Lake County’s Roberson honored for standout freshman campaign

 

Jason Peevyhouse

Editor, JP Production Sports

Following a freshman season which saw him not only learn a new position but also hit in the upper .400s, Lake County’s Sawyer Roberson has been seeing the awards and accolades roll in since the season ended in May for the Falcon freshman.

These honors include being named to the District 14A All-District Team, the All-Region 7 Team, the Tennessee Baseball Report’s Super Freshman Team, TBR’s Top 25 ‘position players’ for the 2025 season and TBR’s Freshman Player of the Year in Tennessee. Roberson was also named to the Tennessee Baseball Coaches Association Class A All-State team while also being named as a MaxPreps Underclass All-American.

To say the least, it was quite a year for the Roberson during his first season as a high school baseball player.

“I feel great because I put in a lot of work and, a lot of other years, I didn’t play good and get a lot of stuff so this feels great,” Roberson said of all the honors he has received since the season ended.

“I can’t really put it into words,” Lake County Head Coach Ethan Stallings said. “I had him twice in middle (as a head coach) and I helped out his eighth-grade year.

“Seeing a player that myself and all the other coaches always knew there was more in there but there was always a mental lock. It was either believing in himself or believing he could do it better than everyone else.”

Roberson is at the top of a group of talented underclassmen Stallings is looking forward to coaching next spring.

“Our underclassmen are very competitive,” the Lake County head coach said. “We have some of the better freshmen and sophomores in the state.

“We had a lot of freshmen that competed last season.”

Roberson said he hit at least two or three times a week and lifted weights in order to prepare for the 2025 season which saw him hover around the .500 mark in batting average.

Seeing Roberson buy into the process this past spring was rewarding for Stallings.

“We’ve been telling him the whole time,” Stallings added. “He’s very coachable and very approachable.

“He’s very respectful in every aspect of the game. We knew that hard work would pay off. He just had to buy into the process and buy into himself.”

Roberson said he could remember, in other years, making an error and having it hurt his entire game. This past season, that changed.

“If I would make an error, I’d be straight and not worry about it,” the now-sophomore said. “I’d be alright.”

Stallings said he saw earlier in the season than Roberson that the process was working.

“Going into the season, I knew that he was locked in,” the Lake County head coach recalled. “He was lifting a lot and hitting hard.

“In our first game at West Carroll he went 3-for-4. He had a hit down the left field line, down the middle and down the back side. I knew then that he was locked in. I knew right then that this was different.”

Stallings said he could see it in his approach both at the plate and on the way to the plate.

“The way he walked to the plate – with his chest out – he had a lot of confidence,” Stallings remembered. “He made an error that game and he wasn’t even supposed to be playing at short because we had a guy get hurt.

“Sawyer came in and took over. He solidified himself there and kept it.”

Moving forward, Stallings expects that this past season will give Roberson some fuel moving forward.

“I know the type of kid he is that he’s very competitive,” Stallings added. “He’s not into all the running around stuff.

“He’s not going to complain. He’s going to show up every day with the right clothes on, the right stuff and at the right time and work his butt off. Having that and knowing the expectations around him, he knows that it’s just part of the process – for him and all of our other players.”

The Lake County head coach admits Roberson repeating his freshman season is going to be difficult.

“Batting .481, hitting 14 doubles and stealing 28 bases just doesn’t happen every day,” Stallings admitted. “But, I think we’ve got a good set up for this fall and going into the offseason that way we’ve got to make sure that we can attack whatever we’ve got to attack.

“I think he went and hit last night. He’s going to find a way to use that to not boost his head but to boost his ability.”

Having set the bar high for himself after just one season in high school, Roberson has already began to prepare for 2026.

“I had a good year but I’m looking and working for more,” Roberson explained.

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