Archive for June, 2010

Georgia Tech will honor its 1990 national championship football team on Nov. 12 and 13.

Players and coaches will be invited to a private party on Friday and will attend the next day’s game against Miami at Bobby Dodd Stadium. In what should be a highlight for fans, some of those players will lead the team down Yellow Jacket Alley and into the stadium before the game.

Coached by Bobby Ross, the team started the season unranked but went 11-0-1, defeating Nebraska 45-21 in the Citrus Bowl, to take over No. 1 in the final coaches poll.

It was the last Tech team to win an ACC title outright before the Paul Johnson team did so last season.

“The 1990 national championship is a hugely significant milestone in Georgia Tech’s storied history,” athletics director Dan Radakovich said in a statement. “We are very much looking forward to having the players, coaches and administrators from that team return to campus as we celebrate their accomplishment.”

The team caught the …

Continue reading Details on honoring the 1990 team »

Georgia Tech right-handed pitcher Deck McGuire was chosen by Toronto with the 11th pick in the amateur draft on Monday. Though he was in no mood to celebrate after the Jackets were knocked out of the NCAA tournament by Alabama, 10-8.

“It’s an honor to be picked in the first round,” McGuire said. “The Blue Jays are a great organization and hopefully I’ll be able to help them in the future. But right now I’m still in the moment and tonight my teammates are way important story than I am.”

McGuire, a junior, has compiled a 28-7 record in three seasons as a starter. He has a 3.28 earned-run average in 291 innings pitched. He has five pitches – fastball, curveball, slider, changeup and slurve — and struck out 306 and walked 106.

A 6-foot, 6-inch tall power pitcher, McGuire moved into the Tech’s No. 1 starter role as a sophomore, and became one of the ACC’s best pitchers. He was named the ACC’s pitcher of the year and was a finalist for national pitcher of the year.

This season he …

Continue reading McGuire taken 11th by Blue Jays — updated »

I’ll be twittering the action @ajcgatech

We may also have a blogger there.

In addition to game action, I’ll be tweeting on some of the events of the baseball draft as they pertain to Tech.

For the football fans out there, I’m headed to the Pigskin Preview in Macon on Tuesday, and should come back with blog material for the next few days.

So, stay tuned.

Continue reading If you can’t get to tonight’s game between Alabama and Georgia Tech »

If Georgia Tech defeats Alabama on Monday in the elimination game of the regional, it will host either Auburn or Clemson in the super regional. The Jackets are 3-1 against Clemson this year, with the Tigers winning their recent game in the ACC tournament, 3-1.

The schedules for the super regional will be announced on Monday night. The best-of-three series will start on Friday on Saturday.

Tech last hosted a super regional in 2006, which also was the last time it went to the College World Series. The Jackets have played in five super regionals in the past 10 years, also advancing to Omaha in 2002.

Also going on Monday night is baseball’s amateur draft. Tech pitcher Deck McGuire is projected to be a top-10 selection.

Also to be release either Monday or Tuesday are the details of how Tech plans to honor its 1990 national championship football team.

Oh, and there’s all that expansion stuff floating around out there.

Keep reading the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and ajc.com, it …

Continue reading What’s going on Monday and what’s at stake »

If it defeats Mercer, Alabama plans on throwing left-hander Adam Morgan against Georgia Tech in the 7 p.m. game. Morgan is 6-4 with a 6.04 ERA.

Now, some bits of trivia, courtesy of Georgia Tech’s Sports Information Department:

• Georgia Tech is batting .386 in the tournament with five home runs.
• Tech’s ERA is 1.00, while Alabama’s is 3.18 (Mercer is 9.00; both are before Sunday’s game).
• Georgia Tech has not committed an error (Alabama has committed five heading into Sunday’s game).

Of the 16 teams that enter Sunday undefeated:

• 5 from the ACC (Clemson, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Miami, Virginia)
• 3 from the SEC (Arkansas, Florida, South Carolina)
• 2 from the Pac 10 (Arizona State, UCLA)
• 2 from the Big 12 (Oklahoma, Texas)
• 1 from the Southern (Charleston)
• 1 from the Mountain West (TCU)
• 1 from the Big East (Louisville)
• 1 from the Big Ten (Minnesota)

State-wise:

• 3 from South Carolina (Charleston, Clemson, South Carolina)
• 3 from Florida (Florida, Florida State, Miami)
• 2 …

Continue reading Bits of factual fun about the Atlanta regional »

There were two weird plays in Georgia Tech’s 5-2 win over Alabama in the NCAA regional at Russ Chandler Stadium on Saturday.

