College Baseball
SEC 10-Step
By: Michael Spiers
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
March Madness is finally here, and once again the SEC is right in the middle of it all.
For years the Southeastern Conference was known mostly as the king of college football, but that reputation has clearly expanded. SEC basketball is now one of the most powerful forces in the sport, and this year’s NCAA Tournament bracket is another example of that.
The SEC placed 10 teams in the 2026 NCAA Tournament field, the most of any conference in the country. That kind of representation tells you just how deep the league has become. It also means that when the tournament tips off, there will be SEC teams all over the bracket.
Florida leads the way for the conference as a number one seed. The Gators not only won the SEC regular season title, but they also come into the tournament as the defending national champions. That makes them one of the teams everyone will be watching closely.
Florida has the talent and experience to make another deep run, but March is never easy. Even high seeds can run into trouble quickly.
Right behind Florida are Alabama and Arkansas, both coming in as four seeds.
Alabama has been one of the most explosive offensive teams in the country this season. When the Crimson Tide get hot from the outside, they can score points in a hurry.
Arkansas, meanwhile, comes into the tournament with momentum after winning the SEC Tournament. That kind of late season confidence can be huge when the games start getting tighter in March.
Vanderbilt earned a five seed, which is one of the program’s best tournament positions in years. The Commodores have quietly put together a very solid season and could easily be one of those teams that makes a surprising run if things fall their way.
Tennessee comes in as a six seed and looks like another tough out. The Volunteers play the kind of physical defense that tends to translate well in tournament games where every possession matters.
Kentucky, as usual, finds itself back in the tournament as a seven seed. The Wildcats open against Santa Clara, and while Kentucky has had its ups and downs this year, it is still a roster full of talent. Kentucky teams always seem capable of catching fire at the right time.
Georgia also made the field as an eight seed, which means the Bulldogs could be looking at a difficult path if they want to advance deep into the tournament.
Missouri and Texas A&M both landed as ten seeds, making them classic upset candidates in the opening round.
Texas barely squeezed into the field as an eleven seed and will have to win a First Four game in Dayton just to reach the main bracket. But once a team gets into the tournament, anything can happen. Every year we see someone make an unexpected run.
Outside the SEC, several other conferences also had strong showings.
The Big Ten placed nine teams into the tournament, led by number one seed Michigan. Purdue, Michigan State, Illinois, Nebraska, Wisconsin, UCLA, Ohio State, and Iowa also made the field.
The Big 12 sent eight teams to the tournament as well. Arizona leads that group as a number one seed, with Houston and Iowa State both coming in as two seeds.
The ACC also bounced back with eight teams in the field, led by top overall seed Duke.
From an SEC fan’s perspective, though, the biggest headline is simple. Ten teams from the conference are dancing this year, and several of them have a real shot to make serious noise.
If the regular season was any indication, the SEC could once again be a major storyline throughout March Madness.
Gators Chomp Into Tournament
By: Robert Craft
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Florida enters the 2025-26 NCAA tournament with +650 odds to cut down the nets come the national championship on April 6.
The Gators have the fourth-best odds to win the NCAA Tournament, and in their case repeat as national champions, behind Duke (+300), Michigan (+350) and Arizona (+400).
Florida was selected as a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament in the South Region, marking the program’s fourth No. 1 seed selection in program history.
The Gators will make their 24th all-time NCAA Tournament appearance and third in a row under fourth-year head coach Todd Golden, who has led Florida to a 6-1 record in the NCAA Tournament, including last season’s national championship.
UF enters March Madness as victors of 12 of the program’s last 13 games, including an 11-game winning streak in conference play to conclude the regular season, and a 71-63 triumph over Kentucky in the quarterfinal round of the SEC Tournament, before Florida fell to Vanderbilt in the SEC semifinals, 91-74. The Commodores join the Gators in the South region of the NCAA Tournament bracket.
Florida faced two fellow NCAA Tournament No. 1 seeds during the non-conference stretch of its 2025-26 season, falling to then-No. 13-ranked Arizona, 93-87, in its season-opener, and losing to No. 4 Duke, 67-66, on Dec. 2. UF also faced No. 2-seed UConn on Dec. 9, falling to the No. 5-ranked Huskies 77-73.
