Photos courtesy of Michelle Young and Brooke Leatherwood

Clay Co., NC- The Hayesville Yellow Jackets senior night celebrations last night turned into championship celebrations as they captured the Smoky Mountain Conference Title with a 6-0 win over Robbinsville.

Hayesville seniors Braxton Cherry, Dakota Matheson, Cade Denton, Avery Leatherwood, Logan Caldwell, and Kyle Lunsford have made contributions to the Hayesville athletic department across the board and their accomplishments will not soon be forgotten. As beautiful as the celebration for these guys was, there’s no better way to go out than with a win in your last regular season game.

Let’s take a look at each of these guys and what they’ve accomplished on the baseball diamond. (& keep in mind these guys had their freshman season canceled due to COVID-19.)

Braxton Cherry 

Braxton Cherry battled injury early in his Varsity career, but since his recovery, he has been lights out on the mound for the Jackets. Right now, he has a career ERA of 3.91 and a 7-6 record to go with 93 strikeouts. He also is batting over .400 for his career with 29 RBI’s and has been a part of 2 SMC Championship-winning teams.

Dakota Matheson

Matheson has been a 3-year starter for the Yellow Jackets and while he has been solid his entire career, his senior season has been really impressive. This year he has a league-leading .463 batting average to go along with 13 RBI’s. His career batting average is now .383 and he has been a key piece of both the 2023 and 2021 SMC Championship teams.

Cade Denton

Denton has been a plug-and-play guy for the Jackets in his varsity career. Wherever they need him to play, he steps up and does it well. On the mound, Denton has a 3.78 career ERA (1.08 ERA in his senior season), and at the plate he’s batting over .350 for his career with 34 RBI’s.

Avery Leatherwood

A football injury suffered during the summer before his Junior season still didn’t keep this guy off of the baseball diamond. Leatherwood has earned the “ironman” title if you ask us, as he’s battled behind the plate for the Yellow Jackets for nearly everyone of their games over the past few seasons. The 55 RBI’s in his career speak for themselves, as does the .420 career batting average. He’s one of those kids you just have to see play the game to understand just how much he brings to the table. While the Jackets will be sad to see Leatherwood leave, SMC baserunners will rest a little easier knowing he won’t be behind the plate for Hayesville next year.

Logan Caldwell

A name you’re probably more used to hearing on Friday nights instead of on the baseball diamond, Caldwell came out his senior year and contributed right away. A .390 batting average to go with 14 RBI’s in his lone year of Varsity action is impressive, as is the leadership he brings to the field.

Kyle Lunsford

Another 3 year starter for the Jackets (and a major contributor on the football field & basketball court as well), Lunsford will be another guy that’s gonna be hard to replace next season. Lunsford is batting .386 in his career to this point, and also has 42 RBI’s to his credit. He’s been a wall in the infield this season, posting a .984 fielding percentage with only 1 error in 63 total chances. A quiet storm, Lunsford’s locker-room presence is unmatched.