Tennessee HS Team Preview: White House Heritage Patriots
December 30, 2024
The 2025 Tennessee high school baseball season is quickly approaching and, as usual, excitement is abound throughout the state. Players and coaches have been working in preparation for the upcoming season and, as is the case each year, there are some very talented players and teams across Tennessee.
Teams across the state have goals and aspirations to finish their seasons in Murfreesboro at the state tournament championships – but there is plenty of work to be done before that becomes reality. We hope to familiarize our readers with many of the teams across the state as we preview individual teams across Tennessee. We will take you right up to first pitch this season with these team previews, eventually releasing our Preseason Power 25 rankings that’ll carry us into the opening week of action.
Please keep checking back throughout the season as we will be your one-stop shop for everything related to high school baseball across the state. Each week we will be releasing our Players of the Week and updating the Power 25 rankings.
Our 2025 preseason coverage continues today.
High School: White House Heritage
Head Coach: Chance Beck & Rich Lopez
TSSAA Classification: AA
District & Region: Region 3 + District 6
2024 Record (Playoff Finish): 29-8 (State Tourney Participant)
ROSTER PREVIEW
+ No. Returning Positional Starters: 7
+ No. Returning Pitchers: 7
+ Key Returners:
- C/3B Justin Smith (2025, King University)
- MIF/RHP Caleb Cayce (2026)
- UTL Dane Hinshaw (2026)
- RHP/OF Dominic Malich (2025)
- RHP/OF Nolan Keathley (2025)
- MIF Cayden Waggoner (2025)
More Names to Know
2025s:
- RHP/1B Nate Dixon (2025)
- RHP/OF Cameron Jackson (2025)
- OF/LHP Collin Repa (2025)
2026s:
- C Logan Newton (2026)
- OF Carson Forsythe (2026)
- RHP/INF Alex Malich (2026)
TOP NEWCOMERS
+ Impact Underclassmen:
- UTL Camden Payne (2027)
- UTL/RHP Max DeHaven (2027)
- C/UTL Xavier Murray (2027)
2025 OUTLOOK
+ White House Heritage comes into the 2025 season with extremely high expectations after a successful 29-8 season that saw them lose in round 1 of the TSSAA 2A state tournament to eventual state champions Loretto. The Patriots are led by a strong group of upperclassmen that have established a winning culture. Leading off the rotation will be senior RHP Dominic Malich who has been clocked running the fastball up to 88 mph. He logged 31.2 innings last season going 3-0 with 64 K’s to go along with a 1.77 ERA. Malich looks to serve as the number #1 or #2 this season. Senior Nate Dixon is another candidate that will be in the #1 or #2 role and someone that the team will look to cement himself after logging 32.1 innings last season going 4-0 with 25 K’s. Senior Cameron Jackson is another lively arm that can run it up in the mid 80s. Logged 14.2 with a 3-0 record as a bridge guy with 21 strikeouts. Should be in the rotation, while also supplying firepower in the bullpen. He also hit .307 with 2 home runs and 26 RBIs as a sophomore.
Offensively is where the team shines with pretty much their entire lineup back intact. Senior Justin Smith is a veteran player who had 57 hits last season where he batted .479 with 43 RBI’s that included 19 2B’s and 3 HR’s. JP Smith will be looked at to be the team’s leader and carry them offensively yet again. In the leadoff spot will be Caleb Cayce he finished last season hitting .281 with 31 hits. He will be looked at to get on base at a high percentage and steal bases coming off 46 runs scored last season. The Pats go as he goes and they will rely heavily on him at the top to jumpstart their offensive production. Senior Nolan Keathley is one of their two-way guys that will be vital to their success. Served as the teams closer last spring. He looks to step into that same spot this season while also being a middle of the order hitter with the ability to steal bases. Junior Dane Hinshaw is a utility type of player that can man just about anywhere in the field. He is coming off an impressive 2024 campaign that saw him hit .423 with 30 hits, 22 RBI’s and 37 runs scored, while also stealing 16 bags. Senior infielder Cayden Waggoner will also be a staple in the lineup, while bringing defensive prowess at shortstop where he excels defensively. Speedy runner that stole 26 bases last season. He will be looked upon to increase his on-base percentage, while upticking his stolen bases. Junior Logan Newton should be the catcher this season where he comes in with a wiry frame. Inserted his way into a defensive role last year and provided a ton of spark to the pitching staff and quickly became a leader. He will be a big asset in getting the Patriots back Murfreesboro, especially if he can swing it this season. Junior Alex Malich comes in with a tall frame that will eat innings out of the bullpen and in the rotation.
The Pats also have some newcomers that should push for spots in Collin Repa and Carson Forsythe. Both are speedy outfielders with the ability to steal bags. The Patriots will also look to a few underclassmen that the coaching staff projects will garner playing time this spring. Sophomore Camden Payne saw action as a freshman where he scored 35 runs with 10 stolen bases as a courtesy runner. Should see more action in the field. Max DeHaven is another guy that will push for playing time and could win a starting spot, as well as Xavier Murray. This is a veteran group that has played together for a while. They win and also steal a lot of bases.
The Patriots have high hopes as they head into the 2025 season and with good reason as they look to get back to Murfreesboro yet again.
Find more information on White House Heritage ’s 2025 season below:
+ Follow them on X: @whhbaseball
+ Find more 2025 team previews on our TSSAA Season Preview page
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+ Prep Baseball Tennessee on X
+ Prep Baseball Tennessee on Instagram
+ Prep Baseball Tennessee on Facebook
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