2019 Baseball Championship Guide - Savannah

GHSA 2019 STATE BASEBALL CHAMPIONSHIPS | SAVANNAH, GRAYSON STADIUM - 1A-PUBLIC & 1A-PRIVATE

GHSA PAST CHAMPIONS

WORD FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

GREETINGS, GHSA BASEBALL FANS

W

elcome to the 2019 GHSA Baseball championships! The games are sure to be exciting as all of the schools represented are looking forward to their team achieving the title of “Champion”. However we all know that all of our teams are outstanding and are definitely winners. This has been an outstanding season and this year’s championship games will include familiar faces as well as teams that have worked hard and peaked at just the right time. Our congratulations are in order for all of the teams, coaches, administrators, students and parents who have supported the athletes through this year’s journey to the final games. I know you will enjoy and appreciate the games and all of the work leading up to this exciting event.

I would also like to thank you for your support of high school baseball throughout the season. Your attendance and support is integral to the success of high school athletics and for the team you are here to cheer on. Good sportsmanship is expected from our athletes and I urge you to be positive in your support of all of our teams. Let’s work together to make today’s games a great experience for all involved.

To put on an event of this magnitude takes many volunteers who have worked tirelessly to pro-

vide a “first class” event. Many hours of work from this group will enhance the experience of our players, students and fans. The GHSA staff has been working for weeks as well to ensure a special event for all involved.

Finally I would like to thank our corporate sponsors who make it possible to put on these championships. Their advertisements can be seen throughout this venue and I encourage you to support them whenever possible. The GHSA wants to thank these exemplary companies for their involvement, we appreciate their support.

Thank you for your attendance and I know you are going to enjoy the best high school baseball anywhere!

Sincerely,

James R. Hines, Jr. Executive Director

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T

he 2019 Georgia High School Association Baseball State Championship Guide is published by Score Atlanta, in conjunction with the GHSA. The guide was designed by

Rhonda Rawls, edited by Craig Sager II, Seth Ellerbee and Graham David, and information was provided by the GHSA. Photos on the cover are courtesy of the GHSA, Grayson HS, Savannah Christian Preparatory School, and Parkview High School. For more information

Year AAAA 1985 Forest Park 1986 Brookwood 1987 McEachern 1988 Evans 1989 Evans 1990 Evans 1991 Newnan 1992 Walton 1993 Evans 1994 Evans 1995 Sprayberry 1996 Parkview 1997 Colquilt Co. 1998 Harrison 1999 Lassiter 2000 Lowndes

AAA Marist Roswell Westside Westside Jones Co. Marist Columbus Columbus Columbus Marist Columbus Columbus Columbus Greenbrier Greenbrier Columbus

AA Hancock Central Harlem Shiloh Berrien Washington-Wilkes Lovett Perry Cook Lovett Lovett Vidalia Gainesville Gainesville Gainesville Thomasville Cook

A Calhoun Co. Clinch Co. Clinch Co. Towns Co. Clinch Co. Bremen Clinch Co. Clinch Co. Pace Acad.

Pace Acad.

Pace Acad.

Toombs Co. Irwin Co. North Forsyth Lovett Calhoun

Year AAAAA 2001 Parkview 2002 Parkview 2003 Colquitt Co. 2004 Milton 2005 Chattahoochee 2006 Lassiter 2007 Walton 2008 Brookwood 2009 Pope 2010 Harrison 2011 Parkview 2012 Parkview

AAAA Shaw Marist Marist Columbus Henry Co. Greenbrier Greenbrier Loganville Northgate Marist Marist Loganville

AAA Gainesville Gainesville Cartersville LaGrange Columbus Blessed Trinity Dunwoody Cartersville Cartersville Columbus Columbus Columbus

AA Cartersville Cartersville Vidalia Bacon Co. Calhoun Lovett Holy Innocents’ Wesleyan Lovett Calhoun Buford Appling County

Year AAAAAA AAAAA 2013 Milton Pope 2014 Lambert Houston Co. 2015 Parkview Greenbrier 2016 Walton Houston Co.

AAAA Redan Carrollton Buford Locust Grove

AAA Cartersville Blessed Trinity Blessed Trinity Westminster

AA Lovett Benedictine Wesleyan Lovett

A Walker Walker Clinch Co. Lakeview Acad.

