Sports
May 6, 2026 by Jake Nichols
After falling to Oak Ridge, 10-5, last weekend, the Farragut baseball team slid into an elimination matchup against McMinn County.
But, with their backs against the wall, the Admirals came out swinging on Monday, May 4.
Fueled by home runs from Travis Brummitt Jr., Mason Shelton and Caleb Van Lant, the
Ads breezed past McMinn County 11-0 in five innings to reach
the District 4-4A Tournament championship series.
In the process, FHS qualified for the region tournament and kept its hopes alive for a fifth straight Class 4A state title.
“Our guys are always confident in themselves, and they do things right to handle their business,” Farragut coach Garrett Copeland said. “They knew what was on the line, and they know our expectations and standards. They wanted to continue working to achieve our goal.”
FHS faced Oak Ridge in that district series Tuesday, May 5, though results were not available at press time.
As for Monday’s result, Brummitt started off the bottom of the first with a three-run homer to put the Ads on the board.
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May 6, 2026 by Ken Lay, Correspondent
The opening round of the District 4-AAA boys soccer tournament produced mixed results for area teams Monday night, May 4.
Third-seeded Farragut had to work a little overtime to eliminate No. 6 seed Lenoir City at home while No. 5 seed Hardin Valley Academy dropped a 2-1 decision at Maryville, bringing its season to an end.
The Admirals (13-1-2) had to overcome an early deficit to earn a 3-2 victory over, the Panthers in a match that went to overtime an ended on a goal by Will Morris, who found the back of the net with 2 minutes, 48 seconds remaining in the first half of 20-minute overtime, and FHS held on to win.
The game-winner was assisted by Caleb Gahagan, who also had a goal in the match.
Farragut coach Bradley Culbreth was a bit surprised with the competitiveness of the match.
“Playoffs are playoffs,” he said. “I thought we had the run of play early. We just didn’t finish the ball.
“We were down, 1-0, just had a defensive mistake where we didn’t communicate.”
All the goals in regulation were scored in the first half as Morris had the second marker of the first half for the Admirals. But Lenoir City would score the equalizer before the break, making the score, 2-2.
Culbreth credited Lenoir City for finishing on its scoring opportunities.
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May 6, 2026 by Ken Lay, Correspondent
Farragut High School softball coach Nick Green couldn’t disguise his frustration after his team was bounced in to the loser’s bracket of the District 4-4A Tournament Friday night, May 1.
“It wasn’t anything we did or didn’t do,” Green said after the Lady Admirals squandered a big lead en route to falling to Rhea County, 8-7, in eight innings at Bearden High School’s Kim Hazelwood Field. “Give credit to them, they were hitting the ball, but we had some plays that we didn’t make and if we make any one of those place, we win the game.”
“It was just a collapse.”
Top-seeded Farragut (29-7) darted out to a fast start against the second-seeded Lady Eagles.
After pitcher Hallie Grace Johnson struck out the side in the top of the first inning, the Lady Admirals scored two runs in the bottom of the frame as Camryn Shrader and Taylor Albright both came home on wild pitches. Farragut, however, stranded two runners on base.
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May 6, 2026 by Jake Nichols
Ben Sachs doesn’t have to look far to find an example of teamwork.
His Farragut men’s lacrosse players might as well comprise Exhibit A, as most of them have developed chemistry on the field since their middle school days.
Now, that effect is showing on the field. After claiming their second consecutive region title, the Ads beat Cookeville, 17-4, last Friday, May 1, to book their second-straight appearance in the TSSAA Class AA state semifinals.
“It’s fun,” Sachs said with a grin. “Absolutely excited for these guys. Second year in a row, and these boys deserve it. They have worked hard and we have talked about this since October. Everything they have done has led to these final games, so we’re excited to be here.”
In the semifinal round, the Ads will take on defending state champion Nolensville — the same team that ended Farragut’s season in a 15-9 result a year ago.
This time, FHS will be looking for a different result when it travels to the mid-state for this clash.
