For those visitors looking for news on Michael Hutts, I am choosing not to write on the cause of death out of respect for his family and friends. If you need to know then visit the AJC. It was a terrible way to go and his family and friends should not be subjected to any more press (even though I’m not real press) about Michael’s cause of death. I am deleting any comments that may be offensive to Michael’s family and friends so please don’t leave anything other than good words and condolences. Thank you.
Hopefully, the Jackets won’t have to play the Bisons, unless they beat UGAg of course. Many of their fans are also probably Tennessee fans so they probably hate the mutts almost as much as we do. Here’s some info on the Bisons from Nashville.
1. Starting Rotation
Rex Brothers, LHP, 3-5 record, 5.69 ERA, Sophomore. He led the A-Sun in Ks (93), 2007 Freshman All-American, 2008 All-Tournament Team
Brandon McClurg, RHP, 6-5 record. 3.11 ERA, Junior. McClurg had the lowest opposing batting average in A-Sun, 2008 All-Conference
Mike Dunn, LHP, 5-4 record, 4.89 ERA, Senior transfer from Austin Peay.
Josh Smith, RHP, 3-3, 4.88 ERA, Sophomore, returned from Tommy Johnssurgery in 2007.
2. Bullpen
Top Reliever is Chris Burnette, 2-1 record, 2.60 ERA, Senior transfer (Palm Beach CC) 2008 All-Tournament Team
3. Offense
There is plenty of power in the lineup, but they are able to play small ball when needed. There will be 5 lefties in the batting order and one switch hitter. The top hitters are Caleb Joseph with a .352 BA and 60 RBI and Allen Bolden hitting .343 with 47 RBI.
4. Defense
Very nifty infield, with great double-play ability. Branden Cadavid (3B) will probably make some spectacular plays, as can SS Jorge Guiterriez. The team led the Atlantic Sun Conference in double plays (64).
5. Speed
No information given, but would expect nothing really above average speed from the lower tier conference team. I guess we’ll see this weekend.
6. Coach
Jeff Forehand is a 2nd year coach at Lipscomb. Forehand coached the past six seasons at Trevecca University, compiling a 211-142-1 record. In 2004 he was named NAIA Region XI Coach of the Year and TranSouth Conference Coach of the Year. He was also named TranSouth Conference Coach of the Year in 2005. Forehand, a Nashville native, also guided Goodpasture Christian School to three state titles in 1995, 1997 and 1999 in his eight seasons as head coach. He was also named State Coach of the Year three times. Coach Forehand is said to be a players coach and a very good motivator. He is not a ranter and raver on the field like Perno and McDonnell.
6. Experience
The starting nine is upperclassmen except for 1B, but the pitching staff is young.
Lipscomb is in it’s fifth year of Div I play, having previously been a powerhouse NAIA team with 2 national championships. They went 32-28 in the regular season and conference tournament. Honestly, the Bisons will most likely be two and through in Athens. However, I think we are all Bison fans on Friday as they take on the Mutts in Game 1 at 3:00.
Georgia Tech enters its 24th NCAA tournament appearance at 7 pm on Friday against the Louisville cardinals. If they win they would very likely end up matching up against the Mutts on Saturday. I know that not a lot of Jacket fans know much about this Louisville team so here’s some info.
1. Starting Rotation
Justin Marks, 9-1 record, 2.21 ERA, Sophomore. He has been very good for the Cards. Only loss was a 1-0 loss to the Citadel.
Zack Pitts, 6-5 record, 4.74 ERA, Senior. Was very good last year, but hasn’t lived up to the hype this year. He got roughed up in the BET going only 2 innings and giving up several runs.
Matt Lea, 5-0 record, 2.72 ERA, Sophomore. Transfer from Mississippi State.
Bob Revesz, 1-0 record, 3.90 ERA, Freshman. Pitched well in BET.
2. Bullpen
Lots of freshmen. Senior BJ Rosenberg is the closer after taking last season off for Tommy Johns Surgery. He came into the season expecting to be the Sunday starter but would collapse after a few innings so he has converted into the closer role where he has been solid. He throws in mid 90s with a good slider.
3. Offense
The Cards run a pretty good hitting team. They are Francouer-ish in that they are a free-swinging team and hack away at a lot of first pitches. The top hitters for average are Justin Mcclanahan who had 7 RBIS in game 3 of the BET and Chris Dominguez who has hit 20 HRs. Both these guys hit .369 and hit in the 3 and 4 hole. As a team, Louisville hits .313.
4. Defense
Solid defense with a very good glove at the SS position in John Dao.
