Several players for the Knoxville Baseball Program stepped up to get extra playing time to earn a starting role this season that surprised the coaching staff. Head Coach Turner Devore tells KNIA/KRLS Sports many in his starting line up at the end of the season were not on their radar in preseason.

Devore: “Grant Demoss was nowhere in the discussion of being in the line up the first two weeks, we lost Briar for a couple of weeks, Emmett Hyatt stepped into a role and Jessen Ferguson, we thought he was a year away, but he stepped up and had a really good year.”

Add that to several other starters who vastly improved from one season, Devore and the rest of the staff are already looking forward to 2026. Knoxville finished the season with a 22-11 record, a six game improvement from last season.