And if they want to find it, the Ads need to take some notes from a semifinal stomping against the Cavaliers.
That night, FHS jumped out to a 10-2 halftime lead with an electric offensive performance.
Finn Sachs scored seven of the team’s 17 total goals, misfiring on a mere three of his 10 shots on goal.
“The biggest thing is being able to move the goalie out of the way,” Sachs said of the sophomore attacker.
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May 6, 2026 by Jake Nichols
Savannah Thomas has been the head coach of the Farragut girls lacrosse team for just one season.
But if the 2026 campaign was any indication, Thomas has plenty to look forward to as the leader of the Lady Admirals.
FHS lost to Cookeville 14-13 in the girls Class AA state quarterfinals last Thursday, April 30, to cap Thomas’ first season at the helm.
Senior Jane Davanzo led the Lady Ads with five goals in her final outing for Farragut while fellow senior Sirilla Cretton-Gilbert tallied four. Sophomore Addy Chambers found the net twice, and Cam Beeler and Samantha Casos scored once each.
“It was tight the whole game,” Thomas said. “I think the farthest they were ahead was by four points. But we continued to bring it back. We just couldn’t get ahead of them. It was a very physical game and our girls were able to get through it and fight through it.”
In the net, Ava Jones racked up six saves against the Lady Cavaliers.
She and the rest of the Lady Ads showed the kind of resolve that left Thomas
feeling proud, even as the
season ends at a mark of 6-7 overall.
“The thing I loved the most about this group was watching their growth from the beginning to end,” Thomas said. “We lost our first three games and they struggled to play a full game at the beginning of the season. In the quarterfinals game, we only subbed one player. Every other player fought and played until the very end for the entire game. It was incredible to watch the determination.”
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May 6, 2026 by Jake Nichols
In the first TSSAA-sanctioned year of girls flag football, Farragut had a season to remember.
The Lady Admirals ended the regular season on a four-game win streak, defeated Powell 14-0 for the program’s first playoff win last weekend and, after leading Bearden 7-6 for most of the second half, appeared poised to advance even further on Monday, May 8, in the District 1-AA semifinals at Clinton’s Dragon Stadium.
But in a stunning two-minute sequence, the Lady Bulldogs bit back.
On 4th-and-12 with 1:49 to go, BHS quarterback Nicole Smith-Harris heaved a pass to go-to receiver Emma Rainey. Bearden’s three-sport star came down with the game-winning grab in the corner of the end zone, then MC LeMarbre followed with a leaping conversion grab to make the score 13-7. Moments later, with Farragut looking to respond, Bearden freshman Leighton Corum intercepted FHS quarterback Aydan Skelton to put the game on ice.
The result left Farragut mourning a sudden end to a remarkable campaign while Bearden celebrated a district championship berth that, based on the current format, puts them one win from the state tournament in Murfreesboro.
“When I was running, I saw it was a little short, so I’m like, ‘Oh crap, I have to go get that,’” Rainey said of her catch. “I just did everything I could — a lot of pride. I really didn’t want to lose this game, wanting to win for the team and coaches and everyone watching.”
“That’s our third win by that same score, and it’s so cool to see them turn on the jets and run away from people,” Bearden coach Zach Scott added. “But when other teams are playing better than us for periods, they don’t flinch. There were some long faces in that third quarter, but they just kept grinding.”
The Lady Bulldogs hit pay dirt on their first possession, as Smith-Harris laced a pass to Amileigh Crippen for a 6-0 lead with 6:17 left in the first quarter.
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May 6, 2026 by Jake Nichols
Bradley Culbreth arrived at McFee Park in Farragut one sweltering summer morning in July 2022.
He couldn’t believe his eyes. On the field in front of Culbreth stood Adrian D’Aloisio, then a rising freshman at Farragut High School, working on drills for more than 40 minutes with no one else around — or so he thought.
“I applauded him for the work ethic,” Culbreth said almost four years later, “because when you see him working like that when nobody’s watching, it was impressive to see.”
