Four Tennessee veterans honored for Senior Night on Rocky Top
Prior to first pitch with Belmont Tuesday night, which serves as the final midweek game of the regular season, the Tennessee baseball program took the time to honor four seniors who gave their all for the Orange & White.
Those players included pitchers Zander Sechrist and Chris Stamos, as well as catchers Cal Stark and Charlie Taylor.
Tennessee will host the Bruins Tuesday evening before playing host to South Carolina on Thursday-Saturday for the final series of the regular season. The Southeastern Conference Baseball Tournament will be held at the Hoover Met next week with the official unveiling of the final standings and seeding for the tournament on Saturday night.
Sechrist was a midseason ace for his first three years in the program before stepping into a weekend starting role in 2024. The lefty has made the past eight weekend starts for the Big Orange and has contributed a 1-1 record with an ERA of 4.57 this season. Prior to 2024, Sechrist compiled 6-1 record in three years across 23 midweek starts and 48 appearances overall. The southpaw owned ERAs of 2.89 in 2021, 1.67 in 2022 and 2.05 in 2023 while pitching a combined 83 innings on the mound.
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Fello lefty Chris Stamos was the final puzzle piece added to the 2024 Tennessee roster last summer, transferring over as a graduate from Cal. After starting the season as a bridge player in the Volunteer bullpen, Stamos moved into an ‘opener’ role on Friday nights ahead of AJ Causey. The veteran has contributed a 3-0 record with an ERA of 3.33 over 24.1 innings pitched this season with arguably his best outing coming last weekend at Vanderbilt where he allowed one run off two hits in 2.2 innings of work with five strikeouts.
Stark has been Tennessee’s lead catcher for the past two seasons after starting his career in the Junior College ranks and following a state championship at nearby powerhouse Farragut in 2019. He’s been a defensive wizard behind the plate for the Vols this season and for the Omaha club in 2023 – with serval pickoffs on the base paths while handling the staff with a veteran poise. Stark’s bat has come around this season in a big way with five home runs (two grand slams) and 19 runs batted in to go along with five doubles, one triple and a .256 batting average.
Taylor has been the model teammate for Tennessee the past three seasons, serving in whatever role the staff needs. He’s started 37 games behind the plate over 83 appearances in the Orange & White and played a key role in Tennessee’s 2023 College World Series team. The reserve backstop experienced a career day against Alabama A&M on February 22, 2023 when he belted two home runs, drove in five, with a triple and three runs scored as part of a 4-for-5 day at the plate.
Taylor has a year left of eligibility remaining if he elects to use it.
