For the third time in four seasons, the No. 14 Georgia Gwinnett baseball team won the Association of Independent Institutions' tournament championship on Monday afternoon as the Grizzlies successfully defended their 2016 title to become back-to-back champions with a 13-3 win over Talladega (Ala.).
"Our team had a great tournament, and we played the best three consecutive games we've played all year," said GGC head coach Brad Stromdahl. "I'm very happy to win another championship for Dr. Darin Wilson, our program, and Georgia Gwinnett. We had a great combination of pitching, hitting, and defense all weekend. I am really looking forward to the NAIA Opening Round next week. I want to thank the fans, families, and supporters of our program near and far. I am very happy for the guys on our team who have worked so hard day in and day out to compete and represent GGC. This group fought hard and truly earned the conference championship."
Senior Jean Paul Rodriguez was one of four Grizzlies, including Trevor Bradley, Nikolay Uherek, and Deion Sellers, named to the A.I.I.'s All-Tournament team as the designated hitter recorded Georgia Gwinnett's first-ever cycle in a contest. For his individual performance and 4-for-5 showing on Monday, Rodriguez was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player as he accounted for seven of GGC's 13 runs in the contest. Rodriguez drove in three runs on four hits, including a triple, double, single, and a home run, and also scored on four occasions.
GGC's starting pitcher Tyler Souris held the Tornadoes scoreless through the first three innings of play, allowing the Grizzlies to gain a 4-0 lead over Talladega.
First baseman Alex Garland put the Grizzlies on the scoreboard in the bottom of the second with a solo home run over the left field fence. An inning later, shortstop Marcus McCorkle drove in the Grizzlies' second run of the day with an RBI-single to shallow right. Two pitches later, Rodriguez made it 3-0 in GGC's favor, driving in McCorkle with a double off the top of the left field fence. Rodriguez later scored on an RBI-single by left fielder Kyler Timmerman for the 4-0 Grizzly lead.
Talladega (36-23) pulled within two runs, 4-2, in the fourth, capitalizing on two Grizzly fielding errors. However, GGC responded with six runs, four in the fifth and two in the sixth, to expand its gap over Talladega to 10-2. Of note, Rodriguez's stand-up triple to the right-center gap scored GGC's sixth run of the game in the fifth while his solo home run in the sixth made it 10-2.
The Tornadoes plated their final run of the contest in the top of the seventh as the A.I.I.'s Newcomer of the Year Emilio Martinez ripped an RBI-single center to cut the Grizzlies' lead to 10-3.
Over the next two innings, Georgia Gwinnett (38-19) would score three insurance runs to push its advantage to 13-3, clinching the A.I.I. championship in front of the Grizzlies' hometown crowd. Rodriguez completed the cycle with a single to deep short in the bottom of the eighth and later scored when catcher Brady Shoppe lifted a two-run single down the right field line to finish the contest with a final score of 13-3.
Souris (7-3) picked up his seventh win of 2017, allowing just three runs, one earned, on five hits while striking out three Tornado batters in six innings of work. Talladega's Robin Ventura (2-4) suffered the loss, surrendering four earned runs on eight hits in four innings of work.
The Grizzlies now play the waiting game and will learn their NAIA national tournament fate on Thursday, May 11 at 4:00 p.m. Eastern when the NAIA announces its 2017 tournament field. Georgia Gwinnett will serve as an Opening Round host site of the national championship tournament, welcoming four other NAIA programs to the Gwinnett County area for the Lawrenceville Bracket May 15-17.
A.I.I. All-Tournament Team
Jean Paul Rodriguez, Georgia Gwinnett
Deion Sellers, Georgia Gwinnett
Nikolay Uherek, Georgia Gwinnett
Trevor Bradley, Georgia Gwinnett
Jesus Zapata, Talladega
Hamlet Flores, Talladega
Kyle Chavez, Talladega
Bryan Rodriguez, Edward Waters
Juan Bracamonte, Edward Waters
J.D. Chadwell, College of the Ozarks
Alex Stephens, College of the Ozarks
Kelvin Guzman, Fisher
Kyle Anulao, Fisher
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