Calvary Day ELCA Calvary Day Pacelli Wesleyan Wesleyan Hebron Chr. Providence Chr.

A-Private A-Public ELCA Charlton Co. King’s Ridge Charlton Co. King’s Ridge Schley Co. Tattnall Square Treutlen

Year AAAAAAA AAAAAA AAAAA AAAA AAA AA A-Private A-Public 2017 Etowah Pope Loganville Marist North Hall Jeff Davis Savannah Chr. Schley Co. 2018 Parkview Pope Loganville Jefferson Lovett Benedictine Gordon Lee Tattnall Square

on Score Atlanta, go to ScoreAtl.com or call 404-256-1572.

Previous years available on www.ghsa.net

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MAY 20 & 21

GHSA BASEBALL STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS

FAMILIAR FINALS OPPONENTS MEET IN SAVANNAH

BY GRAHAM DAVID | GDAVID@SCOREATL.COM

F

irst to take the field at Grayson Stadium on Monday are the Schley County Wildcats and the Gordon Lee Trojans. This Class A-Public finals matchup features both teams representing the state champions from the past two years, with Gordon Lee taking the most recent title in 2018. Now looking for their fourth state baseball title in school history, the Trojans boast an overall record of 30-4 for the season and have yet to be forced into a game three during their postseason run. Their 2019 finals appearance is the programs fifth in seven years, and third consecutive. On offense, they’ve outscored their opponents 58-10 en route to the finals, including two shutout wins against Seminole County and Bowdon. Junior Jake Wright has been a force on the mound, going a perfect 13-0 on the season including an 11-strikeout one-hitter game against Bowdon in the semifinals, all while having an earned run average of under 1.

The Schley County Wildcats failed to make a return to the finals last year following a two-game sweep by Bowdon in the quarterfinals but are now one series away from the programs third state title in five years.

The Wildcats postseason run hasn’t been as comfortable as Gordon Lee’s, with the exception of a first-round bye. During their second round series against Telfair County,

Schley County managed to pull off the twogame sweep over the Trojans but won both games by just one run. Things didn’t get easier for the Wildcats as they were forced into a game three in both their quarterfinals matchup against Commerce and their semifinals matchup against Irwin County where the Wildcats were held to zero runs in game two of the series. Now, Schley County is riding the momentum of their stellar 10-1 game three victory against Irwin County to earn them their finals berth and give head coach Chuck Cheek his 400th career win. The Wildcats now await their matchup against Gordon Lee, the very team they swept in the 2017 finals to take home their second state title in school history.

The Class A-Private finals game on Tuesday will feature two teams that are familiar with the pressure of playing for the state title. Defending champs Tattnall Square have claimed the title twice in the past three years, going home empty handed only in 2017 following their finals loss to Savannah Christian, giving the program its first state baseball title in school history. Tattnall Square boast a 32-3 overall record this year, including a 2-0 regular season win over finals opponent Savannah Christian. The Trojans have been forced into two rubber matches during their postseason

run, once during their quarterfinals matchup against Strong Rock and again in their semifinals series against Hebron Christian.

Looking to deny Tattnall Square of their repeat will be the Savannah Christian Raiders, who took home the title themselves in 2017 after a two-game sweep over Tattnall Square. Following a first-round bye the Raiders found early success over Mt. Paran, the only series that didn’t force a deciding game three. During their quarterfinals and semifinals series against Savannah Country Day and Wesleyan the Raiders offense outscored opponents 39-33, earning one shutout over Savannah Country Day. Junior Kyle Hilton, a Georgia Tech commit, Senior Garrett Bradley and Sophomore Joey White make for an intimidating trio on the mound.

An unorthodox method of switching pitchers back and forth once per inning was utilized by the Raiders after further research into the GHSA pitching rules showed it to be legal, giving each of these pitchers plenty of exposure on the mound. On offense, Kennesaw State commit Mark Langston, Georgia Southern commit Jarrett Brown and White have all made huge contributions throughout the postseason.

Photos courtesy of Savannah Christian Preparatory School and Joey Hiller.