5. Speed
Aggresive baserunners although they certainly don’t produce the blinding speed we’ve seen from Miami.
6. Coach
Dan McDonnell is another Perno and Leggett that will complain about anything. If you are headed to Athens get ready to boo something other than the mutts.
6. Experience
This is an EXTREMELY young team overall. The lineup:
John Dao SS Jr
Josh Richmond LF Fr
Justin McClanahan 2B Sr
Chris Dominguez 3B So
Stuart Ijames RF Fr
Jeff Arnold C So
Andrew Clark 1B So
Phil Wunderlich DH Fr
Drew Haynes CF Fr
This team is young, but has won something like 25 out of its last 31 so they are very dangerous. Granted, the Big East is nothing close to the ACC or SEC, but they are still going to be tough. GT actually has an advantage in experience so hopefully that will help us pull out the win on Friday and face off against the Lipscomb Bisons or the mutts on Saturday. I expect that David Duncan will be on the mound for the Jackets and hopefully he can last some innings and recover from the HR derby we had against Miami in the ACCT. I have a wedding to attend in Athens on Sunday so hopefully the time will work out for me to see the Jackets take the regional.
I’m back! I took a little trip to Disneyworld last week so thanks go to Matt for holding ITE down while I was gone. Time for some Jacket news!
NC State wrapped up and tied a nice little bow on Game 1 for us. The Jackets quickly scored 2 and then went cold as the Pack scored 6 unanswered. Murton then hit a HR in the 7th to get the Jackets going again. NCSU answered back in the bottom of the 7th with a run. However, the Jackets told the Pack to shut its mouth and threw up 5 in the top of the 8th to take an 8-7 run. NC State snapped its fingers and said I don’t think so sister by answering with two runs to take a 9-8 lead going into the ninth.
This is where it got a bit ugly. After the go ahead run, Tommy Foschi thought it would be cool to nail Hanigar in the mouth when trying to score by not sliding. See, the problem with that is it is against NCAA Baseball rules and Foschi was quickly thrown out of the game. Both benches cleared and things got heated for a bit.
After 3…that’s right…count ‘em…1…2…3 errors in a row, Tech scored 2 more to take the lead. Brad Rulon came in to quickly sit down 2 hitters. He decided to make things interesting by hitting a batter and walking the next, but redeemed himself by having the last batter ground out to first. Tech ended with a very exciting, although quite sloppy, 10-9 win.
Tech has had the misfortune of having a group of players leave the program, but we have just received information that three new players will be joining the team.
Anthony Allen- A powerful B-back who transferred in from Louisville.
Will have two years left to play.
Is from Jesuit high school, joining Andrew Smith, A.J. Smith, Phil Smith, and Michael Peterson. By the way, in case you were wondering, none of the Smith’s are related.
Rivals: ***, 29th best running back Scout: ***, 68th best running back
Strong Freshman year: 96 rushes for 406 yds, 13 td’s including 2 td’s in the Orange Bowl
Preston Lyons- Another B-back transferring from Colgate
Will have 3 years to play, does not have to sit out.
6-1, 202 lb
Played at Marist High School. All-AJC selection. Rushed for 3707 career yards and 61 td’s- both are all-time Marist records.
Tech failed to sweep UGA and the rest of the in-state teams by losing 3-2. Deck looked very rusty all game and we were honestly lucky to hold the dOgs to only three runs. The UGA hitters were much more aggressive than previous games, as they were hammering Deck’s first pitch fastballs. Timely hits appeared to be non-existent for the offense as well. Trashtalk from UGA fans seemed to be limited because we still won the overall series and they seemed to be content with just winning the one game.
So I have personally declared that this past week for GT baseball should be called ‘Rivalry Week’. From Wednesday, May 7 to Tuesday, May 13, we play five games against our two biggest rivals, UGA and Clemson. How have we done so far?
Deck McGuire continued his ‘I should be starting on weekends’ campaign by holding UGA hitters to one run on four hits in seven innings, including a career-high nine strikeouts. He is now 2-0 this season against UGA (8-0 overall) with pretty good stats: 12.2 ip, 8 hits, 4ER, 16k’s.
Tech hitters were paced by homers from Blackmon, Murton, and Feltes.
Here Tech won a game which was poorly played by both teams. Clemson looked VERY rusty and made a lot of mental mistakes, and a Tech player was picked off third with the bases loaded (what?!). David Duncan pitched a strong outing, giving up one run on six hits in eight innings. The offense did not hit any home runs, which ended their consecutive games streak at 16.
Leggett actually acted like a man this game, except for his stupid involvement in the Clemson team’s pregame tickle pile, and making every player touch second base on a fly-out. Seriously, if they rounded first base, they had to keep running until they touched second and then jog back to the dugout. Great coaching.
