The Georgia Military Prep (GMCP) Bulldogs baseball team’s season came to a disappointing end last Thursday in Milledgeville after losing game three of their state playoff series with Bryan County.
The Bulldogs lost 7-2 in game one with the Redskins but bounced back with a thrilling 4-3 win in extra innings in game two. Bryan County put the series away in game three by driving in nine runs in the first inning and holding the Bulldogs scoreless through all seven innings of a 12-0 win for the Redskins, advancing them to the Sweet 16 round of the GHSA A Division 2 baseball state playoffs.
Despite losing the series, Bulldogs head coach Kyle Redmond believes he and his staff have figured out what they are doing is what is best for their program.
“What we are teaching works. If the kids listen and do things the way we want it done, they will get good results,” Redmond said. “We got away from some of that late in the season and that’s why we didn’t play well down the stretch.
“I love all these kids like they are my own, and I want them to have success so bad. This year we experienced some success with a region championship so I hope we can build off of that moving forward.”
If an MVP award was going to be awarded after the series, an argument could be made that the Bulldogs starting pitcher Ayden Hamm deserved that honor. Hamm had one of the finest performances in the history of the Bulldogs baseball program, going 7.2 innings on the mound, throwing 120 pitches and striking out 15 of the 32 batters he faced. Hamm allowed only four hits, three runs and three walks. Noah Goddard came in relief after a lengthy discussion between the coaches and umpires about whether or not GHSA rules allowed for a pitcher to throw over 120 pitches in a game. Goddard retired the one batter he faced, forcing a ground ball to the mound and an easy throw to first base to end the game in a 4-3 Bulldogs win in eight innings.
Redmond spoke glowingly about Hamm after the game on Wednesday night.
“Man he is just a dawg, and he’s been a dawg all three years I’ve been head coach,” Redmond said. “What he’s accomplished on the mound those three years is incredible, but he took it up a few notches this year. He was named our region’s pitcher of the year which was well deserved.
“In his performance Wednesday night, it felt like he was unhittable. He just made one mistake that cost him three runs, but I’m glad we were able to win that game for him.” Hamm’s one mistake turned into a three-run homer that just barely stayed fair inside the left field foul pole but cleared the fence and tied the game at 3-3 in the fifth inning. “Fifteen strikeouts in a game is unreal. It’s a shame that we can’t find a college that will offer him a baseball scholarship,” Redmond said. “Every time Ayden pitches, the opposing head coach asks me where he’s going to pitch in college, so they know he’s good enough. In today’s world, results are less important than measureables, and that’s a shame because Ayden has the results.” The Bulldogs broke the tie in extra innings in the top of the eighth when Seth Ussery hit a home run to deep left center field that landed in the trees on the hill beyond the fence. Ussery’s solo homer proved to be the deciding score as GMCP won 4-3 late last Wednesday night. Despite not having his best series of the year, Noah Goddard showed tremendous heart as the senior second baseman dealt with a pulled hamstring nearly all season and had a noticeable limp in game two. Goddard had three hits for the series and made the final out of the game two win. The Bulldogs did bring home some individual hardware for their regular season performance with multiple first team all region players and the GHSA A Division 2 region five pitcher and player of the year awards.
Hamm was named region pitcher of the year and Chase McCrary was named region player of the year in his only year with the program. First team all region members for the Bulldogs included Lantz Holton, Noah Goddard, Seth Ussery and Riley Woods. Hunter Langford was named an all region honorable mention.