Tallulah Falls’ baseball team had never won a playoff game when it hired Justin Pollock in 2020. The coach who won four national titles at Toccoa Falls College didn’t expect to be playing for a high school state championship in his fourth season.
“Probably not at the time,” Pollock said by phone Thursday afternoon as his team was riding to Statesboro, where Tallulah Falls is playing Prince Avenue Christian in a three-game series for the Class A Division I title.
“We had 11 players in that first baseball meeting, and a couple had been on the tennis or golf teams (not playing baseball) the past two years,” Pollock said. “It was pretty eye-opening. But I knew there was some potential to build something good here. It had great facilities. I was fortunate to get the job.’’
With players from the Bahamas, Panama and Australia, mixed in with some Georgia boys, Tallulah Falls is now the most unusual and unlikely of the GHSA’s 16 baseball finalists playing over the next five days at neutral sites that also include Lawrenceville’s Coolray Field and Rome’s AdventHealth Stadium.
Tallulah Falls is a 115-year-old international boarding school a mile from Tallulah Gorge in northeast Georgia. There are 340 students in the high school, which has been a GHSA member since the 1940s.
“Our desire since inception is to be ‘The Light in the Mountains’ to our numerous and varied local students and our global residential life students, helping them to thrive in life individually and collectively,’’ said athletic director Scott Neal, in his 25th year at the school.
Neal, who helped hire Pollock, proudly pointed out that the school’s volleyball team in 2022 became the first in school history to win a GHSA championship.
The baseball team, with 10 foreign players on its 17-man roster, hopes to become the second, and perhaps the last, as Tallulah Falls announced in December that it would be joining the Georgia Independent Athletic Association beginning this fall. But first things first.
In the baseball team’s usual starting lineup are shortstop Diego Gonzalez, right fielder Chris Waldron, designated hitter David Dutary and first baseman Gregory Mendez of Panama. From the Bahamas are catcher Caden Walker, left fielder Danny Vigille-Grant and third baseman Ashton Roach. Second baseman Dylan Brooks is from Australia.
The main pitchers Cole Bonitatibus, Andrew Skvarka and Pollock’s son Chase are from Georgia as is center fielder B.J. Carver.
Pollock says these aren’t ringers, and they weren’t recruited to play baseball. Panama, Australia and the Bahamas have produced a few major league players, but they are not baseball powerhouses.
“We did not get a single kid who was varsity-ready player when he got here,” Pollock said. “The GHSA mandates they play JV if they transfer (after the ninth grade) and live in our dorm, and it was good for them to be on JV honestly. We got some who may have talent but needed to fine-tune and learn how to play the game and be on a team.’’
They’ve bonded as a multi-cultural team.
“That’s the biggest challenge we faced to be honest,” Pollock said. “Teams we play, they’ve been playing baseball together their whole lives. They grew up together. We’re trying to build a team, getting them to fight for the guy next to them and may not understand what each other is saying. We’ve worked hard and been intentional about working on that. Credit goes to our players for being committed to it.’’
Tallulah Falls (27-10) has lost only one playoff game in winning four three-game series, but there have been tense moments. In the second round against Pepperell last month, they lost Game 1 and trailed 6-2 in the sixth inning of Game 2. High school baseball games are seven innings.
But Tallulah Falls forced extra innings and won in the 11th on Walker’s walk-off single that scored Roache from third. Tallulah Falls then won 6-4 in Game 3. Roach, who doubled twice and hit a homer in the game, has seven of the team’s 17 home runs.
Friday’s opponent, Prince Avenue, beat the Indians 12-2 and 12-10 in the regular season. But that was March, and Pollock says after watching film that he doesn’t recognize his team from then.
He certainly does not recognize it from 2020.
“They’re aware of the history (of the program) because we talk about it,” Pollock said. “I want them to know what happened before they got here. It’s so special now. We knew this year that if some kids grew up and matured and developed, we’d have a chance to be pretty good. I’m not sure many people would’ve said we’d be on the bus today to play in Statesboro for the state championship, but it’s a testament to their work.’’
GHSA baseball finals schedule:
Coolray Field, Lawrenceville
Thursday
5 p.m. – Class 5A: Loganville 5-3, Cartersville 3-14 (split double header)
Friday
Noon – Class 5A: Loganville vs. Cartersville
5 p.m. – Class 7A: Grayson vs. Lowndes (doubleheader)
Saturday
Noon – Class 7A: Grayson vs. Lowndes (if necessary)
5 p.m. – Class 6A: Pope vs. Etowah (doubleheader)
Monday
7 p.m. – Class 6A: Pope vs. Etowah (if necessary)
AdventHealth Stadium, Rome
Friday
5 p.m. – Class 3A: Calvary Day vs. Harlem (doubleheader)
Saturday
Noon – Class 3A: Calvary Day vs. Harlem (if necessary)
5 p.m. – Class 4A: Cherokee Bluff vs. Starr’s Mill (doubleheader)
Monday
7 p.m. – Class 4A: Cherokee Bluff vs. Starr’s Mill (if necessary)
Clements Stadium, Statesboro
Friday
3 p.m. – Class A: Division I: Tallulah Falls vs. Prince Avenue Christian (doubleheader)
Saturday
TBD – Class A: Division I: Tallulah Falls vs. Prince Avenue Christian (if necessary)
5 p.m. – Class 1A: Division II: Lanier County vs. Charlton County (doubleheader)
Monday
Noon – Class 1A: Division II: Lanier County vs. Charlton County (if necessary)
5 p.m. – Class 2A: Appling County vs. North Cobb Christian (doubleheader)
Tuesday
6 p.m. – Class 2A: Appling County vs. North Cobb Christian (if necessary)
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