Wolfe County turns sandlot youth team into region baseball champion
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- Wolfe County won its first 14th Region baseball title with just 13 players.
- Most team members have played together since early childhood in Campton.
- New school facilities and community support boosted team morale and legacy.
It’s incredible enough that Wolfe County, a team that rosters only 13 players, claimed the first 14th Region baseball championship in school history last week.
But when you consider 11 of those 13 players have played baseball together since most were 6 years old, it’s even more apparent something special has happened down the Mountain Parkway in Campton.
“It’s unbelievable. You know, I think we as parents when we started when they were little, we just wanted to ensure they had a really good opportunity to play the sport, play all sports, really … and be in a good program and have opportunities to succeed,” said Ernie Whisman, an assistant to Wolfe County head coach Benny Campbell, and one of the dads to coach the Wolfe County Mudcats youth team that began when his son, Max, was 6 years old.
Wolfe County’s three freshmen were as young as 4 when they joined the Mudcats in their coach-pitch league.
“As they got older, they got better and better and more skilled,” Ernie Whisman said. “They were thrown into the fire at an early age. There were six of them that started as seventh graders on varsity. And you just roll from there.”
Max Whisman doesn’t think anyone else in the state can say they’ve been essentially part of the same team for a decade. In addition to Whisman, juniors Kris Evans, Chance Fallen, Jaxon and Jayden Hollon, Jayden Molands and Camden Oliver played youth ball together with lone senior Brayden Wilson and freshmen Slade Freeman, Cam Hollon and Landon McWhorter. Junior Braden Tolson and eighth grader Marshall Spencer round out the squad.
“Ever since we’ve been able to hold a bat, we’ve been playing together,” Max Whisman said.
The team’s social media accounts, including an X.com post @Wolfebasebal carry a photo slideshow marking the players’ journey from youth league to region champs.
But that team togetherness also carried increased expectations as the players got older, junior Kris Evans said. The Wolves missed this season’s All “A” Classic and fell to Breathitt County in the 55th District Tournament championship.
“When we was little, there was less responsibility,” Evans said. “Now that we’re grown and we’re still together and we’re still winning — that’s just crazy to me. I couldn’t be more happy about it.”
Evans said the Wolves took their losses in stride, but never wavered in their belief they could make history.
“I feel like we can win every game we ever go into. And that’s a good feeling,” Evans said. “We knew we were still a good ball team and capable of winning the region. So, we just went out there and executed.”
The Wolves (23-11) claimed the 14th Region championship as tournament hosts on a brand new turf field that was part of ongoing improvements to Wolfe County High School’s athletic facilities, proof of the community’s support of its baseball team and other sports.
“There’s nothing I can compare it to,” Max Whisman said of Wolfe County’s 2-0 win over Powell County for the region title. “Just bringing the program from where we started and getting respect on it. And being able to do it in our new facility was even sweeter.”
Wolfe County opens the state tournament against four-time state champion Harrison County at 8:30 p.m. Thursday at the University of Kentucky’s Kentucky Proud Park.
The Wolves got a taste of playing on a college field last year when they made the All “A” Classic at Eastern Kentucky University. Max Whisman thinks his team will be ready.
“We’re not scared of the bright lights,” Max Whisman said. “We’re just coming. We’re going to have a lot of community there and we’ll just enjoy the moment.”
State High School Baseball Tournament
What: Single-elimination tournament featuring champions from each of Kentucky’s 16 regions
When: Thursday-Saturday this week; June 13-14 next week
Where: Kentucky Proud Park in Lexington
This story was originally published June 3, 2025 at 11:34 AM.