Again Clemson just looked lost and poorly coached as it seemed that their players were very unsure about what to do in certain situations. Burns pitched one of his best outings of the year and Murton and Rowland paced Tech’s hitting with two RBI’s each.
Well the game itself wasn’t very pretty, as Clemson had very clutch hitting and seemed to do everything right while Tech played pretty poorly. There were many non-game highlights, though.
Yours truly was selected to attempt the tire toss, and failed…miserably. My excuses are legit, though:I had to throw it into the wind, there was dirt in my eye, the tire hit an imaginary speed bump which made it go off course and into the wall, and a busted knee and ankle. Ok, so maybe one of them is true, and even that is no excuse for the poor performance. But here’s the proof:
Note the wipeout onto concrete at the end which resulted in a compressed ankle and a one-inch gash into my knee. Genious.
Coach Leggett, who was expected to make a fool of himself all weekend, finally didn’t disappoint as he turned to a group of eight year olds (who may have been standing next to an unruly fan) and shouted “F you, F you, you’re an A-hole”. Words his mother would have been very, very unhappy with, especially on Mother’s Day. After cussing out the fan, he proceeded to go back to the dugout and whined to event staff, who came over and said that ‘he wants to apologize’. I’m sorry but a paid professional should act a little better. I know he received a lot of ‘treatment’, but it is his responsibility to either not react, or to react in a mature, professional way, not cussing out a fan in front of a bunch of kids.
So that leaves us with one last game….
Tonight, Tech faces ‘SEC Champion’ UGA at 7pm in the ‘Spring Baseball Classic for Kids’ at Turner Field. All tickets are $10 and proceeds benefit Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta (this game raises over 200,000 annually for the children’s hospital!). A lot of pride, statements, and prestige is up for grabs in this game:
With a win, Tech can sweep the ‘8th-ranked’, ‘SEC Champion’ Georgia Bulldogs.
Earlier this season, one of the team’s goals was to sweep the in-state games. Currently Tech is 11-0 this year against in-state teams, with this final game to play.
Georgia leads the Turner Field series, 4-1, and has won the last three ‘classics’
Deck McGuire has the chance to go 3-0 against the rival team
Georgia leads the all-time series at 192-149-2…baby steps
What to look for in tonights game:
Pitching matchup- Deck McGuire (8-0, 3.41 ERA) vs. Nick Montgomery (1-1, 5.08)-
Advantage: Tech- There isn’t a better mid-week starter in the nation currently, and Deck has shown his ability to shut down UGA hitters, while UGA is approaching the game as a ’staff outing’
Fielding- Tech (.972 fielding %, 31 DP’s, .676 Stolen bases against %) vs UGA (.971, 37, .703)
Advantage: Even- Each team has the potential to play solid defensive baseball, while also showing some defensive lapses.
Hitting- Each of the stats (other than batting average and OPS) are averages per game
Tech (.308, 7.47 runs, 1.66 HR, 1.43 SB (77.6%), 5.14 W+HBP, 7.63 k, .923 OPS)
UGA (.297, 6.78 runs, 1.29 HR, 1.20 SB (75.3%), 4.98 W+HBP, 6.69 k, .844 OPS)
Advantage-Tech- Tech has much more depth in its lineup, with seven players hitting over .280 compared to five for UGA. UGA has the best offensive player, with National Player of the Year Candidate, Gordon “David” Beckham, who leads the nation in home runs (22), total bases (164), and slugging percentage (.824), but has been limited by Tech to hitting three for seven with no RBI’s.
Academics- Tech (top five engineering, #1 Industrial Engineering) vs UGA (Cesspool of the South)
Advantage-Tech (duh!)- Look for UGA’s fans to be filled with a lot of wife-beater wearing, toothless people who actually think barking in public is cool.
Overall, these teams are very similar if they were to be played on weekends, but because Deck is such an advantage over UGA’s bullpen, you have to give the overall edge to Tech. This is college baseball, though, and who knows what could happen. Show your support for the baseball team, Tech in general, and anti-UGA sentiments by coming out to the game tonight. Oh, and it supports kids in hospitals, too, so you might even feel good about it (especially if Tech wins).
Hello Yellow Jacket fans!! I have been waiting for the right time and story to write my first post about. Finally, this moment has come, in the form of depth chart analysis. On Tuesday, the coaches released the ‘official’ post-spring practice depth chart. I will be doing an analysis of the depth chart for each position. I will also be including the incoming freshman and will determine their chances on cracking the depth chart. I will be focusing on one position with each post, and am looking for feedback, comments, or questions from everyone, so please post your thoughts and comments.
