Spring Hill junior pitcher Gage Gillian was named Class AA Mr. Baseball on Tuesday at MTSU’s Reese Smith Jr. Field.
MURFREESBORO — A pair of Midstate seniors were named 2016 Mr. Baseball award recipients by the Tennessee Baseball Coaches Association on Tuesday at Reese Smith Jr. Field on the campus of Middle Tennessee State University.
Forrest’s Alex Brewer (Class A) and Spring Hill’s Gage Gillian (Class AA) were among the five players honored at the second-annual ceremony, which recognizes the state’s top high school baseball player in each of the Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association’s five classifications.
Brewer, a senior Vanderbilt commitment, boasts a .405 batting average (.762 slugging) with 33 RBIs and 18 extra-base hits on the year, helping lead the District 9-A and Region 5-A champion Rockets to a second consecutive state tournament appearance.
“I’m trying to soak it in little by little,” said Brewer, the two-time defending District 9-A MVP. “I can’t wait for everything that’s going to happen in my future — I’m very blessed with many things in my life — and I’m just trying to soak in the present time and look forward to the future when it gets here.”
Brewer beat out a pair of area players — Summertown’s Bryce Giles (.475, 61 runs) and Columbia Academy’s Scott Lentz (.418, 40 RBIs) — for the awards in Class A.
Gillian, a junior right-handed pitcher for Spring Hill, has compiled an 8-1 record with one save while posting a 1.20 ERA with 120 strikeouts in 63 2/3 innings, helping lead the Region 6-AA champion Raiders to a 29-8 record and the team’s sixth state tournament appearance in the last seven years.
“At the beginning of the year I never expected to win anything this big,” said Gillian, who beat out Christ Presbyterian Academy pitcher and District 12-AA Pitcher of the Year David Bates (8-0, 0.82 ERA), along with East Hickman infielder Cooper Mays (.429), for the award in Class AA. “Winning it is a really big honor. I just tried to do everything I could to help my team win, and it’s worked out really well for me.”
Other Mr. Baseball winners include Sevier County senior Tennessee signee Zach Linginfelter in Class AAA, University School of Jackson senior Ole Miss signee Ryan Rollinson in Division II-A and Christian Brothers senior Vanderbilt signee Weston Bizzle in Division II-AA.
Midstate sweeps state pentathlon
Siegel’s Jacob Key (7-1, 1.00 ERA), an Illinois-Chicago signee and two-time District 7-AAA Pitcher of the Year, was named a finalist in Class AAA, while Pope John Paul II shortstop Ben Brooks (.424, 37 runs) was a finalist in Division II-AA.
“It’s great to be in such great company and to be up there with them and be recognized as one of the top three,” said Brooks, who has committed to play baseball at Memphis.
Reach Michael Murphy at 615-269-8262 and on Twitter @Murph_TNsports .
Forrest’s Alex Brewer won the Mr. Baseball award for Class A.