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TN HS Team Preview: White House Heritage Patriots

January 26, 2024
Hunter Martin
TN Scouting Director

The 2024 high school baseball season is quickly approaching and as usual, excitement abounds 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 Spring Fling as they compete for a state championship, 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 and by continuing other pieces of content covering the Volunteer State.

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, updating the Power 25 and much more.

*Please note the information has been gathered from head coaches across the state, based on their replies to the questionnaire we distributed over this offseason.

High School: White House Heritage
Head Coach: Joel Goff
Classification: AA
District + Region Number: District 2 + Region 9
2023 Record (Finish): 26-9
No. of Returning Positional Starters: 7
No. of Returning Pitchers: 7
Team Strengths: The team is looking to pick up where we left off at the plate and on the mound. The sticks should be solid this season, we will have speed on the bases, and our defense behind our pitching should be improved. Pitching will be returning some experience this upcoming season.

 

TOP RETURNING PLAYERS

Tyler Zeligman (2024, UAH)

TEAM OUTLOOK

White House Heritage is coming into the 2024 season on the heels of back to back 2A state tournament appearances. The Patriots went 21-12 in 2022 and followed that up with a 26-9 record in 2023. One of the biggest tasks will be filling the void having to replace a pair of graduated arms in Jackson State freshman DJ Hardrick and Caden Rains who led the pitching staff last year. However the Patriots do return quite a bit of talent on the mound, as well as in the field. 7 arms return to this year’s squad that have varsity pitching experience and it all starts with Alabama-Huntsville signee RHP Tyler Zegliman. Zegliman performed exceptionally well last season but fettered a bit in the state tournament against Union County where he went 2.1 innings giving up 6 runs on 4 hits and 4 BB, albeit 3 ER. He comes into this season with increased confidence and pitchability. His FB mostly comes in the mid 80’s, while showing the ability to work the heater into the upper 80’s mph with above average spin in the 2200’s. He has shown he can throw 3 pitches for strikes with his slider being a true strikeout weapon. Following in the #2 role should be senior LHP/OF Kaleb Fyke. He also performed admirably in 2023 but struggled in the state tournament against Forrest where he surrendered 6 runs and 6 hits over 3 innings. He should be somewhere around the upper 70’s mph, while creeping into the low 80’s from the left side. Rounding out their rotation will be a slew of arms that Coach Goff is looking to step up and claim that #3 role. Senior LHP/1B Eli Gregory offers length at 6 foot 3, while fellow senior 1B/P Jude Griffin offers command in the upper 70’s mph range. Junior Cameron Jackson also will provide a spark on the hill where he comes into the season with increased velocity. Coach Goff has a decent amount of arms at his disposal, however if this team wants to make a deep deep run, pitching will have to perform when it matters the most and give their offense a chance. On the offensive side of the ball, the Patriots return 7 key position players from last year’s squad. Junior IF/C Justin Smith will bat somewhere in the top of the lineup, while Jude Griffin should slide back into the 3-4 hole spot. They will have to replace their leadoff hitter but look for junior shortstop Cayden Waggoner to step up into that role. He offers some gap-to-gap hitting potential with lock-down defense with soft hands. ‘26 Caleb Cayce should command 2nd base and is another option in the top or the bottom of the lineup where he offers decent speed on the bases. The Patriots are looking to pick up where they left off in 2023 at the plate and on the mound. The sticks should be solid this season, while having good speed on the bases. Defense all around should be improved with quality depth on the mound. They do have a bunch of new faces that are stepping into their first season on a varsity roster but with a handful of upperclassmen with invaluable experience, especially in crucial postseason games, they should be able to blend the two together very nicely. Look for the Patriots to once again lead District 9 with being a really tough out in a regional and sub-state setting. Bookmark the club to get back to Murfreesboro in May. Again it will come down to quality pitching in those tough state tournament matchups and if they do want to expand on their last two seasons, pitching must come ready to perform, as they have all the pieces to be in the final game.

Find more information on the 2024 White House Heritage High School program below:

+ Follow them on X: @WHHBaseball
+ Visit the Prep Baseball Tennessee Team Previews Page

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