CLARKSVILLE, TN (CLARKSVILLE NOW) – Clarksville Academy centerfielder Cooper Wallace has been named Clarksville Now Player of the Week for racking up 11 hits last week.

During the week of April 10, Clarksville Academy played in five games and won four of them.

The Cougars’ lone loss came from Davidson Academy on Monday in game one of a two-game series, 3-8.

However, Clarksville Academy bounced back in game two and beat the Bears 15-0. Throughout the series, Wallace went 3 for 9 with a double, 1 run scored, 1 hit-by-pitch, 1 stolen base and 2 runs batted in.

After hitting .333 in the first series of the week, the senior outfielder was perfect at the plate the following game. When the Cougars hosted Knights Academy, the team won 12-4, and Wallace accounted for more runs than Knights Academy did as a team.

Wallace hit safely in all four of his at-bats and produced 1 double, 2 runs scored, 1 stolen base and 4 runs batted in.

Clarksville Academy went on to defeat Northeast High and Station Camp High to extend their winning streak.

To cap off the week, Wallace produced his third multi-hit against Station Camp. He had 3 hits, 2 walks, 2 runs scored, 2 stolen bases and 2 runs batted in.

In total, during the week of April 10, Wallace went 11 for 21 with 2 doubles, 1 triple, 3 walks, 1 hit-by-pitch, 6 runs scored, 4 stolen bases and 9 runs batted in.

2022-23 season

Wallace has been one of the most consistent hitters in Montgomery County during the 2022-23 season.

Through five weeks, the senior had a batting average of .456. According to Clarksville Academy Head Coach Dustin Smith, Wallace has the highest average on the team.

 

W5 Season
AB 21 68
Runs 6 30
Hits 11 31
RBI 9 19
BB 3 11
2B 2 5
3B 1 2
HBP 1 8
SB 4 23
AVG 0.524 0.456
SLU % 0.600 0.575
OBP 0.714 0.588
OPS 1.314 1.163

Wallace is also one of the most elusive base runners in Clarksville. He has totaled 23 stolen bases through five weeks, including stealing four bases from this past week. Wallace has an on-base percentage of .588, so more often than not, he’s going to make you pay on the base paths, according to Game Changer.

Wallace also drove in 47% of his runs batted in on the season during week 5 of the 2022-23 regular season.

Coaches corner

“Cooper’s our sparkplug,” Smith said to Clarksville Now. “He’s our leadoff batter, and he gets the game started for us. Once he gets on base, a lot of the time it’s a double because he can steal second base. But he’s kind of that quite guy, and we were talking about him today before practice, he’s so competitive but he doesn’t show it outward. He’s quite but he’s ready to be a bulldog as well.

“You know, last week has been the same as the entire season. He’s consistent all the time; he’s hitting .450, so his batting average has been there all year. Defensively, the ball doesn’t drop in centerfield, because he runs so well. So, Cooper is just really well rounded,” Smith said.

Clarksville Academy  has compiled record of 19-3 on the season. In addition, the Cougars are ranked fourth in the state at the division 2-A level by the Tennessee Baseball Coaches Association.

As for Wallace, once Clarksville Academy’s season comes to an end, the senior will be moving on to play baseball at the next level for Volunteer State Community College.

“Throughout my recruiting process, I first had to decide between football and baseball,” said Wallace. “I narrowed it down between Carson-Newman and Vol State once I decided to play baseball. I like Coach McGuire up there; I think he runs a good program so that’s why I chose to play there.”

Player of the Week