The book has closed on another baseball season for the Smoky Mountain Conference. It didn’t end how anyone wanted it to, with teams losing to Charter schools in the playoffs, but it was nice to see the boys back on the diamond. Our FYN Sports writers got together and compiled a list of players we deemed worthy for all conference honors. The players are named below, and were chosen based on their season statistics and their contributions to their team as a whole.

Player of the year: Connor Bradley

Bradley was a menace at the plate for the Jackets this year. He led the state in home runs, while also managing a .636 batting average. He had 6 homers and 19 runs batted in as Hayesville’s leadoff hitter, and helped his team to a near perfect regular season.

Pitcher of the year Jeremy Stewart

Not sure if there is much debate about this one. Stewart was far and away the best pitcher in the conference this year. He was 7-0 on the mound for the Jackets, while posting a .87 ERA over 48.1 innings pitched and striking out 62 batters. He only allowed 6 earned runs the entire year. If Hayesville had 1 more Jeremy Stewart, they would have walked away with the state championship this year.

Catcher:

Avery Leatherwood, Hayesville, .407 AVG/17 RBI

Infield:

1B Briggs Cornwell, Murphy, .395 AVG/18 RBI/4 HR

2B AJ Weaver, Andrews, .465 AVG/13 RBI

SS Jeremy Stewart, Hayesville, .421 AVG/24 RBI/3 HR

3B Caleb Allen, Murphy, .380 AVG/12 RBI

Outfield:

OF Connor Bradley, Hayesville, .636 AVG/19 RBI/6 HR

OF Dawson Hensley, Murphy, .500 AVG/23 RBI/10 2B/2 hr

OF Payton McCracken, Murphy, .500 AVG/9 RBIS

Utility:

Jeb Schuler, Robbinsville, .568 AVG/7 RBI/2 HR

Gabe Lillard, Swain, .545 AVG/7 RBI

Kayden Brock, Robbinsville, .441 AVG/14 RBI/1 HR

Pitching staff:

Jeremy Stewart, Hayesville, 7-0/.87 ERA/1 No Hitter/6 Earned Runs over 48.1 innings/62 Ks

Jeb Schuler, Robbinsville, 2-4/1.27 ERA/7 Earned Runs over 38.2 innings/51 Ks

Carson Taylor, Swain, 1-2 1.54 era 6 ER 27 innings

Briggs Cornwell, Murphy, 2-0/1.77 ERA/6 Earned Runs over 23.2 innings/2 complete games/2 no hitters