry for us either,” he said. “And at the end of the day, our expectations never change.
“We always expect to compete for championships. Our district is tough, probably the toughest in the state, and we’ve scheduled a tough non-district schedule to get us prepared for that and for the postseason.”
Key players for the Admirals include: Cole Draper (senior, pitcher); Aidan Flagg (junior, right fielder); Jake Harris (junior, catcher/first baseman); Cole Creasman (freshman, third baseman); Braxton Tye (sophomore, shortstop) and Jackson Zeller (senior, catcher).
Hardin Valley has also had success in recent seasons. The Hawks were Class 4A State runners-up in 2023 and had a winning record in 2024.
“We expect to compete for a championship,” Simmons said. “You know that you’re going to make mistakes but we have to strive to get better every day.
“These kids have come in and worked their tails off. We’re going to work hard and we’re going to compete for championships. If you’re not doing that, you don’t need to be doing this.”
Key players for the Hawks are: Colton Denton (a senior catcher and University of Tennessee signee); Jaxon Jones (a senior second baseman and Tennessee Tech signee); Isaac Worley (senior, outfielder); Cameron Dillon (junior, shortstop); Mason Shelton (sophomore, catcher/first baseman); Jax Sparks (junior, pitcher/first baseman/third baseman. He has committed to pitch for Tennessee Tech); Andrew Lewis (senior, outfielder); Camden Huckaby (junior, pitcher) and Kenny Lane (junior, pitcher).
The Hawks defeated Boyd Buchannan, 10-0, early last week to open their 2025 campaign.
At West High, Stacy is looking to change the culture and his players have bought in.
“This is the district where you want to be if you want to play against the best players and coach against the best coaches,” Stacy said. “I’ve coached against Geff (Davis) at Gibbs and I’ve coached against Josh (Boynton) at Anderson County, and those guys play the game the right way. These guys here all play the game the right way.”
The Rebels will have a young team in 2025. Key players include: Mason Dugan (a junior second baseman and all-district performer last season); Xan Schidecker (senior, first baseman/third baseman); James Killeffer (senior, pitcher/outfielder); Morgan Ferrell (sophomore, catcher/first baseman); Isaac Hunter (senior, center fielder/pitcher); Griffin Smith (junior, pitcher); Dylan Stenstrom (junior, outfielder); Jack Moffett (sophomore, outfielder); Will Lenczynski (sophomore, shortstop) and James Huffman (sophomore, pitcher/third baseman/outfielder).