The story of D’Aloisio’s hard work was one of several told Wednesday, April 15, as he and several other area athletes signed their Letters of Intent to continue at the college level.
At Farragut High School, specifically, six Admirals penned their next chapters.
D’Aloisio will be furthering his career at Bethany College in Bethany, West Virginia. Lincoln Unger, his Farragut soccer teammate, will be writing his next chapter with the Maryville College soccer program while Farragut baseball standout Zain Kureshi-Smith will take the diamond at Johnson University next spring. Dancer Megan Voss will continue her career on the sidelines of Finley Stadium at UT Chattanooga, and FHS track standouts Courtney and Christie George will run on to the University of the Cumberlands in Williamsburg, Kentucky.
The same day, Hardin Valley Academy saw 15 signees across four different sports: Brody Lamb to Wingate University in football; Carys Price to Lincoln Memorial in girls soccer; in boys soccer, Dane Hammer and Asher Stimson to Maryville College and Ali Tarchane to Lincoln Memorial; in baseball, Tyler Sowards, Wyatt Fellers and Cameron Dillon to Pellissippi State, Jack Pate to Maryville and Kenny Lane to Chattanooga State; and, in cross country and track, Cooper McKaig, Will Allen and Zathan Socha to Pellissippi State with Ava Berkheimer to East Tennessee State.
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May 6, 2026 by Jake Nichols
Farragut didn’t need another win last Thursday, April 30.
Grayer Dunagan provided it anyway, putting the icing on the already-baked cake of the Admirals’ Region 2-AA title — their second in the last three years — at McFee Park.
After Leyton Lu defeated Campbell County’s Malachi Miesel in wins of 6-1 and 6-0 to cement a 4-0 match victory for FHS, Dunagan stormed back from a 6-0 deficit to beat the Cougars’ Will Croley in two tiebreakers for an unofficial 5-0 mark on the day.
With the win, the Ads advance to this week’s sectional round against Science Hill as they look for their first ever team-wide state tournament berth.
“I knew we already won, so I started swinging free because it didn’t matter if I won or lost at that point,” Dunagan said. “Leyton gave me some really good advice, so I took that and used it. I wanted to start swinging loose because I felt like I was playing really tight the whole match, so I stopped serving so big and tried to be more consistent.”
His approach flipped the match on its head, providing the final flourish to a day full of Admiral success.
“They came out strong and ready to win,” Farragut tennis coach Joan Swanson said of her team. “They were here before Jim and I were, and we were here an hour early. They were ready to compete.”
Lu and Dunagan showed that in one doubles match, defeating Croley and Davide Marcosano 8-0. FHS notched its other doubles win through Skyler Meade and Lukas Bukovsky, who took down the Campbell County combo of Miesel and Hunter Dotson by an 8-4 margin.
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May 6, 2026 by Dan Harralson, Correspondent
Pellissippi State (28-28) is in its second baseball season in 2026. The Panthers hosted Dyersburg State for three games in the TCCAA Playoff Series at Ridley-Helton Baseball Field.
The series opened with a doubleheader on Thursday, April 30. Dyersburg State won the series opener, 1-0. Bennett Stutts pitched a nine-inning complete game for the Eagles. He totaled nine strikeouts and 126 pitches, including 90 strikes, against 35 batters.
Pellissippi State had six hits in Game 1, including two hits from Hardin Valley alum Caden Channell.
Cooper Jones started for the Panthers and pitched 7.1 innings in the series opener. He recorded nine strikeouts and 124 pitches (89 strikes) while allowing one home run to Jordan Williamson.
The Panthers tied the best-of-three series with an 11-4 victory in Game 2.
Nathan Reed started for Pellissippi State and pitched 6.1 innings. He had six strikeouts and earned a win. Reed totaled 103 pitches, including 57 strikes against 27 batters. Cade McKay pitched 2.2 innings in relief and had three strikeouts.
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