ATHENS — Big, strong, experienced.
If those are indeed primary ingredients for a championship team, then Georgia baseball could be in for a special season.
The Bulldogs are fielding one of the more physically imposing teams they’ve ever put on the diamond. That starts with the pitching rotation and filters throughout the lineup.
Georgia will start with 6-foot-6, 220-pound right-hander Jonathan Cannon in the season opener against Albany (N.Y.) at 2 p.m. Friday at Foley Field. Left-hander Liam Sullivan (6-6, 245) will take the mound at 3 p.m. Saturday, and new addition Dylan Ross (6-5, 251), will get the ball for Sunday’s game (1 p.m.).
There will be plenty of size behind them as well, including slugger Connor Tate and infielders Garrett Blaylock and Parks Harber. All three measure at 6-3 and weigh between 215 and 220 pounds. In total, the Bulldogs feature 15 players who stand at least 6-3, with eight of them north of 6-5 and pitcher Garrett Brown topping out as the tallest player, at 6-7.
When they huddle around Scott Stricklin, their more vertically challenged coach disappears like a bulldog in a cornfield.
“This is by far the most physical team I’ve ever had,” Stricklin said as the Bulldogs conducted batting practice earlier this week. “They’re just big and strong and mature.”
Stricklin and the Bulldogs hope that translates into more victories, as they didn’t have enough of those last season. The Bulldogs were on the outside looking in on NCAA Tournament selection day in a season in which they finished 31-25.
“Everybody in our lineup has played in the SEC, so we know we’ll be ready,” said Tate, a fifth-year senior who led the Bulldogs in home runs (10) and batting average (.344) last year. “The goal is definitely to make it to Omaha (for the College World Series). There’s no way we’re going to leave it up to the committee like we did last year. That’s on our mind, for sure, and we have all the confidence in the world.”
“This is by far the most physical team I've ever had. They're just big and strong and mature."
Tate’s twin brother Cole plays shortstop and also is 6-3. Cole was the Bulldogs’ second-leading hitter last season at .319.
The Cole brothers are among eight starting position players and 13 pitchers returning this season. In all, Georgia’s roster includes 29 lettermen.
Cannon is key among those. The Bulldogs’ pitching ace was sidelined with bouts of COVID-19 and mononucleosis last year before finally getting started in March, and then on a pitch count. He finished 4-2 with a 3.98 ERA with 57 strikeouts and 13 walks in 63 innings.
Fully healthy this year, Cannon is raring to go.
“Last year, just coming off mono and COVID and playing in front of half-capacity crowds, it was such a different time,” Cannon said. “There’s so much hype around this season and just being back to normal. I’m just excited to be able to see the fans in the stands from the get-go and being able to get back out there.”
The Bulldogs are in every preseason poll released, with a high of No. 14 by Baseball America and low of No. 22 by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA). SEC coaches picked Georgia to finish third in the Eastern Division behind Vanderbilt and Florida. Eight conference teams are consensus Top 25 picks. Defending national champion Mississippi State, Vanderbilt, Arkansas, Florida and LSU are preseason top-10 picks.
But Georgia is expected to be in the mix. In Cannon and Sullivan, Georgia knew it was going to have a pair of solid starters to build around. But Ross is the unexpected addition to the weekend rotation.
A native of Statesboro, Ross came to UGA from Georgia Perimeter College after starting his career at Eastern Kentucky and has blown away the Bulldogs with raw velocity and an array of pitches.
“He has big-time stuff,” Stricklin said. “He’s a little bit of a late bloomer, but he was the No. 1 JUCO player in the country, and he wanted to come play in the SEC. Physically, reminds me a little bit of (ex-Bulldog) Tony Locey, big, strong, physical, a hard-throwing right-handed pitcher. He throws four pitches for strikes and has a chance to be a very high draft pick.”
Said Cannon: “I think he’s going to be the best Sunday starter in the country, to be honest with you. From what I’ve seen, he’s an unbelievable pitcher.”
Built like many of Georgia’s tight ends who work out daily across the street from Foley Field, Ross fits right in with his new teammates. The size and strength the Bulldogs will bring out of the dugout this season is no accident.
Strength-and-conditioning coach Ryan Gearheart has had more than a little to do with it.
“Coach Gearheart does an unbelievable job with us in the weight room,” Cannon said. “A lot of us come in tall and skinny. I was probably 190 when I came in, and now I’m 220. That’s because of coach Gearheart and our nutrition staff. They build us into the shape we need to be to perform our best.”
