2017 Season Review

To put things lightly, last season was rough. Last season’s team held much promise before falling flat pretty much as soon as conference play opened up. It wasn’t all bad; mostly, it was the pitching staff that cost Tech games. The Yellow Jackets had just about no consistent pitching on the team, and that kept them from being in a lot of games.

There were good parts to the season, though. The Yellow Jackets’ lineup featured three hitters above .300 and three more hitters with at least 10 home runs. One of these bright spots was true freshman Austin Wilhite, who stepped in at shortstop for the Jackets. Having a great freshman year, Wilhite finished the season being named 2017 NCBWA Freshman All-American First Team, 2017 Collegiate Baseball Freshman All-American, and 2017 ACC All-Freshman Team.

We’ll be taking a more in-depth look at other returning players as the week continues, but in the mean time, let’s look at the players who are graduating and moving on.

Who’s Gone?

If nothing else, the Yellow Jackets are losing the remaining players from the first team I really started following, so it’s a little sentimental (for me, at least). In terms of the players lost, Zac Ryan is definitely a big loss, having served as the primary closer. Now, like the rest of the pitching staff, he wasn’t always great, but he was definitely one of the better ones.

Offensively, the Jackets are losing a good bit between Peurifoy and Poje. Both players served well in the outfield. They were also both a solid threat from the plate. Poje was second on the team (behind Joey Bart) in both home runs and RBI, 10 and 40, respectively. Peurifoy, on the other hand, was more of a jack of all trades, master of none (pardon my cliche). He sported a .295 batting average with seven home runs, 33 RBI and three stolen bases.

2018 Season Preview

As stated above, we’ll be taking a much more in-depth look at this year’s team throughout the week. Today, we’ll just be taking a look at some of the incoming freshmen, notably the ones I’m particularly excited about.

Who’s New?

The biggest name on this list is former Grayson standout Oscar Serratos, who was drafted in the 14th round of the 2017 MLB Draft by the Cleveland Indians. Serratos was one of the best players in the state as a senior and is able to play both ways, having played shortstop and pitching in high school. Perfect Game gave him a very good review when they analyzed him in June 2016:

Oscar Serratos is a 2017 SS/RHP with a 6-3 180 lb. frame from Lawrenceville, GA who attends Grayson HS. Long and rangy projectable build. 6.68 runner., has some athletic bounce to his step. Long over the top arm action with very good arm strength, moves aell (sic) and has range, stays balanced charging the ball and has soft hands fielding. Right handed hitter, deep hand load, front side hitter, will get too far out front at times and lose bat speed, line drive swing plane, has some adjustments to make at the plate but has the hand quickness to hit. Two-way prospect, athletic delivery with a fast and loose arm, ball comes out of his hand clean and easy, 3/4’s arm slot. Steady low 90’s fastball, got it to both sides of the plate well. Slowed a bit on his curveball but it had good spin and vertical depth. Had a quick and easy inning. Very interesting athlete with a fall back if the bat doesn’t come.

Next up is the second son of Coach Danny Hall to join his Yellow Jackets: Colin Hall. Colin is a centerfielder who stands at 5-11, 178 lbs. who was drafted in the 39th round of the 2017 MLB Draft by the Colorado Rockies. You can check out his Perfect Game and MaxPreps profiles by clicking on the appropriate links.

Last up is the third of the players listed above that was drafted: former Norcross High School standout Baron Radcliff, who was drafted in the 40th round of the 2017 MLB Draft by the Atlanta Braves. Radcliff profiles as a solid left field prospect that brings solid speed and potential power, according to his Perfect Game profile. You can check out his Perfect Game and MaxPreps profiles by clicking on the appropriate links.

Which of these freshmen are you excited about this year?