Greenville, SC | The Young Harris baseball team has been picked to finish third in the 2026 Conference Carolinas Preseason Poll. 

The Mountain Lions, under the direction of head coach Stephen Waggener, will look to build off a strong 2025 campaign where YH was named Conference Carolinas Regular Season Co-Champions after finishing with a 40-17 record and reaching the championship game in the Conference Carolinas Tournament. Young Harris will look to improve their preseason ranking after being selected third with 145 votes while North Greenville and Francis Marion tied for first with 149 votes and four first-place votes each. 

Players to Watch:

Young Harris will return a trio of standout players to watch for this season. Drew Bray, the senior infielder from Canton, Georgia returns for the Mountain Lions after hitting .354 and being named first-team All-Conference Carolinas and Conference Carolinas All-Defensive Team. Kade Smallwood, the junior 1st baseman/outfielder from Flowery Branch, Georgia will look to repeat his 2025 season where he hit .343 with 18 homeruns and was named second team All-Conference Carolinas. Jonny Smith, the sophomore infielder from Suwanne, Georgia will return for Young Harris after hitting .346 and being named second team All-Conference Carolinas. 

The Conference Carolinas Baseball Tournament will be held from April 29th to May 4th with all games being played at CaroMont Health Park in Gastonia, NC. Young Harris will aim to follow up on last season's success and return to the Conference Carolinas Championship Game.