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Tournaments  | Story  | 6/23/2020

Knights Baseball 18U Platinum Lead by Slew of Future Volunteers

Brett Greenberg     
MARIETTA, Ga. – Out of Nashville, Tennessee, the 2020 Knights 18U Platinum baseball team looks to take some teams by surprise this summer with their talented squad filled with D-1 commits. 

This is only the Knight’s second tournament this summer so, understandably, there is a dip in production on the mound and at the plate in their first week of the season. 



“Nashville just went to phase three for the quarantine restrictions which now allows for baseball,” said Cody Ginsburg, head coach of the Knights. “It has been a challenge for us because our hitters were not able to see live pitching for a while and our pitchers are not as conditioned as they should be at this point.”  

Nearly all of the players on the team were not able to play high school ball this season, so they are coming off three months without baseball. Coach Ginsburg says it was easy for him and the rest of the staff to tell which players took advantage of their time off and which players were not practicing or doing strength training. 

With all of the players on the team headed to play baseball at the collegiate level, this summer serves as a prep for college ball, so to speak. Coach Ginsburg says it is important to find a balance within the players because, “some of these guys just treat it like a showcase after they commit.” 

The Knights coaches know what it takes to be successful at the collegiate level and they try to convey these ideas to their players on a daily basis. With most of the players going to premier D-1 schools, including Tennessee and Vanderbilt, the players will need to show up ready and prepared to compete at the highest level. 

“With the coronavirus and one extra year of eligibility, it is going to be even harder for our guys to come in and make an impact,” said Coach Ginsburg. “We tell our guys what to expect and we fully believe they will have the tools to be successful.”

Of the Knights 22 commits, five will be attending the University of Tennessee in Knoxville to play for Coach Vitello and represent the Vols in the SEC. The fact that the Knights organization is in Nashville, Tennessee, it is not surprising to see so many players taking their talents there. Tennessee and Vanderbilt are the two top baseball teams in the state, but Tennessee has started to get players at the same level as Vanderbilt, one of the premier programs in the country.  

“When Coach Vitello took over at Tennessee, he made it clear that he wanted to establish mid-Tennessee as a recruiting hub,” said Coach Ginsburg. “We actually have five guys committed there and two guys out of the 2023 class, so we have established a pipeline from Nashville to Knoxville.” 

The players currently committed to Tennessee are: 
1. Shawn Scott: #8 LHP in TN
2. Grayson Cole: #11 RHP in TN
3. Jared Dickey: #5 OF in TN
4. Jake Fitzgibbons: #2 LHP in TN
5. Hollis Fanning: #17 RHP in TN 

Shawn Scott plans on majoring in sports management. Scott says it only took one visit to Tennessee for him to fall in love with the campus and call it home. Grayson Cole will be majoring in supply chain management and says he chose Tennessee because it is his home state and he has been a lifelong Vols fan. Jared Dickey will be majoring in human sciences and says he loves the way the coaches communicate with him, which led him to the Vols. 

When three of the five commits were asked what they would miss most about summer ball, all three unanimously remarked, “probably just spending time with all my teammates because we have become family after being together all the time.” 

With coaching eighteen-year-old players who are already committed, comes a different experience than coaching younger players. Most of the players use the summer to work on specific areas they wish to improve upon and get mentally prepared for collegiate baseball. 

“Our guys have done a great job of listening to the coaches and not getting a big head about their commitment,” said Coach Ginsburg. “They know how important this summer is for their future success and we have preached how they have their work cut out for them.” 

Coach Ginsburg and the Knights baseball team will look to win out with their two remaining pool play games for a chance to go to bracket play of the 18U WWBA National Championship. 

Although this team has one loss in pool play, they are just getting started and look to be a team that will be in contend for several Perfect Game championships. 
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