The Gators ultimately went 9-4 during their arduous non-conference slate before finding their groove in SEC play, going 16-2 against league competition, with ranked wins over No. 18 Georgia (92-77), No. 21 Tennessee (91-67), No. 10 Vanderbilt (98-94), No. 23 Alabama (100-77), No. 25 Kentucky (92-83) and No. 20 Arkansas (111-77).
As Florida’s backcourt made strides during that stretch, its dominance was primarily established through its frontcourt, led by leading scorer Thomas Haugh, forward Alex Condon and center Rueben Chinyelu.
Haugh, Florida’s leading scorer at 17.1 points per game, has been instrumental to the Gators’ success in his first season as a starter. Among his handful of postseason awards, Haugh was named a Second-Team All-American by Sporting News, and a First-Team All-SEC selection by the conference’s coaches and the Associated Press.
Chinyelu, the SEC’s Defensive Player and the Scholar-Athlete of the Year, who also obtained First-Team All-SEC recognition from the AP and Second-Team honors from the league, concluded his second season in Gainesville and his third at the collegiate level averaging a double-double at 11.2 points and a conference-leading 11.5 rebounds, including 7.4 defensive boards, per game.
An All-SEC Second-Team pick by the AP and Third-Team honoree by coaches, Condon has averaged single-season career-highs of 15 points, 7.7 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.4 blocks per game in his second campaign as a starter.
Tasked with replacing its stellar trio of guards from the 2024-25 season in Waltet Clayton Jr , Alijah Martin and Will Richard , Florida brought in Boogie Fland and Xauvian Lee via the NCAA transfer portal this past offseason. While it took time for UF’s backcourt to gel, each player finished the regular season averaging double figures per game, with Fland scoring 11.6 points and Lee 11.5 points per matchup.
Additionally, Florida saw junior guard Urban Klavzar grow into a significant role as the Gators’ sixth man. Klavžar knocked down a team-high 2.1 three-point shots per game, averaging 9.7 points per contest, resulting in him winning the SEC’s Sixth Man of the Year award.
Diamond Buzz
By: Colin Lacy
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
As we hit mid-March on the calendar, most sports fans are filling out a bracket for the March Madness college basketball tournament, but in Atlanta the focus is solely on the diamond.
Georgia Tech baseball is off to a historic start at 17-3 and winning each of their first two ACC Series against Virginia Tech at home then on the road against #8 Clemson. The 17-3 mark on the year is the best start to a season since 2013.
When folks think about Ramblin Wreck Baseball, offense is the first thing that comes to top of mind and that’s still the case in 2026. The “Buzz Bombers” have scored 254 runs thru the first 20 games (12.7/game) which are the most runs in the first 20 games in program history.
Every Yellow Jacket has an average over .300 with 4 Jackets boasting an average over .400. Vahn Lackey has been off to a hot start after entering 2026 projected as a top 15 pick in the 2026 MLB Draft.
Lackey (who played all 8 defensive positions in one game last week against West Georgia) has already launched a career high 9 homeruns and driven in 31 this season.
Reigning ACC Freshman of the Year, Alex Hernandez has also followed suit in his sophomore campaign. “Herny” is hitting .449 and driven in 18 with 4 long balls.
The question around Georgia Tech in recent history has been the pitching. Well guess what, they’ve answered that too in 2026. Georgia Tech finds the team ERA under 4.00 two weeks thru conference play and are striking out just shy of 10 per game.
The pitching staff is anchored by Friday night starter Tate McKee. McKee has made every single game 1 start for the Jackets each of the last 2 years including 6 scoreless innings against the #8 Clemson Tigers this past weekend. Tate (who pitched on both sides of a 2-hour first-inning rain delay against Virginia Tech to open ACC play) sits at a 2.82 ERA through 5 starts and a 3-0 record.
The numbers for this squad are impressive, but off the field, the 2026 Jackets are just special.
First-year Head Coach James Ramsey made it quite clear early on in his official tenure as the head man at Georgia Tech that two important pieces of his philosophy were consistency in the coaching staff, and emphasis on the high school recruiting while sprinkling in transfer pieces.
