Three Sweetwater players have been named to the Tennessee Baseball Coaches Association (TBCA) Class 2A All-State Team. Seniors Kai Correll, Tucker Lorenz and Blaine Watson represent the 32-win Wildcats on the roster.
“That goes back to a lot of hard work. They dedicated themselves to baseball. They missed a lot of part of their high school — they had to sacrifice dances and events,” Sweetwater coach Travis Watson said. “A lot of time, they were in the weight room, the cage hitting or taking ground balls. That is what they wanted to be good at and the awards are definitely showing that.”
All three seniors, the dynamic Correll, excelling infielder Lorenz and hard-hitting Watson, were a part of two trips to the Class 2A state tournament for Sweetwater.
Correll and Watson were named to the team last season as well.
“I think they wanted to be good teammates, wanted to work hard and wanted to win baseball games,” Travis Watson said. “They wanted Sweetwater High School to return to the state. For a very unselfish group of guys, to be able to do that and, if the individual honors came, great. But I really feel they wanted to win for Sweetwater High School and they wanted to play for their team.
“That is what makes it so special — that they were able to do both with All-State honors and to go back to back at state. That is something they can tell their grandkids.”
Correll batted .390 with 53 hits, 17 extra-base hits, 14 doubles and 39 RBIs. On the mound, he notched a 2.43 ERA with 54 strikeouts and 24 earned runs.
“It feels good knowing that I have been coached well and been pushed hard. (I was) going out and having fun — not trying to do anything crazy, but just have fun. It goes to show that, if you have fun, you can be good,” Correll said. “The whole team pretty much has been able to hit the ball and field the ball. We play a whole lot better together and when everyone is clicking together at once it does some crazy stuff in a game.”
Lorenz finished the season with 55 hits, 14 doubles and 39 RBIs to go with his .385 batting average.
He was a part of 11 double plays and 147 putouts as one of the top shortstops in Class 2A.
“I’m just blessed to receive an honor like that. I have worked really hard — and our whole team has worked really hard. I think there are a lot of players on our team that could have made that list and I am blessed to have got it,” Lorenz said. “It is really cool and it is cool to see our hard work pay off. We have a bunch of talented guys and it is good to see us get some recognition.”
Watson led Sweetwater with 56 hits, 22 extra-base hits, 16 doubles, three home runs, a .438 batting average, a .534 on-base percentage and a .680 slugging percentage.
The senior also tallied 38 RBIs and 42 runs scored with 33 stolen bases. Defensively, he reached 80 putouts.
“It is definitely a personal goal and I think it is a testament to the hard work put in. It was a grind of baseball — four games a week — you are having to prove yourself constantly,” Blaine Watson said. “I think it is a personal goal as well as a team goal, in the aspect that I am coming through for the team. It is like something you train for the whole offseason.”
Sweetwater won 32 games this season, the most wins in a single season based on available records, eight games in the postseason and earned a second consecutive District 3-2A championship.
The Wildcats started the season 10-1 and were 20-4 by mid-May.
“It is definitely like a family. I know they are going to come in and work and know what is expected. You have to bring what is expected every day. There are no days where we can be lazy,” Blaine Watson said. “We had to put in the work to be where we made it. That is what everyone expected. Especially for my class, being a senior. We learned from the seniors last year and instilled it in the freshmen this year.”
District foe Kolton Casson of Polk County was also named to the team.
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