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Pioneer baseball team shows plenty of promise
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Monty Childers, Allie Childers and Angie Childers
James Clark
Published: Feb 16, 2020, 1:49 AM
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Brady Melton pitches off a mound in the WCHS baseball team’s indoor facility on Friday.

The rest of District 6AAA has likely already received the memo. 

Beware of the Warren County baseball team this year.

The Pioneers have high expectations under the leadership of first-year coach Phillip King behind a team that features deep pitching and well-rounded athletes.

“First and foremost, this is a great group of kids to be around,” said coach King. “They like each other, they’ve bought into our philosophy and they’ve done whatever we’ve asked. This would be a great group even if they weren’t good at baseball. It just so happens they’re a great group and they’re good at baseball so that makes it even better.”

The Pioneers are bolstered by a true No. 1 pitching ace in Jack Keele, who has already signed to play college baseball at Trevecca Nazarene.

“Jack is our horse and we’re going to ride him,” said King. “We have a lot of guys behind him who are fighting to be No. 2 and we should really be very good in terms of our depth. Those No. 4 and No. 5 guys are needed in weekend tournaments or when we play out-of-district games. You still want to be competitive in those games when you’re not pitching your best guys.”

King said the primary goal is winning the district, which so often means getting past Cookeville. King calls the district games the ones that matter most.

King shied away from mentioning many players by name because so many positions are wide open, but he did talk about senior Heath Kuykendall, a pitcher and infielder, and senior Trace Adcock, a pitcher and outfielder.

As for other players who have already proven themselves against district competition, King said he’s glad to have Braden Bottoms back behind the plate at catcher and he said Ryland Holder’s bat was big in the middle of the lineup last year.

“We’re looking for kids who are willing to go out and give it their all, no matter the situation,” said King. “If it’s tryouts, make yourself noticed so there’s no way I can make a roster without your name on it. If it’s playing time, make it so I’m not about to make out a lineup without your name on it. Leave it all between the lines.”

King is a 1989 Warren County High School graduate. He played for baseball coaches that included Ronnie Brown and Jimmy Walker. He said he wanted to win for those coaches but he best remembers wanting to win for his teammates because they were a tight-knit group.

The Pioneers open the regular season March 9 in a non-district game against Mt. Juliet. For anyone who wants to get an early look at the Pioneers, the team will be scrimmaging this Monday against Rockvale.

Because Monday is Presidents Day and there is no school, the scrimmage will be held at 12 p.m. noon at Patrick Ramsey Field at WCHS.
WCHS softball blanks Warren East, baseball goes 1-3 through weekend
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Matt Tyson
Published: Apr 9, 2025, 2:26 AM

Two days after steamrolling Shelbyville 20-0, the Warren County softball team carried its hot streak into the weekend with a Saturday matchup against Warren East (Ky.).

The Lady Pioneers continued to roll, taking down the visiting Lady Raiders 5-0.

The team posted nine hits over the course of the game, led by Lily Rains and Kyaira Sharpe with two each.

Addison Smith, Kaydence Wiser, Cortlyn Porter, Ceilee Gudat and Ali Young all followed with one hit each.

Porter had two of Warren County’s five RBI, with one each for Wiser, Sharpe and Young.

Gudat went the distance in the circle, striking out six and holding Warren East to four hits across all seven innings.

WCHS baseball loses three of four.

The Warren County High School baseball team was back in action Friday evening with a pair of games against Marion County and Heritage Christian (Ala.).

In their first game against Marion County, the Pioneers came up just short in an 8-7, 5.5-inning loss.

Sam Robinson led Warren County’s effort at the plate with two of the team’s seven hits. Tyler Adams, Ryder Gilispie, Woogs Bryan, Hayven Jones and Corban Felton each added one. Adams, Robinson, Jones and Jerren Harris each had one RBI for a team total of four.

Brady Swallows got it started on the mound with three strikeouts, three hits, four runs and three walks. Jaytton Baker followed for 1.1 innings and came off with five hits and three runs. Daylen Holguin wrapped it up with two strikeouts, two hits and one run over the last two innings.

The Pioneers had better luck in their nightcap against Heritage Christian, coming out on top 4-1 in five innings.

Warren County finished the game with eight hits, including two each for both Gilispie and Bryan. Felton, Jones, Baker and Evan Snapp followed with one hit each.

Bryan came away with two of the team’s three RBI, with Gilispie adding the third.

Jones pitched 4.2 innings and finished with six strikeouts, five hits, one run and six walks.

Gilispie came on to close out the bottom of the fifth inning.

The Pioneers were back at it Saturday with two more games against Sequatchie County and Whitwell, respectively.

Opening against Sequatchie County, Warren County gave up eight runs in the bottom of the sixth inning on the way to a 9-0, 6.5-inning shutout loss to begin the day.

The team was held to three hits, with one each for Felton, Bryan and Jones.

Keaton Rowe pitched 5.2 innings, striking out two and allowing six hits, eight runs and three walks. Isaac Smith added one strikeout, two hits and one run to close out the bottom of the sixth inning.

Warren County once again ran into scoring trouble against Whitwell, falling 6-1 in six innings to the Tigers.

Smith was credited with three of the team’s four hits, with Felton adding the fourth.

Robinson had the team’s lone RBI.

Braden Whinnery got it started on the mound with three strikeouts, three hits, four runs and one walk through 3.2 innings. Lealon Arnold came on in relief, finishing the top of the fourth inning with one hit and one run. Up next was Miguel Garcia, who additionally surrendered one hit and one run in the top of the fifth inning. Keagan Thompson closed it out, striking out one and adding one more hit over the remaining 1.2 innings.