As far as the coaching staff goes, Ramsey did just that. Matt Taylor stays in Atlanta as the pitching coach, Jason Richman as the director of pitching, and Josh Schulman remains as an assistant on staff.
Coaching veteran Scott Stricklin moves from Director of Ops into the vacant assistant position (with Ramsey being promoted to head coach). The consistency with the staff is huge for this Jackets team that has used the high school recruiting approach to build a core that has been together 2 and 3 years.
That said, Georgia Tech was able to add a few transfer portal pieces, but they have had to be the right fits. James Ramsey has talked about the importance of fitting not only into the lineup or rotation, but also the fit in the clubhouse. This is as close-knit of a college baseball clubhouse as you’ll find in the game.
The additions of Jarren Advincula (Cal transfer) and Ryan Zuckerman (Pitt transfer) have been impressive in the heart of the dangerous Jackets order but have been a puzzle-piece fit into the clubhouse as well. Zuckerman has talked about it feeling like a “kid in a candy store” of the feeling being in Atlanta part of this team.
Another big addition has been Dylan Loy who bolsters the pitching rotation from Tennessee and has secured the Saturday starter role in the rotation.
Getting to travel and be around this team day in and day out is special. I know it’s an overused term, but there’s no other way to describe it.
Talented players, elite coaches, unbelievably great people make for a special season on the Flats with hopes for Omaha on the horizon.
Diamond Buzz In Atlanta
By: Colin Lacy
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
It’s finally here. Happy Opening Week to all those who celebrate in the College Baseball world!
With the first pitch of the season coming quickly, there’s as much excitement around the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets program than has been for a while.
A consensus pre-season Top 5 program and has been ranked as high as #2 in the country by Perfect Game, Georgia Tech looks to make Head Coach James Ramsey’s a historic one.
James Ramsey enters his 8th season on the Flats, but his first as Head Coach after Danny Hall retired following the 2025 season.
Ramsey has gained a reputation as both one of the best hitting coaches in the country and also an elite recruiter which has once again proven true this offseason.
Any conversation about Georgia Tech Baseball in recent history has started with the offense which remains true this year. That said, now it’s not a knock on the pitching, it’s the fact that the Jackets are possibly the most explosive lineup in the country.
Georgia Tech returns 7 of the 9 starters from a year ago in an offense that led the country in doubles and hit .314 as a team scoring 8.5 runs per game.
Drew Burress, who was named the permanent team captain for the season headlines the lineup as, what I believe is the best player in college baseball.
Catcher Vahn Lackey joins Burress as a projected top 15 pick in the 2026 MLB Draft after hitting .347 in 2025 with 42 driven in.
The 2025 ACC Batting Champion, Kent Schmidt, reigning ACC Freshman of the Year Alex Hernandez, along with Caleb Daniel, Carson Kerce round out the returners for the Jackets.
Ramsey has been clear that high school recruiting will be the lifeblood of the program and then supplement with transfer portal acquisitions. That rings true in 2026.
Two key transfers round out the lineup with former Cal Bear Jarren Advincula who is one of the purest hitters in college baseball.
The Jackets also added a power bat with Pitt transfer Ryan Zuckerman who racked up 44 extra base hits and drove in 79 RBI last year for the Panthers.
The question around Georgia Tech has been “will they be able to pitch enough?” While some, continue to ask the question, frankly, that’s an old question that has been answered in the last two years with Pitching Coach Matt Taylor and Director of Pitching Jason Richman.
Last season Georgia Tech made an unbelievable jump to 4th in the ACC with a 4.91 ERA (was 12th in 2024). The Jackets return starter in Tate McKee who stepped into the role of opening day starter a year ago and never let go.
Some roles on the pitching staff are still being decided between one of the best bullpen arms last year in Mason Patel potentially jumping into the rotation.
Tennessee transfer lefty Dylan Loy could make a play for a starter or key bullpen piece. The Jackets also added Justin Shadek from Rutgers to the mix. Shadek with electric stuff could slide into a rotation slot or into the back end of the bullpen to close games out.
