1Nathanial Tate (P,C,IF,OF) Senior-Tremendous athleticism. Big arm on the mound, behind the plate and in the outfield. Can sit 88 to 90 with fastball to go with hard biting slider. Also mixes in a changeup. Behind the plate, he's been clocked with a 1.85 pop time. Above average bat and has 6.8 speed running the 60. Great baseball instincts.
 

2 Jacob Langham (SS,P) Senior-Like his teammate Tate, tremendous athleticism. Has elite speed that has been timed in 6.6''s. Very quick first step with great range at ss. Has great hands to go along a big arm to make long throws in the whole. Hits leadoff with good pop. Will steal a lot of bases and hit for high avg. Still working his way back from minor arm injury, he could make his way back on the mound in a closers role mid to late in season where he has a fastball 88 to 89 and hard tailing slider.
 

3Haden Skipper (P,OF) Soph.- Left handed pitcher that uses fastball, curve, and change up. Fastball will set 83 to 84 and can locate all 3 pitches. Has D1 stuff to go with a bulldog mentality. Very mature for a sophomore with leadership qualities. Center fielder that gets great jumps to go with great speed. Has great arm from the OF. At the plate, has big time pop and uses the whole field to hit. Very tough out and hard to strike out. Will be a future 2 way player in college.
 

4 A.J. Rollman (C,IF,OF,P) Senior- A very mentally tough kid who is also very athletic. Plays every position and a great teammate. Hits the ball the other way well and is known for his clutch play. Strives in big moments. Very unselfish and is a leader on the team.
 

TEAM OUTLOOK:
 

Offense: Coming off a big offensive year from 2017, lineup will have a few new faces. The Raiders have been a quick strike offense the past 2 years. Returners Langham, Tate, A.J. Rollman, and Skipper will look to be the meat of the lineup. Freshman Skylar Bratcher and Ryan Stevens have the look of being good additions to reboot a new lineup. Still battling out some positions, lineup could change till consistency is found. Should again be able to put up a lot of runs if back end of lineup hit like expected.
 

Defense: After a tough year of catching and throw the baseball, Raiders have focused on tightening up the defense this offseason. With Rollman who plays all over the place well, up the middle is the strong point with Tate behind the plate, Langham at short, and Skipper in CF. But defense should be a strong point this year with a very athletic team. With a strong pitching staff, Raiders are going to have to make plays behind them and not give extra outs.
 

Pitching: This is the strongest area for the Raiders with Tate and Skipper anchoring the rotation in district play. Especially if Langham makes his way to the bump in a closers roll. Lhp Scottie Duke and rhp Harley Hinshaw are weapons out of the pen and weekend starters. Pitching depth is very deep on this staff. If everyone stays healthy, pitching should be their greatest weapon.
 

Overall outlook: Even though new faces on the field, this might be Coach Martins most talented team going into his year 3. They have been known for offense but pitching and defense looks bright this year. Still looks like a tough lineup to go along with that. Early season mistakes could creep the Raiders with their youth. But as season goes along this team could come together and make a run. A tough division where everyone has been around equal, it's all about who gets hot going into district tournament.

1 Caden Sons (Sr.) - Roane St. signee - RHP/1B - 2017 All District - 51 K 42 IP 3.03 ERA  .291 AVG  5 HR  29 RBI 
 

2 Dawson Powers (Sr.) - 2016 All District - RHP/2B - 4-1  2.35 ERA 35 K  35 IP
 

3 Hunter Perry (Sr.) - RHP/3B  91 career
 

4 Cameron Yarlett (Sr.) - CF - .304 AVG  10 2B -
 

5 Chase Rhoton (Jr.) SS - 2017 All District - .381 AVG  29 RBI

 

2018 TEAM OUTLOOK:
 

Offense: The Rebels return some key pieces to the line up from last season. Chase Rhoton, Cameron Yarlett, and Caden Sons lead FC in RBIs last season and should provide a solid production in the middle of the line up. Replacing 4 position players who moved on to the collegiate ranks will be the main challenge Franklin Co. will deal with early.  As the season progresses and newcomers become more comfortable with their roles, the offense should provide a great balance of speed and power with the ability to score in a variety of ways.
 

