1974 graduate of Colbert County High School, Chris was a three sport athlete for the Tribe, but it was baseball that he excelled. He had a career pitching record of 23 wins and 7 losses and a career batting average of .375. He had a 6-2 record on the mound for the Indians as a sophomore throwing a 1-hitter against Muscle Shoals and four shutouts during the season. He followed that up with a junior year in which he went 8-2 with a .350 batting average and two homeruns. It was during that season that the arm strength of Chris became apparent as the team reached the 3A playoffs. He pitched a 1-hit shoutout against Russellville, a 1-hit shutout against Hamilton and capped that off with a no-hitter against Haleyville. Following those three performances the Birmingham News describe Chris as the "Ironman" after throwing 21 innings in five days.

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In the 1973 3A State Championship Series in which Colbert County finished as a runner-up to John Carroll, Chris pitched the Indians to a 7 inning win in game one and had the winning homerun, pitched 4 innings in two, immediately following game one and pitched 7 innings on Monday for a total of 18 innings in the championship series. He was selected booth All-Area and All-Region. During his senior season the Indians finished fourth in the 3A playoffs as Chris had another great year with a 9-3 season record on the mound, hit .390 with 2 homeruns while again being selected All-Area and All-Region. Chris was signed to a baseball scholarship at Freed Hardeman after high school.