Last season was the first outright ACC regular season championship for the Jackets since 2005, and the Jackets seem to be not only reloaded, but amplified to make a run to Omaha.
The feeling around this team is special. Stories of transfers taking less NIL money in order to get other transfers, a closeness around a team that still hasn’t played a true pitch with each other yet, but there’s something special brewing on the corner of Ferst and Fowler in Midtown Atlanta!
Omaha Kings
By: Michael Spiers
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Once again, Omaha turned into a second home for LSU as the Tigers locked up their eighth national championship at the Men’s College World Series.
On a blistering Nebraska Sunday afternoon, with thousands of purple-and-gold faithful singing along to “Callin’ Baton Rouge,” the Tigers held off a red-hot Coastal Carolina team to finish the job. They didn’t just win, they reminded everyone that no program has done it better over the last 40 years.
Sure, the University of Southern California still holds the record for the most titles with 12, and Texas has more total wins in Omaha.
The difference, though, is that those programs peaked decades ago. USC won their last CWS title in 1998.
LSU didn’t even make its first College World Series until 1986. Since then? Eight titles, 22 trips to Omaha, and 2 championships in the last three years. And they’ve done all of that in the middle of the toughest conference in the country.
Skip Bertman started this thing back in the ’80s. Paul Mainieri kept it rolling. Now Jay Johnson has it in overdrive. Johnson has been at LSU just four years and already has two national titles. That’s not just success. That’s dynasty-level stuff.
There were 26 newcomers to the Tigers’ baseball team this past season, but even with a roster full of new faces Johnson found a way to bring them together.
It wasn’t always pretty, and it was absolutely a grind to get through a tough SEC schedule, but once they found their rhythm nobody could stop them.
And it’s not like they’re slowing down. Sure, they’ll lose some big names to the MLB draft in guys like potential number one overall pick Cade Anderson, and Anthony Eyanson, but stars like Derek Curiel, Steven Milam, and Casan Evans are coming back. Don’t be surprised if LSU’s back in the title game again in 2026.
The 2025 tournament also marked the 75th anniversary of the College World Series in Omaha, and it had a little bit of everything.
There was Cinderella magic from Murray State, a fun mix of teams from all over the country, and some real drama in the later rounds.
Coastal Carolina gave LSU all they could handle in the final, even after the Chanticleer’s bloviating head coach, Kevin Schnall, was ejected in the first inning. I could write an entire article about how I feel about him and his bully, tough-guy style of coaching but I’m trying to keep this article positive.
In the end, LSU did what LSU does. The Tigers are the 2025 college baseball National Champions.
And let’s not forget the other crown they claimed in Omaha, the Rocco’s Jell-O Shot Challenge.
Once again, Tiger fans drank the competition under the table, slamming down 52,390 shots. That’s more than five times what Coastal fans managed.
LSU fans now hold the top two totals in the event’s history. Is it silly? Sure. But is it also a sign of how wild and passionate the fanbase is? Absolutely.
Ben McDonald, LSU’s first big baseball star and a former No. 1 overall MLB draft pick, said it best, “LSU just knows how to adapt. They know how to keep up with the times.” And that’s exactly what Jay Johnson is doing. He is navigating the chaos of the transfer portal and NIL while still putting a winning team on the field.
LSU might not have the oldest records in the book, but what they’ve done since the mid-80s is unmatched. They’ve kind of become the Yankees of college baseball. You either love them or love to hate them. Either way, you have to respect what they’ve built.
College baseball has had plenty of great programs, but right now LSU is king. That crown isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.
A Flat(s) Legend
By: Colin Lacy
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
For the last three baseball seasons, I’ve had the unquestionable privilege of calling Georgia Tech Baseball games on the radio for the Georgia Tech Sports Network.
Along with that, I’ve been welcomed into the program by so many people, but especially (now) 32nd year Head Coach Danny Hall.
On March 27th, just before welcoming in Clemson in for a big ACC weekend, Coach Hall announced that 2025 would be his final season leading the Georgia Tech Baseball program and is retiring at the end of the season.
Georgia Tech has been a fixture in the College Baseball fabric for many years and much of that comes from Head Coach Danny Hall that took over the Jackets in 1994 after a six-year stint as the head coach for the Kent State Golden Flash.
