Georgia Gwinnett College wins inaugural Continental Athletic Conference baseball title
May 10—LAWRENCEVILLE — The Georgia Gwinnett College baseball team completed a dominant three-game performance to capture the inaugural Continental Athletic Conference Baseball Championship with a 5-2 victory against Fisher College (Mass.) on Monday afternoon at the Grizzly Baseball Complex.
The Grizzlies (42-14) outscored their three opponents by a 24-3 margin, struck out 25 opposing hitters, had 15 steals, and didn't have a defensive error in winning the program's sixth overall conference championship (formerly the Association of Independent Institutions).
Now GGC, the defending NAIA national champion, awaits announcement of the Opening Round pairings for this year's NAIA championship tournament. The team will be hosting one of 10 first-round sites. Pairings will be made by the NAIA national office on Thursday, May 12, at 5 p.m.
In Monday's championship showdown, junior Myles McKisic led the team's early offensive production with a run-scoring double in the second inning and later hit a sacrifice fly to produce another run in the fourth inning. A pair of errors by Fisher (29-28) on the same play allowed senior J.D. Stubbs to score later in the fourth to give the tournament hosts a 3-0 advantage.
"Championship games have a different feel about them. It took us a couple of innings to settle in and remember it was just another baseball game and to get back to playing our style," said GGC head coach Jeremy Sheetinger.
After Fisher scored its first run in the bottom of the fourth inning, the Grizzlies added some insurances in the seventh and eighth innings to pull away for the championship.
Freshman Braxton Meguiar added another sacrifice fly to bring home sophomore Joshua Holt Jr. in the seventh inning. A throwing error following a pop up in foul territory allowed senior Livingston Morris to score one inning later for the eventual 5-2 victory margin.
Sophomore starting pitcher Tyler Clayton tossed six strong innings to pick up the victory, improving to 5-1 on the season. Sophomore Gage Williams, senior Tuck Tucker and junior Jonathan Haab allowed just one hit as each threw one inning in relief. Haab registered his second save of the season by tossing a scoreless ninth inning.
Senior Austin Bates was named the CAC Baseball Championship's Most Outstanding Player after posting a .556 batting average for the three victories and helping manage a pitching staff that was on top of its game throughout the tournament.
"The key indicator for Austin (Bates) is games played and games started. It tells you everything you need to know about him as a player," Sheetinger said of his senior catcher. "Austin is a linchpin for everything that we've done this season. He's the ultimate Grizzly and ultimate tough guy. He's the guy you want behind the plate."
Senior pitcher Gavin Heltemes, outfielder Livingston Morris and first baseman Stubbs joined junior pitcher Rob Hamby on being named to the all-tournament team for their strong play throughout the championship tournament.
"Our guys have been through the battles this season and we leaned on our experience to carry us to this championship," Sheetinger said. "It was a total team effort, with our offense providing runs and our quality pitching staff having strong performances. Winning a championship continues our program's proud winning tradition."
