A Field Full of GGC Dreams

Since first picking up baseballs, bats and gloves, Georgia Gwinnett College baseball players have envisioned showcasing their hitting, pitching or fielding skills in the professional ranks after finishing their collegiate careers.

The Grizzlies, their coaches and support staff got a taste of that special environment while sweeping a three-game series March 13-14 against Montreat College (North Carolina) at Gwinnett Field, the home stadium of the Gwinnett Stripers, a Triple-A minor league affiliate of Major League Baseball’s Atlanta Braves organization.

This was the same diamond in Lawrenceville, Georgia, that Ronald Acuna Jr., Freddie Freeman, Ozzie Albies, and Max Fried played on before winning World Series and becoming household names in the professional ranks.

Several GGC players go on to continue their baseball dreams each year across the many entry levels of the minor leagues. Former player Tyler Carpenter, a 2014 Major League Baseball draftee, advanced to the Triple-A level with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. 

This year’s group of talented Grizzlies played a pair of exhibition games at Gwinnett Field last fall to become familiar with the surroundings at the ballpark, located approximately five miles from the GGC campus. 

Starting pitcher Shane Anderson had overlooked the stadium from his apartment beyond left field.

“It was like a second home game for me,” remarks the senior who started the opening game of the weekend series. “It was amazing to get the start under the lights. Not many people can say that their third-ever start in life came at a Triple-A ballpark.”

Anderson allowed just one hit across five scoreless innings to improve his record to 2-0 for the season.

The playing experiences from last fall’s games helped junior second baseman and leadoff batter Payton Fort collect a season-high three hits in the series finale, a 10-4 GGC victory.

“We were still playing in Lawrenceville. We felt right at home,” Fort recalls. 

Anderson adds, “When I was warming up in the bullpen I tried to visualize being (on campus) at the Grizzly Athletics Complex. When we played here in the fall I made the moment a lot bigger than it needed to be. It still is the game of baseball, no matter where you’re playing it.”

The games at Gwinnett Field also gave nine GGC students associated with the Grizzly Digital Network (GDN) the opportunity to produce games using high tech video equipment and a professional working environment. Student interns in the college’s Cinema Media and Arts Production program were four camera operators catching the action on the field while other students served as technical directors, producers, replay and graphics operators, and audio technicians. They used a state-of-the-art Ross Carbonate switcher, Ross XPression graphic machine and a DreamCatcher replay system to catch all of the action from Grizzlies’ three victories. 

“It was a great opportunity. I’m glad we took advantage of it in broadcasting the games with GGC students,” states Assistant Athletics Director for External Operations Matt Mahony. “For them (Gwinnett Stripers officials) to open the doors and treat us with great hospitality is something I don’t take lightly. You could see the students’ eyes light up when we went to the stadium to test the equipment a few days prior to the real games.”

GDN broadcasts nearly 150 home GGC athletic events each school year through the Georgia Gwinnett College Athletics’ YouTube channel.

Senior Prussia Graul served as a technical director and producer for GDN during the recent games. She lists the broadcasting experience among a growing list of special learning opportunities from the current spring semester.

“It has been something that I have been bragging about to others. Having our entire crew there made everyone feel more comfortable, considering we were in a new environment (Gwinnett Field) and working with amazing equipment.”

One video image in particular from the weekend series was memorable for Mahony, who has been covered GGC athletics for the past 13 years.

“Camera 1 (at Gwinnett Field) is positioned right next to the home dugout. There is a shot that they always get of the runner crossing home plate and then coming through the warning track and on-deck circle, down the stairs and into the dugout,” stated Mahony. “It was a high-energy celebration shot that (the Gwinnett Stripers broadcasts) always relies on. I had chills seeing our GDN students getting that same camera angle and capturing that same energy from the Georgia Gwinnett Grizzlies, not the Stripers. It was those images that will be forever special for the GGC baseball players and members of the Grizzly Digital Network.”

Camera operator Davian Alvarez, a GGC senior, adds, “The baseball broadcasts at Gwinnett Field were the highlight of the academic semester and baseball season. We worked at such a big venue and with a lot of equipment that we’re not used to operating. Doing it together as a team made us feel like we were accomplishing something that was really big.”

It was also significant for the Grizzly baseball players who outscored Montreat 21-6 over the series to extend the team’s winning streak to six games this season.

All around, it was a great weekend to be a Grizzly!