The 2026 South Carolina high school baseball season is quickly approaching and, as usual, excitement is abound throughout the state. Players and coaches have been working in preparation for the upcoming season and, as is the case each year, there are some very talented players and teams across The Palmetto State.

Teams across the state have goals and aspirations to finish their seasons atop their respective South Carolina High School League class, but there is plenty of work to be done before that becomes reality. We hope to familiarize our readers with many of the teams with this initial Preseason Power 25 release which will take us right up to first pitch.

Please keep checking back throughout the season as we will be your one-stop shop for everything related to high school baseball across South Carolina. Each week we will be releasing our Power 25, Players of the Week, Diamond Notes, Scout Blog and much more. 

Our 2026 preseason coverage continues today.

High School: Fort Dorchester Patriots
Head Coach: Jay Christmas
SCHSL Classification: 5 A D1 (Region Region 8)
Last Year’s Record: 21-9   Playoffs 2-2 
2025 Season Highlights: Second most wins in program history/ East Coast Invitational Champions
Key Players Lost: RJ Hamilton  Ljay Johnson

 

 

ROSTER PREVIEW

Team Strengths: Leadership in locker room, consistent daily standards and accountability, Discipline in practice structure and execution 
Top Returning Players: Banks Wickersham C/RHP/SS Senior one top players in state, Brady Quirk RHP/SS Sophomore, Nathan Clark OF Senior, Lee Lovelace OF Senior, Cannon Corder 1st/RHP Senior, Alex Zapata LHP Senior, Lucas Grecco Utl/ RHP Senior, AJ Watts OF/ RHP Senior, Zach Welch INF Senior, Thomas Wamer RHP/ OF Senior, Connor Baumgardner LHP/ 1st Junior, Daniel Schenk OF/RHP Junior, Luke Conroy MIF Junior, Jansen Bohanan OF Junior
Projected Starting 9: CF Nathan Clark(AJ Watts), C Banks Wickersham, 1st Cannon Corder, SS Brady Quirk, RF Daniel Schenk(Jansen Bohanan), DH Connor Baumgardner(Myles Dewese), RF Lee Lovelace, 3B Zach Welch, 2B Luke Conroy  SP Alex Zapata
Projected Rotation: Banks Wickersham, Brady Quirk, Daniel Schenk, Alex Zapata

NEWCOMER TO WATCH

Impact Underclassmen: Brady Quirk

 

TEAM OUTLOOK

“Our group has the talent, toughness, and work ethic to compete at a high level, and we are committed to steady growth every week.  The standard has been set in how we prepare, how we play, and how we take care of the small details.  If we stay true to that, we will put ourselves in position for a strong postseason run.” – Jay Christmas, head coach

+ Top Seniors: Banks Wickersham, Nathan Clark, Cannon Corder, AJ Watts, Lee Lovelace, Alex Zapata, Lucas Grecco, Myles Dewese, Zach Welch, Thomas Wamer
+ Top Juniors: Daniel Schenk, Luke Conroy, Jansen Bohanan, Connor Baumgardner, Jake Denzik

 

Find more information on the 2026 Patriots program below:

Follow Fort Dorchester on X at @FortDPatriotsBB   @fortdbaseball  
Watch and listen to our podcast, “Palmetto Dugout Show”, on YouTube
Read our in-season analysis on Prep Baseball South Carolina’s homepage