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Cannon Peebles is ‘trusting the plan’ with clutch hits for Tennessee this season

On3 imageby:Eric Cain•04/18/25•

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Cannon Peebles. Credit: Tennessee Athletics/Caleb Griffin
Cannon Peebles. Credit: Tennessee Athletics/Caleb Griffin

Cannon Peebles was one of the biggest additions by way of the transfer portal ahead of Tennessee baseball’s national championship season in 2024. He logged an impressive true freshman season at the dish with NC State, leading the Wolfpack with a .348 batting average and tied for 50 runs bated in prior to his arrival in Knoxville.

The plan was to work him in behind the plate with Cal Stark and Charlie Taylor with hopes of adding some pop in the lineup at the catcher position. Over his first 82 games with the Orange & White, the offensive numbers haven’t been what Peebles had envisioned, but that hasn’t stopped him from coming up huge in some clutch moments for the Vols.   

“I think that’s the mentality. He’s a great competitor. Sometimes, when you get an elite competitor, they get a little try-hard at times,” Tennessee hitting and catching coach Josh Elander told Volquest of Peebles. “So, I think that’s what he has to battle when he gets in those moments [and] when all the chips are on the line. Whether it be the Florida State at-bat in Omaha, South Carolina when we are [initially] down or the homer [Sunday], that’s when he is at his best. He was just playing to win and all that.”

The average isn’t where he wants it to be, but the switch hitter has always took it one at-bat at a time.

In the College World Series, Peebles battled through an eight-pitch at-bat to reach first base in the ninth inning with one out and the Vols trialing the Seminoles in their Omaha opener. He was a pinch hitter in that situation and later came around to score a massive run in Tennessee’s four-run ninth to win in walk off fashion.

That game – really, that inning – sparked what was to come over the next 10 days.

“I think the biggest thing is that we trust our offense and so nobody really freaks out or anything,” Peebles told Volquest this week, but the same message applies to that at-bat last year as well. “We could be down 10, five or whatever, and nobody really cares. We care, but only because we trust our offense to get the job done. So, I think that’s the biggest thing. And we all have shown a little bit of grit and [no quit]. That’s how we all play. We trust each other and I think that’s the biggest thing – trust.”  

Jun 14, 2024; Omaha, NE, USA; Tennessee Volunteers catcher Cannon Peebles (5) and second baseman Christian Moore (1) celebrate after scoring runs against the Florida State Seminoles during the ninth inning at Charles Schwab Filed Omaha. Mandatory Credit: Dylan Widger-USA TODAY Sports

The clutch at-bats have continued this season. Three weeks ago, Tennessee was on the road battling South Carolina in a back-and-forth affair. After taking the lead briefly before allowing the Gamecocks to tie things up on a play at the plate Peebles wishes he had back, the catcher launched a two-run home run over the right-centerfield wall to hand the Vols a 7-5 lead. Tennessee held on to secure the series-win in the bottom of the ninth.

“For me in particular, as of late, I’ve been submitting the stats and whatever to God, really. Having faith in myself to go out there and get the job done,” Peebles told Volquest. “Two big things for me are submitting the stats to God before the game, because they’re out of your control, and then going up there with a plan. I’ve caught myself sometimes too worried about the wrong things and I get distracted away from my plan.”

And that brings us back to last Sunday in Oxford when the catcher once again came through for the Vols in a massive way at the plate. His two-run home run in the top of the sixth inning handed Tennessee a 4-3 lead and ignited more as the Vos plated a total of five runs in the frame to lead 7-3 by inning’s end. Obviously, all five of those runs were essential with Tennessee capping the rubber match with the 10-8 road victory.

“That guy [Walker Hooks] was a fastball – change up guy to righties. My approach was sort of sitting on the change up. Honestly, my scouting report is probably – I’m out in front a lot on change ups because that’s just what I’ve been doing,” Peebles continued. “That series, I was as well, kind of chasing pitches down and stuff like that. So, to get the ball up – I knew he wasn’t going to beat me with a heater. I don’t think his velo [velocity] – it was around 90 [mph] or something like that. I was just sitting change up in that one situation with a runner on and I got good hitters behind me, so they’re going to throw to me. So, see it up and hammer it. Luckily it went out.”     

Peebles is a great reminder that baseball is not a sprint, rather a marathon. It’s a game of failure and one where you’ve constantly got to make adjustments or you’ll be standing still at the plate. Need further proof? Prior to his single in the fourth inning that proceeded this home run, he was 0-for-7 with four strikeouts in the series. Peebles ended the day with three hits, one being a massive storyline in the ballgame.

The junior’s average is nothing to brag about right now, but his knack for battling through at-bats and coming up big for his team in clutch moments – well, that is speaking for itself this season. Last year in Omaha, too. That’s what counts in the end.

“I think Cannon is capable of more offensively. I think we all know that. But a lot of it has just been kind of battling – just maturing,” Elander continued. “It’s just part of it in this league. It’s the toughest league in college baseball and I truly believe the best is yet to come for him. But he’s had to make some adjustments along the way for sure.

“He also is a guy that’s capable of, at any point, just getting scorching hot and then we kind of look back and laugh at the sample size. There is a lot of year left to go for sure.”

Peebles works every day to stay within himself. When things are going well, when things are going poorly – he trusts the process. That attitude and mindset is contagious and helps fuel the rest of the dugout. The results speak for themselves, too, as the Vols are once again in the midst of a special season.

“On Sunday against Ole Miss, I just went up there with a plan and I trusted it. It was nothing but the plan,” Peebles concluded to Volquest. “For the rest of the guys, too, everybody here is usually very level headed about that because they have a lot of confidence in their ability. They go out there, no matter what the results are, and control what they can. Good things happen usually for those guys.”  

Peebles and the rest of his teammates are back in action this weekend when Tennessee hosts Kentucky for another Southeastern Conference series from Lindsey Nelson Stadium.

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