LEBANON—The Pioneers have won two state titles in the last three years and want to win a third. They ended the season with a 26-2 record, winning their last 24 games. Their only two losses came to Tennessee High.
There is reason for optimism: The entire pitching staff returns, starting with ace Nathan Phillips (jr.). Phillips lost in his first outing in 2023 to the Vikings, then won his next ten decisions. His last two games were no-hitters: against Narrows in the state semifinals and then a 7-0 decision in the finals against Auburn. He fanned 100 in 63 innings with a 1.22 earned run average.
“I feel good about this team, we’re coming together,” Phillips said. “We have some young guys that are going to help us out. We still have to develop, we have a long way to go.”
Four players who started in the finals are gone. So, there are holes to fill. There are six sophomores and a freshman on the roster. Five starters return, is there a lot of weight on their shoulders to succeed?
“The only pressure is what we put on ourselves,” remarked Phillips. “We can try to make it like last year, but I think it’s doing something different this season. This isn’t last year, this is a different team.”
Lebanon will return to Class 2 and the Southwest District after being Class 1 for the past two years. Will it make a difference?
“It’s still baseball. You still have to go out, throw, hit, and field the ball. It could be more challenging as the season goes on.”
Also back on the bump will be lefthander Dagan Barton for his senior campaign, coming off a 7-0 year. He threw 39 innings with 67 Ks, finishing with a 0.72 ERA.
Eli Breeding (jr.) and Carter Hess (sr.) also logged some innings last year. Experienced and talented is the best way to describe the staff.
“I think pitching and defense is our strength right now,” Phillips said. “Hitting will eventually be there, but pitching and fielding will be key.”
Cody Compton won a state championship and was the VHSL Class 1 Coach of the Year in his first year as head coach of the Pioneers. There aren’t any wrong decisions in his options to take the mound.
“Again, pitching will be our strength,” Compton said. “Nathan and Dagan each had a great year for us. Eli and Carter are strong, we brought up some others. We have about nine guys who can get us an inning or two.”
Breeding will return to the outfield and hit at the top of the order. He batted .342 with five doubles. Barton will be in the outfield or first base when not on the hill. He hit .369 with 28 RBIs. Phillips will play somewhere on the infield when not pitching after hitting .299 with 34 runs driven in.
Chance Parker (sr.) will move from second base to shortstop, with a .345 average with six doubles, five triples, and four home runs, driving in 42. Also back will be Luke Garrett (so.), who came on strong at the end of last season and will probably patrol centerfield. Garrett provides speed, hitting .372 with 11 doubles and three triples.
New for Lebanon will be Booker Steffey (so.) at second base and Austin Warren (jr.) at the critical catcher position.
“Warren is green behind the plate, but he works hard,” stated Compton.
Toby Baker (so.) will play outfield, and Cannon Barton (fr.) will likely be in the lineup.
Brayden Hill (so.), J.W. Hawkins (jr.), and Noah Delp (jr.) will work on the infield. Isaac Godsey (so.) and Jake Hilton (so.) will vie for time in the outfield and on the mound.
“Our sticks are a concern,” Compton said. “I feel our pitching is good enough to hold most teams to three runs or less. If we can score some runs, we should be okay.
“We have a young team; there’s still a long way to go. We’ll have some good tests early in the season and find out what we’re made of.”
The move to the SWD should make it an exciting season for the Pioneers.
“Last year, we played a lot of the teams that we’ll be playing this year,” noted Compton. “Our guys need to realize we’re not the same team as last year. We improved greatly during last season, and many of those guys improved during the year. We need to do the same this year.”