Since leading the Ramblin’ Wreck, Coach Hall just locked up his 4th ACC Coach of the Year award that was announced just after Georgia Tech secured the 2025 regular season ACC Championship.
Danny Hall has come from a widely branched coaching tree that begins close to home.
Coach Hall’s dad first instilled the love of sports in him and was his head coach in high school for both baseball and football in Coolville, Ohio.
Hall would then take his talents to Miami (OH) where he played for the (then known as) Redskins (now referred to as RedHawks).
At Miami (Ohio), Hall would learn under the tutelage of legendary member of the Miami (OH) “Cradle of Coaches” Bud Middaugh. After playing for Coach Middaugh, Hall would immediately start his coaching career in 1978 as a graduate assistant under Middaugh at Miami (Ohio). “DH” graduated from Miami (Ohio) for the second time with a masters in 1979 and would make his way to Ann Arbor to be an assistant for the Michigan Wolverines under…you guessed it…Bud Middaugh. Hall spent eight years on staff for Michigan before his first opportunity to lead a program came in 1988 to lead Kent State.
There are so many accolades that you could rattle off under Coach Danny Hall’s name in his 38-year head coaching career.
He moved into the 9th all-time winningest head coach in D1 College Baseball history this year with over 1,400 career wins and is second active only to now South Carolina’s Paul Mainieri who came out of retirement this past offseason.
He has taken Georgia Tech to three appearances in the College World Series in 1994, 2002 and 2006, so the accolades speak for themselves.
That said, there’s one accolade that you won’t find on a stat sheet but is the one that means the most to the skipper. It’s the family environment and culture he has established at Georgia Tech.
Each game you can find Coach Hall’s wife, Mrs. Kara, hosting numerous alumni in the Home Plate Club that are dying to get back to their next game at Mac Nease Baseball Park and Russ Chandler Stadium.
The family of Georgia Tech Baseball is widespread from Major League Baseball former superstars of Nomar Garciaparra, Jason Varitek, or Mark Texeira, to current big-league studs like Chandler Simpson, Kristian Campbell and more.
The Tech Baseball alumni success doesn’t only translate to professional baseball as it includes names like Ben King who graduated from Georgia Tech in 2024 and is now in medical school.
Doctors, lawyers, and financial experts are found frequently coming back to visit the program and the coach that brought them to the Flats. It doesn’t stop there however, because currently, you’ll see the current staff’s family and kids throughout the facility and wanting to be part of the program now and for a long time.
So while, you can look at a Hall of Fame sheet and know that Danny Hall has had an unquestioned impact on not only Georgia Tech Baseball but College Baseball as a whole on the field, rest assured that the impact that 17 has had beyond the diamond is profound, and that’s as much of a reason why the number was retired by Georgia Tech Baseball at the end of the regular season and 17 will forever only have “Hall” on top of it on a Jacket’s Jersey, and hopefully will be worn for the last time in College Baseball’s Heaven…Omaha.
The College Diamond
By: Robert Craft
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
64 NCAA Tournament teams will be announced next Monday, and the SEC is in position to grab up to 10 of the 16 Regional host sites and six of the eight national seeds.
Heading into conference tournaments, these seven teams have all but locked up a top eight seed, which means home-field advantage all the way through the Super Regionals. Teams are in order of RPI, not projected seed.
Georgia (1)
Auburn (2)
Vanderbilt (3)
Texas (4)
Arkansas (5)
LSU (8)
Teams on the hosting bubble.
Alabama (9)
Florida (13)
Tennessee (16)
Ole Miss (18)
Some notes on the bracket hopefuls: Alabama’s RPI is very strong, but the Crimson Tide have only two series wins against Tournament-caliber teams (Oklahoma and Georgia).
Florida went 15-15 in the SEC, but six of those wins came against South Carolina and Missouri. On a positive note, the Gators won series vs. Texas (on the road) and Arkansas.
Tennessee went 16-14 in the SEC and lost their last five series. They have one of the weakest non-conference schedules (216).Tennessee has joined a long list of defending national champions that have struggled, relatively speaking, the following season.
