MURFREESBORO – Six years ago, Chuck Hargis started building the baseball program at Lakeway Christian with small numbers, but eventually the Lions accomplished big things.

Hargis led his team to the TSSAA state championship this past week and in doing so, reflected on the journey from the genesis to the mountain top.

“When I started here six years ago, there were six kids who showed up and said they were interested in baseball and that was in grades six through twelve. Here we are six years later, winning the state championship. We couldn’t have done this without the guys before them. Chason Lovin, Brock Mauk, Blake Bible, J.J. Johnson and guys like that who came here to build a baseball program.”

Those former Lions laid a foundation for success that the current batch of LCA players took and ran with, all the way to a state title in 2026.

“This shows the buyin from some of the local community baseball players who came over for the opportunity to play,” Hargis said. “They saw the success, bought in and tried to build a state championship team for their senior year. We continued to get better over these six years and it’s a culture that other guys built, and the culture the guys here now have continued. They have passed the torch on, and I love all the guys who helped us get to where we are. The future looks bright for us.”

The Lions’ boss knew he had a team that could put together a special season way back at the beginning of the school year.

“Winning the state title was a realization of all the hard work they put in. That started in August and went all the way until Thursday evening. This was a great group of kids who have worked hard all year. They really bought in and even with several new kids coming to our program, they just all bought in and respected each other. They set out for one goal and they accomplished that and that was awesome to see.”

Lakeway had to do it the hard way last week as they lost to St. George’s after beating them in the first round of the state Final Four. That forced a second and deciding game in the championship round and Hargis said the Lions had a little extra motivation when they faced off against the Gryphons in the last game of the season.

“When the first game on Thursday ended, one of their players kind of taunted us a little bit and showed us up. We got into our team huddle after that and it gave us fuel to add to the fire. I told our guys that if that didn’t fire them up to go out there and get the job done even more, I don’t know what would. It did as we showed up and jumped on them early in that first inning and didn’t let off the gas the rest of the way.”

The Lions scored two runs in the first inning and three more in the second to seize control and never looked back as they hoisted the state championship trophy with a 6-1 victory to cap an amazing season. One of the main reasons LCA had so much success was because of the brutal schedule Hargis put together for the 2026 campaign. That included games against state powers Greeneville, Farragut and Gibbs. Hargis said he told his team not to worry so much about the record but to focus on using stiff competition to get better. They certainly listened.

“Before the season even started, I told our guys we were going to be playing a really hard schedule and at the end of the year, we could be a .500 team and yet, still have a chance to go compete for a state championship. That’s how hard the schedule I put together and then the tournament games we played in, was going to be. We didn’t want any other way, we want to play the best teams, compete, challenge ourselves. That prepared us for the type of teams who were at the state tournament and the type of pressure we were going to put on ourselves.”

What’s the future hold for Hargis and his program?

“The coaching staff was sitting up front (on Thursday) on the bus and we wanted to enjoy it but it was like tomorrow is another day,” the LCA head man said. “This is high school baseball so my job is to teach these guys baseball and develop them into the best players they can be but also to be great Christian young men. It’s not all about next year. We won the state title and would we love to win another one next year? Yes, we would but is that all we are going to be focused on? No, it’s not. Let’s get together and see what we have come August, get in the weight room to get bigger and stronger and then we will set our goals.”