MARYVILLE – Maryville baseball is back in action Saturday, Feb. 17 as the Scots kick off the 2024 season with a doubleheader against Roanoke in Salem, Virginia.
The Scots head into this season coming off a second-place finish in the 2023 CCS tournament, falling to Piedmont in the championship game in LaGrange, Georgia.
MC's 40-game slate in 2024 is heavy on the travel, especially early in the season. Maryville will play 12 of its first 17 nonconference matchups away from Scotland Yard, a departure from last season's home-heavy schedule, where the Scots played 13 of their first 14 games at home.
Maryville is competing in three tournaments in the early season as they prepare for conference play. On Feb. 24-25, the Scots will travel to Atlanta for the Oglethorpe Invitational. On March 8-10, they will be in High Point, North Carolina for the Greensboro Invitational, and finally, they'll make a cross-state trip to Memphis to compete in the Rhodes Invitational, March 15-16. MC will play three games apiece in each tournament.
Maryville's home debut in 2024 will be the first weekend in March, with the Scots hosting Allegheny in a three-game weekend series from March 1-3. They'll then face off against Berry at home on Tuesday, March 5, before heading back on the road to begin conference play.
The Scots first conference matchup is scheduled for March 22-23, against Belhaven in Jackson, Mississippi. Following that series, Maryville returns to Scotland Yard where it will play nine of its next 10 games, including its CCS home opener against Huntingdon, April 5-7.
MC wraps up the 2024 regular season at home with a conference championship rematch against Piedmont. The Scots and Lions will play a three-game set, culminating with Maryville's Senior Day celebration on Sunday, May 5.
The CCS Tournament is scheduled for May 8-11, hosted by the regular season champion.
In 2023, the Scots offense produced a slash line of .308/.398/.439. Seven of the squad's top eight hitters from last season return, including infielder
Christian Carlton. The utility player led all qualified hitters in batting average (.351), hits (52), doubles (14), walks (34), and on-base percentage (.487).
Zac Graham returns as Maryville's top power threat. The Bradenton, Florida native led the CCS in home runs (9) while leading his squad in RBI (41), and slugging (.562).
On the mound, Maryville returns all three members of its weekend rotation as well as its top five bullpen arms from 2023. In all, the Scots returning pitchers threw 338.1 of the squad's 360.1 innings pitched last season (94% of innings pitched in 2023).
The Collegiate Conference of the South coaches preseason poll was released Thursday afternoon with the Scots voted to finish fifth in the league.