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GHSA 2019 STATE BASEBALL CHAMPIONSHIPS | SAVANNAH, GRAYSON STADIUM - 1A-PUBLIC & 1A-PRIVATE

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MAY 20 & 21

CHAMPIONSHIP BASEBALL ROSTERS & SCHEDULE CLASS 1A-Public SCHLEY COUNTY WILDCATS Head Coach: Chuck Cheek 2 3 4 5 8 10 11 12 13 14 15 20 22 23 25 30 33

Garrett Peavy Trypp Lumpkin Andrew James Luke Pawlowski Dylan Windham Luke Renfroe Dylan Taylor Athon Hines Lorne Barineau Ridge James Tyler Cheek Trent Bivins Dakota Albritton Logan Wurtz Ashton Goodin Tucker Welch Michael Wainwright

11 9 10 10 12 10 10 10 12 9 10 11 12 11 12 10 12

P/SS/OF P/C/OF 2B P/OF P/1B OF P/SS P/3B P/3B P/OF P/1B/3B P/OF OF 2B P/OF OF P/3B

4 5 6 7 8 10 11 12 13 14 16 17 18 19 20 21 23 27

P/OF P/INF

1A-Private

Tattnall Sq. vs. Savannah Chr.

P/INF C INF/OF INF P/INF, P/OF C P/INF OF OF P/INF P/INF, P/INF P,OF P/OF P/OF P/OF P/INF,

11 10 10 11 10 10 12 12 12 12 10 12 10 10 10 9 9 10

TATTNALL SQUARE TROJANS Head Coach: Joey Hiller

Head Coach: Mike Dunfee Griffin Collins Jake Wright

Schley County vs Gordon Lee

CLASS 1A-Private

GORDON LEE TROJANS 1 3

Will Sizemore Parker Salmon Jacob Neal JD Day Brody Cobb Cade Peterson Chris Potter Logan Streetman Justin Wooden Braxton Ledford Cody Thomas Hunter Hodson Jackson Moore Blake Erby Riley King Garren Ramey Tanner Wilson Jake Poindexter

1A-Public

10 11

1 2

Clay Rowland Hunter Alexander

INF/RHP C/UTIL/RHP

9 10

4 5 6 7 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 22 23 26 27 28 29 30 34 41 42

DJ Willis Brant Gibson Cohen Ingle Russ Miller Kaden Toth Deji Mack Elmo Daniels Gray Talton Logan Winget Tyler Duggan Trey Ham Cole Rowland Carter Fink Charlie Morris Cade Bloodworth Brett Mchugh Brooks Gorman Benjamin Stubbs Bo Hatcher Dawson Brown Miles Morris Kyle Johnson Konner Toth George Vining Vince Kimball BJ Spears

RHP/INF 1B/RHP/OF INF/OF INF/RHP CF/LF/RF 2B/INF C/OF OF RHP/OF LHP/OF C/INF/RHP RHP/UTIL 1B/RHP/OF INF INF OF/RHP RHP/INF OF 3B/2B/P RHP/INF/OF INF/OF INF/RHP/OF OF OF INF OF

5/20 (DH) 5:00pm, 7:30pm; *Game 3 5/22 TBD

5/21 (DH) 5:00pm, 7:30pm; *Game 3 5/22 TBD

9 9 9 9 11 12 11 10 10 10 12 11 10 9 9 11 11 9 10 11 12 10 11 12 9 12

43

Gavin Whitfield

P

12

44

William Stubbs

INF/OF/RHP

12

SAVANNAH CHRISTIAN RAIDERS Head Coach: Carl Carter 1

Braden Schuman

2B

10

2

Jackson Williams

P/RF

11

3

Cam Crosby

P/1B/CF

12

4

TJ Cowart

LF

12

6

Jerrod Miller

2B

10

7

Mark Langston

1B/DH

12

8

Jonathan Forbes

3B

12

9

Luke Forbes

IF

11

10

Jack Reiser

OF

11

11

Joey White

P/2B

10

12

Colby O’Brien

P/2B/3B/OF

11

13

Chase Cowart

P/OF

11

14

Kyle Hilton

P/2B/SS

11

17

Carson Cale

LF

11

20

Garrett Bradley

P/C

12

21

James Portzer

P/CF

12

24

Justin McInnis

C

10

32

Jarrett Brown

P/SS

12

34

Owen Kieffer

OF

9

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GHSA 2019 STATE BASEBALL CHAMPIONSHIPS | SAVANNAH, GRAYSON STADIUM - 1A-PUBLIC & 1A-PRIVATE

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