Jake Stiles returns to Grainger as baseball coach – PrepXtra Story – Knoxville News Sentinel

Jake Stiles contends he was on a pathway out of coaching when he took over Rutledge Middle School’s baseball program last season.

Chad Tate’s recent resignation at Grainger High School forced him to change course.

Stiles, 40, was hired on July 10 to replace Tate, who stepped down after 11 seasons to focus on his roles as an assistant principal and football coach at the school.

“I left Grainger hoping I wouldn’t be in the running when (Tate) left,” said Stiles, who served as an assistant on Tate’s staff from 2007-14. “Middle school is a lot less demanding. We had to share a field, so we practiced less, for better or worse. But with this job, I almost felt a responsibility, knowing I was adequate enough to do the role. My wife and family have been very supportive of this move.”

It’s the first high school head coaching job for Stiles, a Rutledge graduate and former team captain at Carson-Newman, where he twice earned All-South Atlantic Conference honors.

“He’s a baseball guy.” Tate said. “He was a big asset for us. We hated not having him last season, that’s for sure.”

Tate coached 11 seasons after being hired before the 2005 season at Rutledge, which eventually dissolved to form Grainger. The program won 242 games under his guidance, finishing 23-9 last season en route to the Region 1-AA semifinals.

Tate said his departure didn’t surprise school administrators.

“I just had to keep it quiet. I didn’t want to say it during the season,” Tate said. “Just doing both sports, football and baseball, I have two little girls, and you’ve got to be dad, No. 1. Plus being an assistant principal and head football coach, it takes a lot of time. … I’ll miss it. I love baseball. We were able to do a lot of good things. It was a great 11 years.”

Former Bearden Standout Hired: Former Bearden standout Jonathan Byrd was hired as Giles County’s baseball coach. Byrd, the brother of Central baseball coach Matt Byrd, graduated from Bearden in 2008 before playing at Columbia State and Martin Methodist, where he served as an assistant the past three seasons.

Byrd played for current Farragut coach Matt Buckner while at Bearden, twice earning all-district honors.

All-Americans: Former Grace Christian Academy shortstop Chandler Adkins and Christian Academy of Knoxville junior pitcher Spencer Strider received All-America honors from MaxPreps.

Adkins, a Lipscomb signee, was named to the Small Schools All-American Team after helping the Rams win their first Class A state championship.

Strider was named a Sophomore All-American.

Both players were All-PrepXtra first-team selections last season.

Cosby Hires Fancher: Jeff Fancher has been hired as Cosby’s girls basketball coach, replacing Richard Coggins, who resigned after 16 seasons there. Coggins spent the past eight seasons as the Lady Eagles’ head coach.

Ingram to Maryville College: Former Sequoyah girls basketball standout Emily Ingram has agreed to play at Maryville College, joining past area standouts Delaney Lowery (Catholic) and Amber Click (William Blount) as members of the Scots’ seven-player recruiting class.

Recruiting: Hardin Valley senior outfielder Dylan Harris committed to Walters State. Harris, a first-team all-PrepXtra selection, helped the Hawks win their first Class AAA baseball championship last season. … HVA senior softball standout Kaleigh Wynne committed to the College of Central Florida, a junior college in Ocala, Fla. … Morristown West standout senior safety Calvin Smith announced a football scholarship offer from Southern Illinois University on his Twitter account on Thursday, giving him eight overall.

Chris Thomas covers high school sports. Follow him at twitter.com/prepxtra.