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A veteran Charles Henderson team is looking to return the Trojans to the tradition the baseball program has been known for. 

Heading into his fifth year at the helm, head coach Chase Smartt said he’s been hard at work in the offseason getting his veteran squad ready.

“Everything has been going good, just trying to get everyone in shape and ready for the season,” Smartt said of offseason workouts. “Everyone is always ready for the season to get here and be able to play instead of just practicing all the time. My goal this preseason was to get everyone ready and be able to have fun doing it, making sure practices were fun.”

Charles Henderson returns a number of veteran players, including All-Messenger infielder Chase Vaznaian and outfielder Cooper Johnson. Vaznaian led CHHS at the plate last season with a .330 batting average along with four doubles, one triple, 17 RBIs and 22 runs. He also pitched 19 innings and struck out 12 batters with a 3.64 ERA. Johnson boasted a .319 batting average with 17 RBIs, 24 runs and 25 stolen bases. 

“Some of our key guys coming back are juniors Chase Vaznaian, Cooper Johnson, Clay Johnson, Wes Templin, Trenton Bryan and our seniors,” Smartt said. “Cole Pugh, Blake Lowery and Wilson Jones are our seniors and we’re really going to lean on them as leaders. Our junior class is probably the best class we’ve had since I’ve been here, though. 

“Chase was our best hitter last year and he’s back, he was a key guy for us last year and will be again this year. The key thing for us is we’re experienced all around. We only lost two guys from last year and everyone else that started for me last year will be able to start again this year.”

Smartt said he feels good about his defense this season and is concentrated on improving the Trojan offense heading into the season.

“To win games in high school baseball the focus needs to be on offense,” he continued. “You have to score and play good defense and if you do that, 99 percent of the time you’ll win. If you aren’t able to score you can’t win. We need to be very productive on the offensive side of the game.

“We feel good about our defense and we feel like we can trust our defense, but we have to produce more on offense. We need to be able to score 5-10 runs a game. If we do that, our chances to win are high.” 

Smartt, who was a part of the winning tradition at Charles Henderson as a player is pushing to return that same glory and tradition to his program.

“My biggest goal every year is to win a state championship but my goal for this team particularly, is all about legacy,” Smartt emphasized. “We told them during the preseason this is season is about their legacy. My five-year plan when I got here was about legacy. Those 4-5 years when I played, we set our legacy during that time and we’re working to bring that sort of tradition back to Charles Henderson Baseball. 

“Yes, you want to dominate and win every baseball game but more so than that, we’re focused on restoring that tradition of Charles Henderson Baseball. We want to play the game the way Charles Henderson Baseball should be played.”