Only one of the last 10 national champs, 2017 Florida, was a top eight seed the following season (the Gators were No. 1 overall). Four of the other nine were hosts but not top eight seeds, and four failed to make the tournament.
Florida miraculously ended its 2025 regular season .500 in Southeastern Conference play after opening 1-11 against league squads, capping off the turnaround with a series victory over Alabama at home on Saturday [W 7-6; L 6-9; W 9-3] and securing the No. 10 seed in the upcoming SEC Tournament.
Vanderbilt, the 2019 champs, did not have an opportunity to defend its title due to the pandemic. The Commodores were the No. 4 overall seed in 2021.
Vanderbilt enters the postseason as one of the hottest teams in the country. The Commodores won their final five SEC games — many in dramatic fashion — to finish 39-16 overall and 19-11 in the SEC.
Vanderbilt swept Kentucky in Nashville over the weekend, winning the first two games on back-to-back walk-off home runs. Outfielder Braden Holcomb, down to his final strike with two outs, hit a three-run blast to give Vanderbilt an 8-7 win.
Then, after Kentucky rallied from down 7-5 at the top of the ninth to take an 8-7 lead, shortstop Jonathan Vastine hit a two-run home run with one out to walk off the Cats once again.
These heroics were nothing new for Vanderbilt. Two weeks earlier, the Dores rallied from down 7-2 in the eighth to beat Alabama with a two-run Holcomb homer with two outs in the bottom of the ninth.
For Kentucky, it was a painful ending to a regular season that featured eight SEC losses by one run and another three by two runs.
At 29-23 overall and 13-17 in the SEC with an RPI of 36, the Cats head to the SEC Tournament on the NCAA Tournament bubble. They play Oklahoma on Tuesday.
The SEC will be well represented and this year‘s College Baseball World Series tournament. It’s just a matter of who will host and who will travel.
I predict four SEC teams will make it to Omaha and one will be crowned national champion.
Soaring Eagle
By: Colin Lacy
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
In this crazy business of sports media that we love, one of my favorite parts of it is the relationships that you create and grow over the years.
One that I’ve been blessed to grow for over a decade now is with Georgia Southern Baseball head coach Rodney Hennon.
Last week on a weekend game in Buies Creek, NC, Coach Hennon collected his 860th career win at Georgia Southern in a game against Campbell.
With that win, he passed legendary head coach Jack Stallings to become the all-time winningest coach in Georgia Southern Baseball history.
That feat for any college baseball coach raises eyebrows but for a program like Georgia Southern, that is a monumental accomplishment.
Georgia Southern Baseball has been consistently one of the best and most respected baseball programs in the mid-major ranks because of the consistency.
That consistency isn’t only in wins and on-field successes (which has been plentiful over the years), but also within the staff. Rodney Hennon is in his 26th season at the helm of the Eagle Baseball program and only adds to the lore of Georgia Southern baseball of continuity at the top of the program.
Since 1949, the blue and white have only seen five head coaches. Two of those five have their names on the facility Georgia Southern calls home in J.I. Clements (Stadium) who was the head man from 1949-1966 and in 1968 along with Jack Stallings (Field) who manned the dugout for twenty-four years from 1976 until 1999.
The other two are Ron Polk (1972-1975) who is regarded as the “Father of SEC Baseball” with his career at Mississippi State, and Bill Spieth who led the Eagles for four years in the early 70’s.
While it’s impressive what Hennon has been able to do as the longest tenure head coach in Eagle history, it’s the consistency of excellence that rises above.
In the 25 previous seasons under Coach Hennon, Georgia Southern Baseball has won 30 games in all but two of those and have seen 40 wins in eight seasons including 2022 when Georgia Southern secured the 16 seed in the NCAA postseason and hosted the first ever regional in Statesboro.
Although the list of accomplishments for Hennon could cover the Blue Monster wall in right field at J.I. Clements Stadium, when talking to those closest to “10” like former players, coaches, staffers, etc., the first thing that comes up is the character and the type of man Coach Hennon is day in and day out.
