Georgia Gwinnett completes dominant run with NAIA World Series title
Georgia Gwinnett remained undefeated throughout the NAIA World Series to take the title
At this rate, Georgia Gwinnett will have plenty more dogpiles in the future.
Still, nothing compares to the first.
In their fourth appearance at the Avista NAIA World Series, the Grizzlies swept the competition, capping their dominant run with an 8-4 title victory against Central Methodist on Thursday night at Harris Field.
“I mean this with all due respect: This is exactly the vision we had for this team,” second-year GGC coach Jeremy Sheetinger said. “I’m not shocked.”
It’s nonetheless surprising how meteorically the Grizzlies rose through the NAIA ranks. Founded in 2013, GGC’s baseball program earned bids to the Series in 2014, ’18 and ’19 — only to fall shy of the crown each time.
But in this go round, the Grizzlies (51-10) went mostly unchallenged. They outscored Series opponents 52-30, and led 8-0 in the sixth inning of the championship before the Eagles (49-8) attempted a last-ditch comeback in the final two frames.
“This is a testament to trusting your players, and loving your people,” Sheetinger said. “We’ve got the right people here in Lewiston and we’ve got the right people thinking the right way.”
Starter Hunter Dollander, the Series MVP, tamed CMU over seven innings. He was charged with one run, and struck out nine against five hits and two walks.
He didn’t run into much trouble until the sixth. With two Eagle runners in scoring position, Dollander registered a full-count strikeout.
Meanwhile, the Grizzly batters had registered seven hits by the time the third inning ended, and 14 when the sixth concluded.
“Just going out there and competing, try to give my guys a chance,” said Dollander (12-1).
Closer Hunter Caudelle entered in the eighth. CMU scored four on two fielding errors, two singles and back-to-back bases-loaded walks before outfielder Myles McKisic made a wowing, sliding catch in right field in a bases-loaded jam.
Two Eagles reached in the ninth against Caudelle, who closed the game by inducing a lineout from CMU standout Sergio Macias. The ball came right back at Caudelle, who flipped his glove up alertly for the final out.
He was then buried by his teammates.
“The beauty of it was, in those innings where things were starting to look like they might unravel, we didn’t have to say anything,” Sheetinger said. “We allowed our players to lead within that moment. It came back to trusting the process, and it was pretty awesome to be a part of that.”