Defense: Defense should be a strong point this season for FC.  Center fielder Cam Yarlett will anchor an outfield that is very athletic and experienced.  The IF also returns a lot of experience. Chase Rhoton, Hunter Perry, and Dawson Powers have all started for 2 seasons and will provide the consistency necessary to be successful.  Behind the plate Jr. Tate Wallace will return.  Wallace has filled in the second half of last season and gained valuable experience which will help this year.
 

Pitching: Pitching will be the strong point of this year's team. FC returns all but 22 innings from last season's District Championship team. Seniors Caden Sons, Dawson Powers, and Hunter Perry have all logged over 100 career innings coming into their senior seasons'. All three have worked very hard in the off season to continue to add velocity and command, and will be relied upon heavily to provide experience and consistency. Pitching depth should also be strong.  I feel as though we have a lot of young talent that will give us a good opportunity to win on the weekends as well. 
 

Overall outlook: This is the most experienced team FC has fielded in the past 5 years.  A very tough non-conference schedule will challenge this year's Rebels every time they take the field. For FC to be successful, we will have to be consistent on offense, especially during league play.  I feel like the overall pitching in our league will be the best it's been since 2014. Hopefully these battle tested Rebels will have what it takes to rise to the challenge and continue to take the program in a positive direction.
 

1 Connor Williamson - SR - SS - Outstanding defensive infielder that had a great junior year in getting the Blaze to the state.
 

2 Mateo Lozano - SR - 3B/P - Must step up and become the ace of a very young pitching staff. He has a good FB and outstanding CH.
 

3 Zavien Lindsey - SR - 1B/P - Swings a very good bat and provides a big target at 1B. Getting him healthy can provide a huge spark to this season.
 

4 David Milam - JR - C - Will catch every district game and has become a very good defensive catcher.
 

5 Andru Becker - SO - OF/P - Very athletic young player that will be counted on to set the table, play solid defense and throw quality innings.
 

6 Conner Murphy - SO - OF/P - Very athletic player that must become more fundamental. Will be counted on to drive in runs, play a solid OF and close games.
 

7 Blaze Bell - SO - INF - Solid young player that must adjust to a different position, play solid defense and make positive outs to help the team.

 

2018 TEAM OUTLOOK:
 

Offense: The outlook for this young offense will be designed into 3 sections. The top of the order is athletic but young with sophomores Becker and Murphy and senior Williamson. The middle of the line-up has experience and must drive in runs with seniors Lindsey and Lozano and junior Christian Sanderson. The bottom of the order needs to make positive outs and flip the line-up back to the top with sophomore Bell, junior Milam and seniors Andrew Coulter and Manny Hardin. 
 

Defense: The defense will be very athletic and should be fun to watch. If the young players develop during the season and continue to improve each game, this team may become an outstanding defensive team. The INF will be solid with Lindsey, Sanderson and Jon Blalock at 1B. Bell, Williamson and Carter Warner at 2B, Williamson and Bell at SS, and Lozano and sophomore Justin Scheitel at 3B. The catching position is in good hands with Milam and we must develop a solid backup in sophomore Zach Wyatt and freshman Frankie Carreras. The OF is young but athletic in Murphy, Becker, Coulter and Hardin having very little varsity experience. Competing for playing time will be sophomore Jacob Wright and junior Noah Junker. Finding the right combination in the OF at certain times will be huge to the success of this team. 
 

Pitching: The pitching staff is very young but has loads of potential in Lozano, Scheitel and Becker. Those three must provide quality innings in one of the toughest districts in the state. Lefty arms in Wright and Lucas Kidd must be able to compete when called on and develop in non-district games. Sanderson, juniors Garrett Clark and Tyler Battle must connect the starters to Murphy. One key to the post season will be the development of these young arms and getting Lindsey healthy. If this team is able to play its way out of this tough district, having Lozano and Lindsey could give us the chance to reach the state again.
 

Overall outlook: Keys to the success of this team will be the young players ability to handle their failures and develop as the season plays out. Keeping Milam healthy and getting Lindsey healthy will go a long way into the success of this team and how deep this team can go in the post season. The seniors and juniors must play solid baseball until the sophomores can catch up to the speed of the game. I expect this team to compete each day, having success and hard times throughout the year. How we handle the tough times will determine how we grow and prepare for the stretch run and the post-season.