As you can see, as a group, our returning players have very little experience. This is both a negative and a positive. The negative is that, in essence, each of our QB’s are inexperienced players, and have no experience with leading the team in close games in hostile environments. The positive is that for Nesbitt and Dykes, they are still early in their careers so learning an entirely new offense should not be as much of a challenge for them as it is for Booker, who will be working with his fourth different offensive coordinator in four years. The quarterback situation will be a dynamic one in the fall, as no starter firmly entrenched himself as the one to beat. The desired skillset for the quarterback in this offense is a combination of athleticism, decision-making, leadership, passing, and toughness. Each of the current quarterbacks have a different combination of strengths and weaknesses that makes a true starter hard to determine.
Josh Nesbitt’s experience was running one primary package, which pretty much consisted of one basic play, though it was pretty successful. How his run up the middle routinely gained 5 yards every time we ran it, I will never know. His athleticism, strength, and running attributes are exceptional, which will definitely translate to success in the new offense once he is able to grasp it. That’s his only problem, though: the ability to understand the new offense and make timely decisions. In the spring practices, it seemed that he was always hesitant and doubting his instincts. It’s one of those things were he is focusing SO hard on what he has to do (footwork, timing, read assignments, pitch techniques, etc.), that he isn’t able to make the quick decision required for a successful play. Sometimes his gifted athleticism was able to mask his wrong decisions, but at other times, his decisions would lead to costly turnovers. His passing, although raw, seems to find the receiver and appears to be a strength, though he could improve consistency. In summary, his athleticism is a proven commodity, his passing is adequate, but his true success will be determined by his ability to grasp the offense and run it based on instincts. As long as he keeps having to focus so hard and concentrate on every aspect, technique, and read on every play, his decision making will appear slow and inconsistent.
Bryce Dykes has zero college experience in his career. Although this may be a negative to his resume, he actually runs the offense the best of the three available quarterbacks so far. The majority of his reps in spring scrimmages were against either the 2nd team or 3rd team defense, but he still had success in his limited reps against the first team offense as well. He answered questions on his athleticism when he ran a 55 yard bootleg for a touchdown against the first team defense. He also gained some respect (and questions on his sanity) when he absorbed two hard hits, including one which knocked his helmet off, on a 25 yard run. His skillset is close to being the exact opposite of Josh Nesbitt, in which his greatest strength is decision making and running the offense, he has adequate athleticism, and his greatest weakness, by far, is his passing ability.
Calvin Booker appeared to be the odd one out after spring practice was concluded. In his fifth year, he has now learned from four different offensive coordinators in his last four years: Borges at Auburn in 2005, Nix (though he didn’t play) in 2006, Bond in 2007, and now Johnson in 2008. Because of this, and mainly because this new offense is vastly different then his previous ones, he appears confused and hesitant on the field. Although Nesbitt can mask his indecisions and mistakes by his athleticism, Booker cannot overcome any mistakes or hesitation, thus this makes him ineffective in the new offense. This is particularly frustrating because he appears to be a leader on the field, where his personality and work ethic are contagious among other players. His passing, although raw, was successful in his limited playing time last year. It seemed that he would simply loft the ball up for grabs, yet a Georgia Tech receiver (BeBe) would usually come down with it. Whatever works right? Unfortunately in the new offense, his decision making and athleticism are the most important attributes, and those are currently weaknesses for him.
Since no player has shown the desired combination of attributes or even been consistent in running the offense successfully, a freshman can come in and make a statement. The two freshman coming in at quarterback are Jaybo Shaw and Tevin Washington.
