HITTERS:
Jacob Shamblin – Copperheads – Hitter of the Year
Kohen Wilbanks Copperheads
Emery Peterson Copperheads
Kenny Naysmith Eagles
Blaine Robinson Eagles
Hunter Ferguson Bears
Dalton Cornett Bears
Bass Cooper Cougars
Harrison Travis Cougars
PITCHERS:
Will Heflin – Copperhead – Pitcher of the Year
Josh Young – Copperheads
Cameron Bryson – Copperheads
Justin Mize – Eagles
Hayden Bewley – Eagles
Hunter Long – Eagles
Christian Adkins – Bears
Chris Arbuthnot – Bears
Justin Ogle – Cougars
Brennan Murphy – Cougars
The SMCL just completed year 3 of its Collegiate season, which looked very different from the previous two. Due to the COVID- 19 pandemic, the league started later this year, and had a very different schedule than usual, along with other venues than normal. However, we saw a league with many top-end arms and some solid hitting performances from some of our top-end hitters. Jacob Shamblin of Carson Newman earned hitter of the year for the Copperheads, as Caleb Moore said, ” he started hot and never really cooled down, he got a lot of big hits for us near the end of the year to be able to help us get to the championship game.”
Kenny Naysmith and Bass Cooper were two other hitters who never seemed to cool down during the season, and both finished well above .400 average in 23 games. Other players making the list for All-SMCL position players were, Kohen Wilbanks, Harrison Travis, Blaine Robinson, Emery Peterson, Hunter Ferguson, and Dalton Cornett.
On the other side of the action, pitching dominates the league for most of the season. Will Heflin of the University of TN took home honors on Pitcher of the Year league award. Along with Will having under 1 ERA, several others earned All-SMCL honors and had an impressive ERA being Justin Ogle, Josh Young, Hunter Long. Brennan Murphy, Chris Arbuthnot, Christian Adkins, Josh Young, Hayden Bewley, Justin Mize, and Cameron Bryson.
Copperheads were crowned the champions this year coached by Catholic High School and former MILB Caleb Moore. He stated, ” I was proud of our guys coming each day and staying focused on playing in a season with so many distractions occurring in our area and the world during the time. It is so easy to get sidetracked, and our guys showed up each day excited and ready to play. This year was a lot different; a lot of the players took on jobs and other activities since they weren’t sure if they were going to be able to play. For a lot of the players, it was their first time on a field in several months or at all this year.” Caleb Moore has been coaching in the SMCL for three years now, and this was a tremendous first championship for the Copperheads.
