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... to start the season. Hodges goes deep and Neighborgall has a good first outing on the mound, but 4 hits and 3 errors ain't going to win too many games. Story here............ This year's team might be an up-and-down story, as they are relying on a lot of talented, but inexperienced players................ However, the team's goal is to improve on the 2004 campaign, which came to a disappointing thud by getting swept by UGAg in the NCAA tourney. Interesting comments in that last article about team leadership and chemistry being an issue last season:
Players like Blackwood and Neighborgall say Georgia Tech's young roster is an advantage. A few losses won't cause a panic like they did a year ago, when a veteran-laden team started 21-17 and prompted almost-daily team meetings to hash out problems.
"We had so many upperclassmen last year, you had too many guys trying to take a leadership role," Blackwood said. "This year, it's the opposite. This year, we won't worry about what's wrong every time we lose two games in a row. We won't hold team meetings.
"We can play better and not really think about it."
Interesting blurb about Kevin Brown from former GT coach Jim Morris:
Miami baseball coach Jim Morris struggles to remember the name of the prospect he was scouting during a Georgia high school baseball game in the early 1980s, but he does remember the pitcher this outfielder was facing.
Morris described him as this "scrawny kid" and swears he couldn't throw a fastball more than 79 mph. After the game, Morris was trying to sell the outfielder on attending Georgia Tech, where he was coaching, but the pitcher kept interrupting, trying to talk his way into a scholarship. Morris eventually heard him out and told him he was welcome to walk on to the team, which he did.
Turns out that the "scrawny guy" was Kevin Brown, who anchored the Yellow Jackets' pitching staff for three years, becoming an All-American before putting together a fine major league career.
"Over the years I've learned that you have to return every call you get, write every kid that writes you," Morris said. "And if somebody says a guy can play, no matter who it is, you've got to look into it because if you don't, you could miss out on a good one."