Getting to see and get to know Coach Hennon for the 10 years I was lucky enough to cover Georgia Southern Baseball for the Georgia Southern Sports Network and was one of the true pleasures of my career to this point.
He truly is one of the greatest molders of young men I’ve been around. There’s a lot of “old school” coach in him where when someone needs a wakeup call, he will get into a player, but it’s always coming from a place of caring about them both as a player, but even more-so as a young man.
Coach Hennon credits a lot of his mentors to not only his dad, Lamar, but also Keith LeClair and Jack Leggett from his days at Western Carolina both as a player and coach.
The great part of this is the tree doesn’t end with the branch of Coach Hennon. While we’ve mentioned the impact that “Skip” had on his players, it also applies to those that were lucky enough to coach with him.
Names like BJ Green, who was the pitching coach for Hennon for many years has since moved on to be the Associate Head Coach at UAB.
Recently Alan Beck was the hitting coach for the Eagles who took the head coaching job at both his and Coach Hennon’s alma mater Western Carolina after the 2022 season.
Jason Richman, who was not only a standout pitcher for Coach Hennon, but also on his staff for a few years is now the Director of Pitching for Georgia Tech Baseball.
The list goes on and on of those impacted by the coach, mentor, and man of God that Rodney Hennon is and now (and likely forever) holds the distinction of the winningest coach in Georgia Southern Baseball history.
Sophomore Encore
By: Colin Lacy
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
This time a year ago, the name Drew Burress stirred up some buzz on the flats as the Houston County native was just beginning what would turn into one of the most spectacular seasons (let alone freshman years) in Georgia Tech Baseball history.
Last season would turn into so many accolades from ACC Freshman of the Year to Freshman All-American even the D1 Baseball and Perfect Game National Freshman of the Year, but what is Drew Burress beyond the stat sheets?
Start at the beginning of the college career for the former Houston County High standout. Burress was seriously on several teams’ draft boards for around the third or fourth round, but his commitment to the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets stood firm unless a first-round call would come.
Coming into the 2024 season, Jackets Head Coach Danny Hall said multiple times through pre-season media availability that there were two things that Drew wasn’t shy about…He wanted to be a first-round pick, and he wanted to graduate from Georgia Tech in three years.
Georgia Tech Baseball has had twelve first round selections over the years, but in the 130 years of Georgia Tech Baseball nobody has ever graduated in three years while playing baseball.
Burress was a highly heralded recruit and was rated as the 6th best player in the nation that made it to a college campus, but the first inning of his career didn’t pan out as everyone expected.
Burress was the leadoff man for the 2024 season, and in his debut at-bat, Drew would strikeout. The Jackets, however, had an impressive bottom of the first inning against Radford and batted around, so Burress came up for a second time in the inning. Alas, Burress would strike out again for the second time in his first inning of college baseball.
As Burress returned to the dugout after the second, Head Coach Danny Hall put his arm around Drew and said, “Don’t worry about it, you’ll homer next time.”
Little did Coach Hall know how right he would be because not only did Burress do just that and launch his first career homerun in the next at-bat, but he would homer in both of the next two at-bats.
As we mentioned, the accolades would roll in for Burress as a freshman in 2024 and so did the records.
Burress set the Georgia Tech freshman homerun record with 25 long balls on the season shattering Jeremy Slayden’s previous record of 18.
He also would become just the twelfth Jacket to win the team triple crown (lead the team in average, home runs, and RBI), and the first since Matt Gonzalez did it in 2016.
Burress also became just the third Georgia Tech Yellow Jacket to be named a National Freshman of the Year by a major publication joining Mark Teixeira and Derek Dietrich.
Finally, while the offensive exploits get so much of the attention, he also rewrote the defensive records by setting the record for outfield assists in a season by gunning down ten assists in the year.
After the heralded freshman campaign, Burress’ hunger for the game and improving his craft has only grown.
In a work ethic like I’ve never seen, especially in someone so young, a lot of it comes from his family.
Drew’s dad, Andy Burress, was a baseball player back in his day after being a 6th round pick and playing in the Reds organization.
After his playing career, Andy founded and continues to run one of the premier travel ball organizations in the country with 5 Star National which has produced an extensive list of draft picks and college signees.
