2026 BASEBALL PREVIEW: Teams and players to note this spring

The week leading into Memorial Day was a busy one for Northeast Tennessee baseball in 2025. University High, Providence Academy, and Greeneville all made trips to Middle Tennessee late last spring for their respective state tournaments, with the Greene Devils winning their second state championship in three years and third overall. 2025 also saw an MLB Draft selection (Josh Owens - Providence Academy), a rise up the prospect rankings (Gavin Cross - Tennessee High), and a World Series (Landon Knack - Science Hill) all for local products. Could there be more to come in 2026? Here's what to watch for on the diamond this spring: District 1-4A When discussing the Big East Conference, it's difficult to not start the conversation with Science Hill. After all, the Hilltoppers have won each of the last seven district tournaments. The 'Toppers won both the regular season and district tournament crowns for the league last season, making it all the way to the sectional round before being swept by Oak Ridge. Nate Stoots returns to the heart of the Science Hill order after being the No. 3 hitter in the 2025 Johnson City Press/Kingsport Times-News Super 22 Team. Stoots was also named to the TBCA Class 4A Mr. Baseball watch list. Haydon Smelser and Aiden Vermillion flank Stoots in the heart of the order while Cole ReSue comes back as one of the area's top arms. Last season, he had a 2.23 ERA with eight saves in the regular year. Dobyns-Bennett figures to be one of the top challengers to the Hilltoppers in the Big East after falling just one game short of the state tournament last season. Left–handed Virginia Tech signee Cam Hayworth is back for his swansong with the Indians. In the 2025 regular season, Hayworth had a 1.10 ERA with 65 strikeouts. He is also one of D-B's top hitters along with Andrew Reilly, Taylor Blankenship and TJ Maxwell. The Indians' lineup got deeper over the offseason as well, adding former Unicoi County Blue Devil Kaden Cutlip to patrol centerfield. West Ridge hopes to make it to the region tournament for the first time in the young school's history. 2025 Super 22 selection Dale Martin has gotten off to a strong start, going 4-for-his-first-10 with a homer and two doubles in three games. He is also expected to be a big contributor on the mound for the Wolves, as is Ty Malak. Malak earned the win against David Crockett last week after 3 ⅔ shutdown innings out of the bullpen. Morristown East and Morristown West join the district in 2026. MoEast had its struggles last season while the Trojans advanced to the Region 1-4A Tournament a year ago. District 1-3A In his first year at the helm, Michael Corn led Elizabethton to a conference and district championship before falling in the region tournament. Many of those key pieces return for Corn and the Cyclones, including Super 22 selection Rhett Slagle, who suffered a leg injury at the end of football season. J.D. Hooks will handle most of the catching duties again and Cole Krawczyk looks to provide a strong 1-2 at the top of the rotation with Slagle. Daniel Boone makes the move down to 3A from 4A after a 25-win season a year ago. TJ Leonard returns to man shortstop and heads the top of the lineup for the Trailblazers. Boone will also be counting on production from Quinlan Held and Tanner Orth in its lineup. A.J. Ford was the No. 6 hitter in last year's Super 22 lineup and will slide into the heart of the David Crockett batting order again. Carson Bradburn and Nolan Jones provide depth on the hitting side of things, as Bradburn homered in each of the Pioneers' first three contests. Tennessee High is expected to figure into the conference race as well, thanks in part to the return of Gage Graziano. The senior has been hitting second to start the season on top of being one of the area's top returning pitchers. Sullivan East is under the tutelage of first-year head coach Christian Taylor, an East graduate who spent the past couple of seasons at University High. Peyton Lingerfelt is expected to be both one of the team's top hitters and pitchers. District 2-3A Reigning state champion Greeneville has looked every bit the part of a title contender again to open this spring, starting the season with a 6-1 mark. TBCA Class 3A Mr. Baseball watch list member Will Harmon anchors both the rotation and the order while former Dobyns-Bennett Indian Tegan Begley slots into the leadoff spot. Cherokee opened conference play by making a large statement, out-scoring Hawkins County rival Volunteer 28-3 over a two-game sweep. Porter Owen dominated on the mound in Game 1 before having a big day at the dish in Game 2. Jayden Weston and Sawyer Housewright have both had solid starts to the campaign for the Chiefs. Speaking of the Falcons, they are still trying to get their feet under them in the early going. Gavin Hickernell and Isaiah Ward are both likely to be key contributors in Church Hill. District 1-2A Unicoi County drops down from Class 3A to 2A this year after finishing as the runner-up in the region tournament last year. The Blue Devils won their first four games of the season, including a two-game sweep of conference foe West Greene. Senior Kolby Jones slots into both the middle of the order and the top of the starting rotation while the likes of Reid Bogart, Alex Lanningham, and Tanner White provide quality depth throughout the lineup. Johnson County and head coach Nicholas Perkins is hoping to lean on pitching to get to the top of the league. Kaden Blevins and Braxton Bragg combined to strike out 19 hitters in the Longhorns' opening conference set against Happy Valley. Carson Jennings and Grayson Espinosa have gotten off to strong starts at the dish. Speaking of the Warriors, Class of 2021 graduate Eli Ayers takes over as the new skipper of HV. He will be leaning on Grady Goulds and Lane Parker to lead the way in year one. Defending league champion Chuckey-Doak, West Greene, and South Greene all look to make noise in the Three Rivers Conference as well. District 1-1A University High has made the state tournament the last seven seasons and has its sights set on making it eight in 2026. Anthony Margotta, Knox Poston and Cole Stevenson all look to play major roles for first-year head coach Pat Ryder. Isaac Gaby and Tyler Britton are expected to be key contributors for North Greene as the Huskies look to challenge the Bucs. Former UH assistant Hunter Seehorn now leads Elisha Henson, Jayden Kuhn, and Hampton, who look to get reinforcements from freshman Colby Clark once the Bulldogs' run to state ends. Brycen Eggers, Rylan Crabtree, and T.J. Parenteau all hope to keep Unaka in the league mix while Cloudland will lean on Walker Gouge and Brayden Whitaker this spring. District II-A Providence Academy is looking to make the state tournament for a third straight season. In 2024, the Knights fell in the state title game before losing to Knox Grace in the losers' bracket last season. The likes of Rangers draft pick Josh Owens and Super 22 selection Tine Bowman may have graduated, but Providence skipper Jeff Reed still has talent at his disposal. Brothers Cam and Cole Blanton have been multi-sport standouts for the Knights. Nash Martinez has had a solid start to the year both on the mound and in the box and catcher Finn Moss is coming off a monster game on Wednesday against Elizabethton. Southwest Virginia Abingdon alum Luke Francisco takes over as the new head coach of Gate City in 2026 after the Blue Devils made it to the Region 2D semifinals. Dakoda McMurray returns to the heart of the Gate City lineup while Dylan Carter comes back to head the top of the batting order and middle infield. Twin Springs is one of the more experienced teams in the region, with the likes of Clay Ross, Xavier Sawyer, Kaleb Mullins, and Brennon Weddle all having significant innings under their belts. Rye Cove, like many schools of similar sizes, will lean on multi-sport athletes like Tyler Shupe, Cole Barnette, and Zach Lane to navigate the Cumberland District season.