GHC baseball advances to GCAA title round

May 7, 2025

Ryan Martin

On Wednesday, right fielder Ryan Martin contributed four hits, including two-run home runs in the third and fourth innings, leading the Georgia Highlands Chargers to a 12-4 victory over Andrew College in an eight-inning conference tournament game.

The victory sent the Chargers into the championship round of the Georgia Collegiate Athletic Association tournament, which is being played at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College in Tifton.

As the visiting team, the Andrew Tigers held a 3-1 lead halfway through the third inning. However, GHC pitchers Andrew Arnold (6 IP, 4R, 3ER, 7H, 2BB, 6K) and Jackson Greer (2 IP, 0R, 0H, 0BB, 3K) restricted the Tigers to just one additional run over the next five innings, ultimately securing the victory by an eight-run rule after seven innings.

Martin’s first homer tied the game at 3-3 in the bottom of the third inning. His second round tripper in the fourth inning was part of a three-run frame. 

The Tigers narrowed the margin to 6-5 in the top of the fifth inning, but the Chargers scored six unanswered runs in the sixth through eighth innings to put the game out of reach.

Georgia Highlands out-hit Andrew 17 to 7.

Kenskey Thomas, Grayson Godbee (double, two RBI), and Tyler Phillips had three hits for GHC.  Wyatt Gatlin had two hits, including a solo home run to walk off the game in the bottom of the eighth. Ian Fullerton hit a two-run homer in the sixth, and Andrew Bishop added a double with two RBI.

Georgia Highlands (44-10) awaits the survivor of an elimination game between Gordon State (31-25) and Andrew (30-25) to be played Wednesday night. 

The Chargers, already regular-season champions, need one win on Thursday to claim the conference title. The Gordon State/Andrew survivor must defeat Georgia Highlands twice on Thursday in the double-elimination format. 

The championship round begins Thursday at 10 a.m.

The conference tournament champion will advance to the NJCAA Appalachian District Championship Series at the Tennessee champion May 13-15 for the right to advance to the NJCAA World Series in Grand Junction, Colorado.