Even with all of the accolades, and in a time where college athletes get the mantra of “only concerned about the money” Burress couldn’t be farther from that.
Through the 2025 preseason, Burress said “I’m not worried about the stat lines if we’re in Omaha (for the College World Series).”
I’m fortunate enough to get to call Drew Burress dazzle every game on the Georgia Tech Sports Network, but the most dazzling part of the young man isn’t the on-field prowess.
The most impressive part of the Georgia Tech’s sophomore is how he carries himself through all the publicity and all the success.
The guy is a grinder, coming to the ballpark every day trying to be as good as he can be while also leading by example and showing a young Georgia Tech team how the best in the game goes about doing it.
I can’t wait to see what this year turns out to be in, what Wiley Ballard called in Burress’ Walk-off Grand Slam call his “sophomore encore.”
Play Ball
By: Colin Lacy
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
It’s college baseball’s Opening Day! With the beginning of the season looming, let’s dive into what this season could look like for a couple clubs across the state of Georgia.
Georgia Tech: This season will be the 130th season of baseball for the Jackets and 32nd year under head coach Danny Hall.
Last season saw the white and gold finish with a 33-25 record thanks to rattling off four straight series wins in ACC play in the month of April and winning five of the last seven series in the regular season.
The 2024 campaign ended in the finals of the Athens Regional as a 10-inning loss at the hands of the in-state rival Georgia kept the Jackets from advancing to a Super Regional and continues the drought that hasn’t seen the Jackets advance past a regional since 2006.
The 2025 season will see many fresh faces to the Flats with 31 newcomers into the program this season. Inside that list of newcomers includes the nation’s #2 ranked freshman class by Perfect Game with 21 freshmen coming into the program.
In addition, there will also be a good nucleus of returners for GT led by Drew Burress who took the college baseball world by storm last season.
Burress in his rookie season last year set the Freshman record for homeruns at Georgia Tech with 25 long balls in route to hitting .381 and driving in 67 RBI while collecting ACC Freshman of the Year and named a Golden Spikes Award semifinalist.
Obviously, there are huge expectations for Burress coming into 2025 being named the D1 Baseball pre-season ACC Player of the Year, but other names add to the list of returners to watch.
Tate McKee also showed flashes as a freshman last year on the mound and is expected to be the Opening Day starter for the Jackets on the bump to build off the 4-5 record in 18 appearances (8 starts) last season.
Again, I may be biased (calling GT Baseball games on radio every day), but this Jackets club has the potential to be special.
Drew Burress said it perfectly in the pre-season media availability when he said, “This team has a lot more talent than last year, so the celling is so much higher, but at this point the floor is much lower because we haven’t hit the field.” A lot to prove, but also a lot to be excited about in Midtown Atlanta.
Georgia: Year one for the Bulldogs under new Head Coach Wes Johnson proved to be successful with hosting a Super Regional at Foley Field after winning the Athens Regional.
The off-season has been about construction. In the literal sense, Foley Field has undergone a $45 million renovation upgrade process with incredible additions to one of the country’s best atmospheres to begin with. In the figurative side, Wes Johnson has gone to work “constructing” a much deeper club for the Dawgs in 2025.
Even with the departures of Charlie Condon and Corey Collins in the middle of the lineup, many across the country believe that UGA will be deeper and more balanced up and down the lineup than last year with both returners and some portal acquisitions.
Two of the three outfielders expected to trot out of the dugout this weekend for the Dawgs come from the transfer portal with former Duke Blue Devil Devin Obee and Kentucky transfer Nolan McCarthy expected to play left and center, respectively.
Pair those two immediate impact players with some returners of Tre Phelps, Kolby Branch and Slate Alford, and Wes Johnson has a much deeper starting 9. While the Dawgs finished 2024 with an impressive 43-17 record, the pre-season #9 team in the nation has one thought on the mind…Omaha.
It’s a wonderful time of year. In addition to high level basketball, baseball season is here as MLB Pitchers and Catchers reported earlier this week, and this weekend, the bats will ping, the smell of hotdogs and popcorn will roll through college baseball cathedrals, and it’s time to play ball.
