JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – We continue previewing the Carson-Newman baseball season with a glance at the team's infielders, with help from shortstop Trey Miller (Rocky Point, N.Y.).
Basically, the entire starting infield returns for 2024. Miller headlines the group after the senior posted a .300 batting average with four homers and 19 RBIs and swiped ten bases. He had his season cut short after a late-season wrist injury.
"It's been exciting getting back," Miller said. "Just having that year under my belt, being around the guys, coaches, it's exciting."
The shortstop notched eight multi-hit games, four each of two-hit and three-hit days. Miller also had seven multi-RBI games.
"It was all about confidence," Miller said. "Toward the later parts of my year, which ended early, I just had great teammates around me that built my confidence and allowed me to play my game."
His double-play counterpart Will Gibbs (Harrisburg, Ill.) is back. The middle infield duo helped C-N turn 31 double plays. Gibbs appeared in 47 games posting a .274 batting, driving in 19 runs while swiping seven bases. He posted 11 multi-hit games and led the country with 17 sacrifice bunts guiding the team to the fifth-most nationally.
Aiden Gibson (Cleveland, Tenn.) took hold of the hot corner as a freshman and made 42 starts in 25 appearances. He tallied 29 hits and 24 RBIs, registering six multi-hit games and eight multi-RBI affairs. The third baseman came through in the clutch with a walk-off double in a 4-3, 11-inning victory over Lincoln Memorial on April 2, 2023.
Rounding out the returning infielders is Harrison Travis (Soddy Daisy, Tenn.), who basically missed all of 2023 due to an injury that forced him to not be able to hit. Travis broke out in 2022, hitting .304 with nine homers and 43 RBIs. He enters his graduate season with 94 career games played, 12 home runs and 65 runs batted in and is a career.291 hitter.
"It's definitely good for us to have this experience," Miller said. "It's all about the experience, the more we build to know each other and continue to develop the chemistry, the more and more it looks like it can be a fun year."
With most of the infield positions shored up, C-N will look to find depth behind them. Amongst the rest of the group, Colby Abbott (Louisville, Tenn.) is the only infielder that played for Griffin's group last season. Abbott played in four games, recording two at bats, with one hit and one run scored. Evan Mutter, Tanner Kilgore and Jake Bedard are all true freshman that come to the Eagles from Tennessee high schools. Logan Floyd and Trace Alexander are freshman from Georgia.
"We have a lot of depth this year," Miller said. "A lot of freshmen around the whole infield. I think with us returning and knowing how to do everything that is expected helps them get prepared for the season too.
The third and final part of the position previews will be released on Tuesday with a look at the pitchers and catchers with assistance from relief pitcher Grif Hughes.