The first one wasn’t as weird as the second, but here goes:

Josh Rutledge hit a tailing fly ball in the fifth to right field that Chase Burnette thought he could catch. He tracked it to the wall, jumped, and the ball hit his glove and kept on going for the home run.

Burnette said he’s positive he was reaching over the fence when the ball ricocheted off him. In other words, he didn’t do a Jose Canseco and cause the ball to go over the fence by misplaying it.

The second play was just plain weird.

In the sixth inning, with runners on second and third, Thomas Nichols hit a hard shot to right field that was either going to barely clear the fence, or hit the top for a single or double. Instead, the ball hit OFF the top of the wall and bounced back into play, something that Tech coach Danny Hall said they occasionally see during batting practice.

Cole Leonida …

Continue reading Explaining the two weird plays in Tech’s win over Alabama »

Some quick notes about the NCAA regionals, courtesy of Georgia Tech’ SID:

There are three ACC vs. SEC winner’s bracket match-ups today. They are all night games.

Georgia Tech vs. Alabama

Virginia vs. Mississippi

Auburn vs. Clemson

Records of BCS Conferences Friday:

SEC 8-0

Pac 10 6-2

ACC 6-2

Big 12 3-2

Big East 1-2

Big Ten 1-0

No. 1 seeds went 15-1 on Friday.

Of the 32 first-round games yesterday, four were shutouts:

Georgia Tech 10, Mercer 0

Coastal Carolina 6, Stony Brook 0

Texas 11, Rider 0

La.-Lafayette 1, Rice 0

Friday was a good day for schools that also participated in BCS bowl games. Georgia Tech, Alabama, Florida, Texas, Oregon and TCU all won.

—

I’m not sure what to expect tonight. I wrote in today’s paper that it could be a pitcher’s duel. But after both teams hit the ball so well yesterday, who knows?

The wind is blowing out, which is good news for Tech’s lefty-heavy lineup. Balls don’t need a lot of help getting out of Russ Chandler’s right field as it is.

Tech …

Continue reading A few baseball notes from the Atlanta regional »

Former Georgia Tech football players Joseph Gilbert and Clyde Yandell have been admitted into Georgia State’s graduate school programs and will join the Panthers’ football team. They will enroll in school in August.

Gilbert, a 6-2, 280-pound native of Cartersville, started 26 of the past 27 games at right guard for the Yellow Jackets after redshirting as a freshman. Yandell, a 6-5, 287-pound native of St. Augustine, Fla., saw spot duty at tackle the past two seasons after redshirting as a freshman. Georgia State also announced it added former Auburn tight end Bailey Woods. Gilbert and Yandell are management majors at Tech.

All three players have two seasons of eligibility remaining.

“To be able to add these three student-athletes to our program is truly a blessing,” GSU coach Bill Curry said in a statement. “Of course all three are excellent students and talented football players who bring size and experience that will help us tremendously. And the fact that they and …

Continue reading Gilbert and Yandell are Panthers »

This weekend is obviously about trying to win the regional, keep the season going and eventually reach the College World Series.

But it could be the end for several Tech seniors, and a few juniors who may leave if they are selected high enough in Monday’s draft.

Notably, it could be the last game for senior first baseman Tony Plagman. He came in as a preferred walk-on, and could leave as the greatest home-run hitter in Tech’s storied history. It could also be the last game for seniors Jay Dantzler, Sean Devine, Jason Garofalo, Patrick Long and Andrew Robinson, not to mention Deck McGuire, who will likely be a top-10 pick on Monday.

Dantzler and Devine redshirted the last time Tech made it to Omaha. This time, they want to go back and play.

“It’s one thing we are keeping mind, these last two or three games could be the end of our season,” Dantzler said. “This could be the last time we play together as a team. The last time most of these guys could play college baseball. That’s …

Continue reading Will this be the end? »

Some of you were justifiably aggravated when Colorado announced it was going to celebrate its “consensus” national championship football team the weekend of its game against Georgia.
That’s fine, except Georgia Tech was also crowned champions for that season.
On Monday, Tech will announce plans to honor its team, with most of the shindig happening during the weekend of the Miami game.
I’ll send more as I get more. Follow me on twitter @ajcgatech

Continue reading 1990 celebration »