Chuckey-Doak senior Ben Palazzo celebrated with family and friends on Thursday and signed to extend his baseball career at the collegiate level to play at Alice Lloyd College for the foreseeable future.
Palazzo explained his emotions and what it feels like to make a dream come true and play at the next level. “It’s very surreal. Growing up I’ve watched all these guys that I know sign and go play in college. All my other brothers, Lynkin earlier this year, Dom earlier this year. Guys I’ve played with ever since we were 4 and 5. Just being able to see them sign and now me being able to sign it’s just very surreal,” Palazzo expressed.
Ben graduates from a very successful Chuckey-Doak baseball program and becomes the fourth player in five years to sign to play in college. He joins Wade Fletcher (Walters State), Cadin Tullock (Tusculum), and Lynkin Cutshaw (Pellissippi State). Palazzo will become the first Black Knight alumni to play collegiate athletics at Alice Lloyd College.
“It’s just awesome. Being able to come from this school and come from this program and just be able to be one of those guys to go and sign and play college baseball is a dream come true,” Palazzo mentioned.
The name “Palazzo” is a very well-known name in the Chuckey-Doak community and across Greene County. Ben is the fourth Palazzo brother to attend Chuckey-Doak in the last decade. The Palazzo brothers were all talented athletes and all reached the collegiate level in their respective sports. Ben will join brothers Ethan (Milligan Basketball), Matthew (Tusculum Football), and Nick (King Fishing) as collegiate athletes.
“It means a lot. Being able to come in after all three of my brothers have already played each sport here. Baseball being so called my sport. Matthew signed with football, Ethan signed for basketball, and Nick was fishing. It just means a lot for me to be able to continue my collegiate career for baseball,” Ben stated.
Alice Lloyd is a private Christian school located in Pippa Passes, Kentucky. It is a very small school with an enrollment around 500-600 students. Their mascot is the Eagles and Alice Lloyd competes in the Continental Athletic Conference (CAC) in the NAIA.
The 2026 season finished with the Eagles sporting a 31-20 record.
Scott Cornett serves as Head Coach of Alice Lloyd’s baseball program. Cornett also serves as Head Basketball Coach and Mayor of Pippa Passes.
Chuckey-Doak’s season ended in Elizabethton in the District 1-2A Tournament. At the time, Palazzo didn’t know what his future looked like in baseball and thought he might’ve played his last game. The opportunity to play baseball again and continue his career into the collegiate level excites Ben.
“Obviously it was sad how we ended this year and I didn’t know if I was going to be able to play baseball again after that last game because I didn’t get in touch with the coaches until after our season ended. After that last game I thought baseball was over for me. So, it kind of hit me really hard that last game. But now being able to say that I’m going to play collegiate baseball it’s very surreal and I’m just very excited to be able to go up there and play,” Ben said.
Ben described some of his favorite memories as a Black Knight and said his favorite was the only day he was able to bring his speaker on a bus ride to Gatlinburg-Pittman. Ben’s two-homer game against Hampton this past season and advancing to Regionals last season were among his favorites.
Palazzo credited his father, Michael, for helping support him and help coach him through his career. Ben mentioned Coach Jacob Willett as another contributor to his success as a player and helped make Thursday happen.
Ben plans to study criminal justice in college.
