A win four years in the making came Saturday for the Georgia Highlands baseball team as the Chargers beat Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College 8-3 at LakePoint to clinch their first-ever GCAA championship.<\/p>\n
Colby Taylor overcame a shaky first inning to throw a complete game and every Chargers starter either scored or drove in a run as Highlands completed an undefeated run through the GCAA\u2008tournament by beating ABAC.<\/p>\n
First baseman Nick Fink squeezed the final out in his glove after a groundout to second to set off the celebration as the Chargers dogpiled on the infield.<\/p>\n
Players dumped a bucket of ice water over coach Dash O\u2019Neill, who, in his first year at the helm of the Highlands baseball program, has now led the Chargers to previously unreached heights.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel great,\u201d a freshly-drenched O\u2019Neill said. \u201cThe guys came through, I\u2008put all my trust in them today ... and they rewarded my faith by playing outstanding and winning a championship.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
The win booked Highlands a ticket to next week\u2019s East Central regional, a four-team, double-elimination tournament. The winner of that tournament will head to the JUCO\u2008World Series in Grand Junction, Colorado.<\/p>\n
Seven pitches into ABAC\u2019s half of the first inning Saturday, it didn\u2019t look like the Chargers were going to have that opportunity.<\/p>\n
Stallions\u2019 leadoff man Bryce Shupe homered down the left-field line on Taylor\u2019s third pitch of the day and, after a quick groundout, second baseman Justin Russell repeated the feat, hitting a no-doubt bomb to left-center on the first pitch.<\/p>\n
\u201cI really wasn\u2019t that upset about it,\u201d Taylor said. \u201cI was throwing strikes, I just left a few pitches up, and they hit them. After that, I\u2008knew if I\u2008was going to miss, it had to be down.\u201d<\/p>\n
Taylor settled down from there, striking out the next hitter on three pitches and getting out of the inning, and Highlands wouldn\u2019t stay behind on the scoreboard for long.<\/p>\n
Caleb McElwaney led off the top of the second with a single and Nick Piccapietra doubled him home as the ABAC left fielder couldn\u2019t come up with the ball cleanly in the corner.<\/p>\n
Piccapietra scored later in the inning on a passed ball to tie it, and Highlands took the lead an inning later as Jonathan White hit a leadoff single and scored with two outs on McElwaney\u2019s single.<\/p>\n
Taylor, settling into the game, gave up an unearned run in the bottom of the third when third baseman Brandon Bell couldn\u2019t handle a ground ball with runners on first and third, but picked up a double play one batter later to get out of the inning.<\/p>\n
From there, Taylor wouldn\u2019t allow another run. In fact, he surrendered just one baserunner from the fourth through the eighth inning, and that was on a strikeout pitch in the fourth that McElwaney couldn\u2019t handle, allowing the runner to reach.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy curveball, off-speed was really working well today,\u201d Taylor said. \u201cThey wanted me to keep throwing it and I kept throwing it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, his offense was pulling away.<\/p>\n
The breakthrough came in the top of the sixth, and it was keyed by the bottom of the lineup.<\/p>\n
No. 7 hitter Grant Bodison doubled to right-center to lead off, and Devin Bilardello\u2019s ground ball was mishandled by the ABAC shortstop, who compounded his error by recovering and firing wildly past first base trying to catch a retreating Bilardello.<\/p>\n
That misplay allowed both runners to move up a base, scoring Bodison with the eventual winning run and putting Bilardello in scoring postion at second.<\/p>\n
He moved up to third on Nick Fink\u2019s groundout and scored on Bronco O\u2019Brien\u2019s infield single, but the Chargers still weren\u2019t done.<\/p>\n
White was hit by a pitch and Matthew Vaccaro\u2019s double both scored a run and killed Highlands\u2019 momentum, as O\u2019Brien trotted home from second but White, trying to score from first, was cut down at the plate on a relay from left field.<\/p>\n
The Chargers, with a 6-3 lead at that point, scored again in the eighth as Bell\u2019s fielder\u2019s choice grounder brought home O\u2019Brien, and once more in the top of the ninth as Fink doubled home Bodison.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis entire tournament, all we\u2019ve done is get whatever we need,\u201d O\u2019Neill said. \u201cThe offensive guys, they stepped up.\u201d<\/p>\n
That was more than enough support for Taylor, who didn\u2019t run out of gas until the ninth despite never having thrown a nine-inning complete game before.<\/p>\n
The Chargers\u2019 ace loaded the bases with two outs in the ninth, but O\u2019Neill let him finish his own game and Taylor responded by getting ABAC right fielder to bounce out to Israel Zackery at second base, making the championship official and the celebration rowdy.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a push. I had to dig down and find it,\u201d Taylor said. \u201cBut I\u2008found a way to get through it.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Taylor gave up just five hits, with four of those coming in either the first or the ninth. He struck out 10.<\/p>\n
On the offensive side, McElwaney had three hits in his first three at bats and finished 3-for-4 with a walk. Bodison and Vaccaro each had two hits, including a double.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s already been a wild ride for the Chargers in O\u2019Neill\u2019s first season, and they\u2019ll have the chance to keep it going next weekend in the regional.<\/p>\n
That will take place in Dyersburg, Tennessee, with Highlands joining GCAA regular-season champion East Georgia and the regular-season and tournament champions from Region 7.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s great. These guys are conference champions,\u201d O\u2019Neill said. \u201cThey went from being under .500 to being on top of the league. ... They\u2019ll get to feel this for a while and we\u2019ll turn back around and see if we can\u2019t keep this going.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n