A pair of Norcross stars, four-star forward Rayshaun Hammonds and three-star forward Lance Thomas, have been garnering significant interest from Georgia Tech head coach Josh Pastner, per the AJC. Thomas and Hammonds, both top-15 prospects in the state of Georgia, are members of the 2017 class with offers from a number of national powerhouse programs. Guys like them -- those from successful programs in and around the Atlanta area -- are the exact players that Brian Gregory just didn't bring in with any consistency. It seems like a safe bet that Gregory would've at least showed some interest the formidable duo, but I'm much more comfortable now that someone like Josh Pastner is controlling the recruiting trail. Atlanta players' "interest" in Tech should now be much more than the formality which it seemed to be under Gregory.
Georgia Tech baseball dropped its weekend series with Boston College, winning game one but dropping the following two contests in a Saturday doubleheader at Russ Chandler Stadium. Head coach Danny Hall, whose team struggled on both sides of the ball during the doubleheader, had the following to say about Tech's lackluster finale:
"This was not the day we wanted. It’s a disappointing way to end the regular season. In the first game, we did walk too many batters and gave them some easier chances to score. We couldn’t keep them from scoring. In the second game, we had missed opportunities time and time again. We had the guys at the plate we wanted (with runners on), but we couldn’t do it enough time times to beat them."
With the pair of losses, Tech finished the regular season at 35-20 including a 13-16 mark in the ACC. It's a slight improvement over last season, but the team's struggles in ACC play following the long winning streak to start the season make the outcome a bit more disappointing than the record would indicate. Regardless, this team has the potential to have a great run in both the ACC Tournament and the NCAA Tournament later on if the pitching staff can find its rhythm and the bats stay as hot as they've been all year long. Maybe they can do what recent Tech squads haven't done and peak at the perfect time.
Speaking of the ACC Tournament, Tech managed to sneak into (or cling to, rather) the No. 9 position with some help from various other teams and some tiebreaker magic. The team's prize? A fourth-straight game versus Boston College! The Jackets and Eagles will fight it out once again on Tuesday, a 3:00 PM game in Durham to decide who will face off with No. 1 Miami the following night. The Eagles and Hurricanes are not exactly at the top of my wishlist for teams to face, but we've seen Tech make some miraculous runs in the conference tournament before. Who's to say that this year will be any different?