Bryce Hanley of Greenback throws a pass against CAK early in the 2018 season. Hanley went on to win Class 1A Mr. Football, and he also doubles as a baseball standout. (Photo by Danny Parker)
BY DAVE LINK
GREENBACK – Bryce Hanley savors every hour these days with his teammates on the Greenback High School baseball team.
Especially the time with his fellow seniors.
There aren’t many school days left for the Class of 2019, which helped provide some of the top athletic moments in school history.
Hanley has been along for the entire ride. He was one of 16 seniors on the football team last fall and is one of 10 seniors on the baseball team this spring. Many have been playing for Greenback since their freshmen years.
Bryce Hanley poses for a photo prior to Tuesday’s game against visiting Alcoa. (Photo: Dave Link)
“We’ve always played together,” Hanley said before Tuesday’s 4-2 loss to Alcoa. “We played football together on Friday nights. We play baseball together on nights throughout the week, and we’re together a lot. The coaches are with us, too. They coach us in football and baseball.”
Hanley, the quarterback for the football team, will play college baseball as a middle infielder and is considering Carson-Newman or Chattanooga State.
Hanley was selected as the Class 1A Tennessee Titans Mr. Football last fall and led the Cherokees to a 12-1 record with a 24-21 loss to Whitwell in the state semifinals.
It was a bitter memory for the Cherokees, who won the 2017 state championship and were state runners-up in 2016. Hanley was offensive MVP in the 2017 Class A BlueCross Bowl.
“I don’t think we’ll ever forget it,” Hanley said of the loss to Whitwell, which won the state title. “We felt we were the best team in the state, no doubt. You’ve just got to move on. Right now we feel we’ve got a great opportunity in baseball. We feel we have a great chance to go down there and win state in baseball, too.”
It’s a program that has risen from the ashes. Greenback had no baseball team in 2014, but the Cherokees are now seeking their third consecutive trip to the Class A state tournament.
The Cherokees (19-7) are atop the District 2-A standings with a 6-0 record.
Greenback head coach Greg Ryan observes his players during practice in Greenback, Tenn., Thursday, June 21, 2018.
Greg Ryan, Greenback’s head football coach, has been an integral part of the baseball program’s rise. He took over as head baseball coach in 2016, and when a teaching position opened in the school system after the 2017 season, allowed a former colleague, Wes Caldwell, to take over as the Cherokees’ baseball coach.
Caldwell came to Greenback from Ooltewah but coached with Ryan during a stint at Rhea County.
“I always said if we had the opportunity, we’d help each other coach,” Ryan said.
Caldwell coaches linebackers and defense in football. In baseball, Ryan is the hitting and first-base coach, while Caldwell is the head coach and works with defense and pitchers.
Caldwell calls his seniors a “band of brothers.”
“Greg has been here since Day 1 with them,” Caldwell said. “He’s the one who got the ball rolling with them.”
When he took over as coach for the 2016 season, Ryan started six freshmen – Hanley, Cole Riddle, Reese Plemons, Tyler Cullen, Josh Edwards, and Breeden Gilbert.
Gilbert is the only one of those six no longer on the team. Riddle’s twin brother, Seth Riddle, played as a freshman is a starter now alongside Cole.
Reese Plemons of Greenback. (Photo: Dave Link)
Against Alcoa, Cole Riddle hit leadoff and played second base; Hanley hit second and played shortstop; Plemons hit third and pitched; Cullen hit cleanup and played first base; Seth Riddle hit fifth and played center field; and Edwards hit sixth and played right field.
Hanley leads the team with a .581 batting average ahead of Plemons (.530) and Seth Riddle (.447). Plemons (3-1) took his first loss of the season against Alcoa and entered the game with a 1.12 ERA.
While their baseball days at Greenback are running out, the Cherokees’ seniors look forward to college careers on the diamond.
The Riddle twins have offers from Roane State.
Plemons has committed to play at Cleveland State and Cullen to play at Columbia State.
Caldwell said Edwards has options to play college football as a tailback or cornerback or as an outfielder in baseball.
It’s a senior class that can leave one more mark in 2019.
“If we play to our potential, we’ve got a chance to go back (to state),” Caldwell said. “It’s baseball. We think we’ve got a good team. You’ve just got to be good on that one day, or you won’t win.
“Right now we don’t even talk about that. We talk about today, what we’ve got to do to get better today and what we’ve got to do to get better next week.”
Plemons, an all-state center and defensive tackle in football, said the goal is a return trip to Murfreesboro for the state tournament, and it’s within their grasp.
“I think we set the record for wins last year (with a 31-10 record), and I think we’ll break it again this year,” Plemons said. “Hopefully we’ll get back (to state) and win some games. We’ll try our hearts out.”
No matter what happens, Greenback won’t be the same this fall without the 2019 graduating seniors. Nor will the football locker room.
“Can we have a good season? Absolutely,” Ryan said. “Will we miss them? We’ve been family for four years and we’ve seen each other five or six days a week. It’s going to be weird seeing those seniors go, no doubt.”