Jaybo Shaw, 6 ft 0, 190 - Flowery Branch, GA (Flowery Branch HS)
“A dual-threat quarterback who could fit nicely into Georgia Tech’s offensive scheme… utilizes his athleticism to avoid the rush and buy more time in the pocket… good at improvising when play breaks down… throws well on the run… does a good job of reading the end on the option… fundamentally sound son of a football coach”
Rivals Link *** #10 Dual Threat QB #33 top prospect in GA Scout Link: *** Ranked #56 QB - 4.60 Forty, 4.22 short shuttle
“Very good mobility, but pass-first….Makes really good decisions with the ball. And he throws the ball real well and has a strong enough arm that he can be a factor in the passing game.”- Scott Kennedy
Tevin Washington, 6 Ft 1, 205- Wetumpka, AL (Wetumpka HS)
“…posted career numbers of 5,042 yards passing, 2,097 yards rushing, 42 passing touchdowns and 25 rushing TDs… rushed for 1,088 yards and 14 TDs as a senior… led Wetumpka to a 10-2 record in 2007… passed for more than 200 yards five times in `07, including a season-high 254 yards in the second round of the state playoffs… rushed for more than 100 yards in five games, including a season-high 214 yards vs. Fairhope HS”
Rivals Link: ** Not ranked as a QB Scout Link: *** # 60 QB
Strengths: Accuracy/Consistency, Field Vision, Running Ability/Mobility
Weaknesses: Size, Technique
“A pass first quarterback with excellent mobility, Washington uses his elusiveness to scan downfield first, then to take off and run second. He has a quick release and is accurate on the short and intermediate routes. He has nice touch on the long ball, but struggles just a bit if he has to muscle up on a deep out. Deceptively fast, he’s not a shake and bake type of runner, but possesses tremendous open field speed” -Scott Kennedy
Both of these players appears to be the perfect match for the Paul Johnson offense. How their athletic ability matches Josh Nesbitt remains to be seen, but if they are the elusive combination of athleticism and decision making, I could see either one of these players playing. If Nesbitt cannot overcome his decision making, and if Dykes does not improve his passing, they are both leaving an opportunity for a freshman to take the starting position. This is definitely a position to watch in fall practice, not only because of how dynamic the depth chart may be, but because of the overall importance of the position to the success of the team.
Some questions that will determine the outcome of who is starting and their success:
Will Josh Nesbitt turn the corner and start making the right decisions?
Is Bryce Dykes athletic and talented enough to be a BCS quarterback?
Do you see Paul Johnson going with a true freshman?
Are there any genetic devices out there that can morph Josh Nesbitt’s athletic abilities with Bryce Dykes decision making to create the ULTIMATE quarterback for this offense?
…Let me know what you think
Well, I never really thought this day would come. For those of us who have met Joe, he is not the type of guy we would have ever thought to do something like this. I mean one of these is bad enough, but to be charged on all four crimes is not good at all. There have been debates as to whether or not Joe should keep his job and I would have to say that he should not. First of all, I’ve had my dad die in a car wreck and I have friends who’s parents have been killed by DUI drivers. That kind of behavior is simply unacceptable. I do forgive Joe, but I also believe that he shouldn’t be representing GT as an employee at this point in time.
I hope kids learn from this and not make the same mistakes. Photo courtesy of the AJC
Tomorrow I’ll bring a recap of the GT-UGAg baseball game.
Expansion Update: Progress is coming along. I’ve got some of the coding together and the site is definitely coming along. I’ve been in contact with GT licensing to use the GT and Buzz logos but speedy is something they are not. As soon as I get permission I’ll throw up some pictures to give you a preview of the new In The Edge. I’m also exploring all my options for hosting and domain registration. Get excited because the new In The Edge will hopefully be rolled out here in the next month or so.
Let The Bad News Roll On… So the 2008 Basketball recruiting class continues to be disappointing. This is not a knock on Iman Shumpert, but he is the only recruit coming in next year. Tyshawn Taylor has decided that he will attend Kansas. This may not be such a great idea if Mario Chalmers comes back, but big ups to Bill Self for building some crazy good depth over there at the Fieldhouse.
Frank Ben-Eze has also chosen to go to another school, Davidson. I guess their run in the NCAA tourney and the promise they have next year with Stefan Curry returning was a big selling point. It sucks for the Jackets, but good luck to both of these guys in their college careers.
We’ve still got a chance with Devin Ebanks, but don’t count on it.
Following in Calvin’s shoes Todd McShay, Mel Kiper’s understudy and enemy, has projected that Michael Johnson will be the #2 pick to the Lions in next year’s draft. This is pretty surprising as Stretch hasn’t really had the productivity to back up that high of a pick. However, he will probably have better numbers this year and may project as a Julius Peppers type of guy in the NFL. Let’s hope this comes true.
Maybe more interesting is the prediction of Matthew Stafford to the Chiefs. You know what that means? That means that Gailey would be coaching him. Ironic, huh?
Beesball Three teams have already locked their way into the ACC tourney (Miami, UNC, and FSU). The Jackets are going to need to play well to make sure they get there as well. The Jackets play Coastal Carolina in a 3-game series this weekend and then head to Athens to take on the Bulldogs. The next two weekends the Jackets have important series against Clemson and at Virginia to ensure they get to the postseason.
Hopefully, the Jackets won’t have to play the Bisons, unless they beat UGAg of course. Many of their fans are also probably Tennessee fans so they probably hate the mutts almost as much as we do. Here’s some info on the Bisons from Nashville.
AJC article
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