The Georgia baseball team played Game 3 of their Fall World Series today. The Black team won 9-2 and took the series 2-1.

The three game series gave a look into this team. It’s exciting to see how much improvement they have made so far. The three things that stood out in this game, the pitching improvements overall, that this is still a growing team, and how much recruiting has already made an impact.

Pitching:

 
The Red and Black teams each had impressive pitchers starting; Justin Glover for the red, and Tony Locey for the Black.

The stand out was freshmen right-hander Tony Locey, who dominated the first four innings, holding the red team scoreless. He also had seven strikeouts for the game.  Locey only allowed one baserunner, a two-out walk to sophomore Patrick Sullivan.

He was confident on the mound and Ike Cousins Coach Scott Stricklin also mentioned the confidence with Locey was important. The alpha male is something pitchers are striving for, and Locey already has that mentality.

“Tony set the tone for them today. After losing the first game, he let the red team know that they better come ready to play,” Stricklin said.

The pitchers in the game today all gave a tremendous effort. The strong pitching in this game really gives Georgia a good group for the season. It gives them different pitching styles for every type of opponent they face.

Still a Growing Team:

Another thing to take away is to realize that this is a young team and they’re growing as a unit. They’re still trying to figure out who plays best where and the official line up.

Stricklin seems pretty confident in the progress that this team has made thus far. He went on to elaborate that they aren’t checking birthdates, that the best players will be on the field. There were a few mistakes here-and-there; as they say, there are growing pains. The competition on this team is something that Stricklin and staff are looking to put on the field. By having this competition within the team, makes everyone work just as hard.

This team may be young, but the players are putting forth the effort to keep growing and become successful. There are going to be ups-and-downs, but the progress the team is making this fall is huge.

Recruiting:

The last thing to take away is how much the 2016 recruits are already becoming factors within the program. They’re already getting a lot of reps and showing they deserve to be on the field.

The Georgia recruiting standings, according to Perfect Game USA, rank No. 4 in the nation after this signing class. Which is something that has tremendously improved since Stricklin came on the scene four seasons ago.

The improvement in recruiting shows on the field because there are 18 position players that are underclassmen. Stricklin mentioned that these players may be young but they have already been in big game time situations. Six of the freshmen played in their state championships last season.

This shows the strides in recruiting the Dawgs have made in a short amount of time. According to Perfect Game USA, they went from No. 26 in the nation Stricklin’s first season, No. 22 last season, to now No. 4 in the nation. They’re pushing for more talent and they’re getting it.

After an impressive three game series for the Dawgs, it’s safe to say that this team is improving. This is a new chapter of Georgia baseball and it’s not going away.