MOUNT BERRY, Ga. - David Beasley welcomes his newcomers for the 2026 season.
 

Nicholas Copeland 
Nicholas heads over 500 miles southeast of his hometown of Kirkwood, Missouri, to become a Viking. He is the son of Chris and Tara Copeland and brother to Mya. He graduated from Kirkwood High School, where he was inducted into the National Honor Society, Fellowship of Christian Athletes, and Distributive Education Clubs of America. On the diamond, Nicholas made waves as an All-Conference Honorable Mention in 2024 and was also Academic All-State in his senior season. Copeland will study in the data analytics field during his time at Berry.  

Matthew Strydom 
Strydom is from nearby Marietta, Georgia, and he is majoring in engineering during his time as a Viking. Matthew graduated from Pope High School in Cobb County. 

Wes Taylor 
Wes makes his way to Mount Berry via a short drive down Route 53 from his hometown of Calhoun, Georgia. He is the son of Dan and Tundra Taylor. Wes graduated from Calhoun High School, where he made his name on the mound as a First Team All-Region pitcher in his senior season. Academically, Wes was involved with the National Beta Club, National Technical Honor Society, and National Spanish Honor Society. As a Viking, Taylor plans to study animal science. 

Xavier Byams 
Xavier finds his way to Mount Berry after traveling about 80 miles northwest of his hometown of Lilburn, Georgia. He is the son of Vanessa and Vincent Byams and brother to Gabby. Xavier attended Marist High School, where he led the War Eagles to two elite eight appearances in his junior and senior campaigns. While at Berry, Xavier plans to study business. 

Landon Comer 
Landon begins his collegiate career at Mount Berry after growing up about 70 miles east in Cumming, Georgia. Comer graduated from King's Ridge High School, where he earned his way into the National Honor Society, National Science Honor Society, National Spanish Honor Society, and the Beta Club. On the diamond, he earned Second Team All-Region in sophomore and junior year, and First Team All-Region in his junior year.  

Johnmark Christopher 
JohnMark hails from Lawrenceville, Georgia, and he is the son of Meredith and Mark Christopher and brother to Kennedy. He graduated from Bethlehem Christian Academy where he achieved a 4.0 GPA for his entire high school career and earned a spot in the National Honor Society. On the playing field, Christopher earned All-State, First Team All-Region, and BCA Baseball Team MVP in his junior season. As a senior, JohnMark capped off his career with GIAA Region Pitcher of the Year recognition. 

Chanwoo Kim  
Chanwoo travels across the Peach State from Columbus to begin his collegiate career as a Viking. He is the son of Sun Tu and Haejin Kim and brother to Hyunsu. Kim graduated from Brookstone High School, where he was a 2-time regional champion and state champion in 2024. Academically, Chanwoo was inducted into the National Tech Honor Society. 

Preston Dean 
From nearby Marietta, Georgia, Preston is the son of Travis and Jess Dean and brother to Temperance. Dean graduated from Lassiter High School, where he led his team to an Elite 8 in his junior season and a Sweet 16 in his senior campaign. Preston plans to study business in his time at Berry.  

JT Whritenour 
JT's journey to Berry brings him about 100 miles northwest of his hometown of Loganville, Georgia. He is the son of Julie and Tom Whritenour and brother to Emma. Whritenour graduated from Parkview High School, where he graduated with honors as an AP Scholar and was inducted into the Parkview Athletic Honor Society. He led his team to become state runners-up in 2023 and was named Second Team All-County in his senior year. JT plans to study engineering during his time as a Viking.  

Ayden Frazier 
Ayden is from right here in Rome, Georgia, where he attended Pepperell High School. He is the son of April and PJ Frazier and brother to Preston and Jackie. While at Pepperell, Frazier was named Second Team All-Region twice and First Team All-region in his senior year, while leading his team to the state championship game. Academically, Frazier earned high honors and was inducted into the National Honor Society. Ayden plans to study business administration. 

Luke White 
Luke is from Villa Rica, Georgia, and he is the son of John and Julie White and brother to Tyler, Jake, and Megan. White graduated from Central Carrollton, where he led his team to the playoffs in each of his years on varsity and was voted Team Leader in his senior year. Luke also earned the Ronnie Burchfield Award to cap off his athletic accolades. In the classroom, he was a Carroll County Scholar and was inducted into both the Beta Club and the National Honor Society. 

JP Kilgo 
JP is from just down Route 20 in Silver Creek, Georgia. He is the son of Kara and Jonathan Paul Kilgo and brother to Kamden and Landon. Kilgo attended Pepperell High School and made his name as an All-State talent in three consecutive seasons. JP also helped the Dragons to a state runner-up finish in his senior year. At Berry, he will major in business management.  

Ben Fernandez 
Ben hails from the historic city of Savannah, Georgia, and he is the son of Amy Heyel and William Hernandez and brother to Abi. Fernandez is transferring to Berry from Miles College where he competed on the baseball team. He graduated high school from Islands High School, where he set the school win record and made the All-Greater Savannah Baseball Team in 2024. Academically, Ben was inducted into the National Honor Society and won the Superintendents Award. 

Austin Tant  
Tant hails from "Music City" in Nashville, Tennessee, and he is the son of Stephanie and Jay Tant. Austin graduated from Montgomery Bell Academy. 

Kenny Pickens 
Kenny is a native of Ludowici, Georgia, and he graduated from Long County High School. At Long County, he was First Team All-Region twice and Pitcher of the Year in 2025. Academically, he achieved a 3.9 GPA. Pickens plans to study exercise science while at Berry. 

Eric Fountain 
Eric is from Suwanee, Georgia, which is about 90 miles away from Mount Berry. He is a graduate of Peachtree Ridge High School, where he was First Team All-Region and Honorable Mention All-County in his senior season. Fountain was also a three-time academic scholar. As he takes on the next stage of academia, Eric will study computer science.  

Mason Hillman 
Hillman is from nearby Marietta, Georgia, and he is the son of Brian and Catrina Hillman and brother to Dominic. He attended Kell High School, where he was a proven winner, helping his team to a Final 4 and Elite 8 appearance. Mason also graduated with honors and plans to major in engineering at Berry. 

Carson Peppers 
Peppers is from Scottsboro, Alabama, and he is the son of Mark and Charita Peppers. Carson graduated Cum Laude from Scottsboro High School, and he was a Jackson County Leadership graduate. He plans to study business management during his time as a Viking.  

Chance Edmonds 
Chance is transferring into Berry from Morehead State to join his brother, Chase, who is a senior catcher for the Vikings. Chance is the son of Kevin and Christy Edmonds. The marketing major graduated from high school at North Oldham, where he was a District Champion in baseball.  

Blythe Keisler 

Blythe hails from Marietta, Georgia, and he is the son of Trey Keisler and Heather Priddy, and brother to Sutton. Keisler comes to Berry after attending Augusta University, where the lefty appeared in 21 games on the mound.  He graduated from Pope High School, where he earned numerous accolades on the diamond, such as1st Team All-Region in 2023, 2nd Team All-State in 2023 and also won Pitcher of the Year at his school in 2023. His individual success also led to his team becoming State Champions and Region Champions in 2022, and State Runner-Ups in 2023. 

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