From fourth to force: Stallions in GCAA championship game

Published 9:00 am Friday, May 11, 2018

By Becky Taylor

TIFTON — Wednesday morning, the Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College Stallions baseball team were the No. 4 seed in the Georgia Collegiate Athletic Association tournament, facing a team they had not beaten all year.

Twenty-six hours later, the Stallions are in the GCAA finals, having destroyed East Georgia State and South Georgia State in tournament games in Barnesville. ABAC defeated East Georgia, 11-2, and followed up Thursday morning with a 10-1 blasting of South Georgia that was halted at the end of eight innings because of the mercy rule.

The Stallions have a chance to wrap up state today at 2 p.m. in a rematch against East Georgia State. Even if beaten this afternoon, they will have another chance at the championship as the tournament is double elimination.

“We’re in the driver’s seat,” said ABAC head coach Brandon Reeder.

The Stallions have played almost perfect during the GCAA tournament.

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“We got hot in the middle innings,” said Reeder of the win against South Georgia State.

That hot streak included back-to-back-to-back home runs by Alex VanDerStok, Matt White and Joel Ellis in the eighth inning, turning what had been a 6-1 lead into a blowout. The Stallions knocked five out of the park for the game, with Ellis and White hitting two each.

Wednesday against East Georgia State, ABAC hit no homers, but had six doubles and a triple. White has six hits over the two contests and Ellis has driven in six runs. Impressively, Reeder said the two pitches Ellis hit over the fence were breaking balls.

He credited Isaiah Arnold for setting up the Stallions multiple times with two-out hits.

Despite being the fourth and lowest seeded team in the GCAA tournament, ABAC has roared out of the gate.

Reeder thinks his team’s energy has been responsible for the surge.

“We’ve been the aggressor,” he said Reeder described his team as one that has “scratched and clawed” to get where they are.

Starting pitching has been stellar this week. Both Blake Howell and Dalton Rentz went seven innings. Reeder said both were able to limit trouble. They also managed to keep their pitch counts down by pitching to contact, which Reeder said was “a lot of weak contact.”

ABAC will send sophomore Drew Martens to the hill to try to wrap up the tournament. Martens has a 4-4 record this season.

“We’re anxious to get back out there,” Reeder said.

The upset of East Georgia State brought notice from one celebrity. ABAC Baseball Twitter sent out the good news about the result, prompting a response from Stallions alumnus, Kyle Farnsworth.

The former Major League hurler tweeted, “Looks like my Stallions did some work today!!!” The tweet was accompanied by multiple thumbs up and horse emoticons.

Reeder was aware of Farnsworth’s support.

“That’s humbling,” he said.

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