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Georgia College aiming high in year 3 under Belcher

matthew brown, the union-recorder, milledgeville, ga.
·5 min read

Feb. 1—It's year No. 3 for Georgia College & State University baseball under head coach Nolan Belcher, a former national championship winning college pitcher at South Carolina and state championship winning player at Greenbrier High. Things went well for the Bobcats in 2022, winning more than they lost at 33-20 overall and 18-9 in the Peach Belt Conference.

Most important about the 2022 record is how the Bobcats closed out the season, especially in Peach Belt regular-season play. On April 22, Georgia College went to the home of a top 10 NCAA Division II club, Columbus State, and won two out of the three games in the series. They followed that up with five more wins in the last six games prior to the PBC tournament.

Unfortunately, back-to-back tournament losses to Young Harris and Columbus State put an end to the Bobcat campaign shy of any bids to a D-II regional. About half the starting lineup also saw their collegiate careers come to a close.

No surprise, then, that Belcher — an assistant coach for the Bobcats in 2017-18 — had some reworking to do during the offseason. That work has caught some notice among the conference rivals, for Georgia College & State University is picked to finish in third place behind the two national contenders, Young Harris and Columbus State.

"It's been a very successful program well before I got here," said Belcher. "We're just trying to keep moving it forward. I think we are in a good spot. We have a lot of new guys this year, so it's exciting to watch them compete.

"You always try to recruit, keep getting good players and keep practicing hard. Hopefully the results take care of themselves."

Since 2017, Georgia College baseball has just over 100 Peach Belt wins, the most coming in 2018 with 26 (only nine in the COVID shortened 2020 season). Belcher believes that is the best over that stretch, and he said it's a testament to everyone who played for the club.

One of the returning players for 2023 who will give the Bobcats a hometown feel is John Milledge Acadaemy's Brandon Bellflower. He hit 10 home runs and drove in 41 runs while hitting .324 in 51 games. Belcher said those were All-Conference numbers, but right now Bellflower's trying to shake off back problems.

Outfielder and left-handed hitter Baylin Moore of Albany and infielder Ben Tuten from ABAC are seniors. Mason Spivey played his first year as a Bobcat after transferring from South Georgia College, and he's back after hitting .303 and driving in 26 runs.

On the pitching mound, Josh Hudgins is a fifth-year senior from Dunwoody with an 11-9 career record in college with season highs of six wins and 62 strikeouts in 2022. In more than 91 innings, Hudgins brought his earned run average under four (3.83).

Ashton Sturgell is also a fifth-year senior Belcher expects to be a leader in the bullpen.Luc Scudellari, yes, fifth-year senior, is another factor in the rotation.

"We're not exactly sure how the weekend's going to shape up right now," said Belcher. "We have to find the right roles for these guys and put them in a situation where they can have some success.

"We don't have anyone throwing over 100 yet. (Stuff) just depends on the guy. Hudgins will be anywhere from 89 to 93 and kind of sinks it with his fastball. He has a quality changeup and his slider's come a long way. Scudellari is anywhere from 87 to 91 and has added a splitter, which has been beneficial to him, allows him to stay out there longer against right-handed hitters. He's always had a great breaking ball, which helped him have success against left-handed hitters.

"Sturgell's a sidearmer, 84 to 88. We have a wide variety of pitches and velocities.

"Pitching's key. The more quality pitchers you have, the better chance you have. I think we are pretty deep. Our fifth guy is similar to our 10th guy, which is a positive. I think we'll throw strikes. We are not going to WOW anybody. Don't think we have first or second rounders out there, but they like to compete."

Scoring runs is also key to back up the work of those pitchers. Putting those numbers up on the board is another thing Belcher said the Bobcats will figure out as the season progresses. The Bobcats don't have Paul Grazzini, Austin Holloway, KC Brown, Cam Hill or Sam Sly in the lineup anymore. Those were the top five batting averages.

"There's a lot of question marks about how (newcomers) will perform," said Belcher. "Hopefully we'll have good strike zone recognition, take our walks when they come and hit enough doubles. We have to do little things well. Can't punch out. We have to be super competitive in that box. It's going to be key for this lineup."

Holloway was the catcher, so that opens up another big hole defensively for Georgia College baseball. Trey Ham returns after transferring from Division I Lipscomb and a big prep career at Tattnall Square Academy. Belcher said Ham has competition from three others, and he feels any of them can do the job.

"The outfield is pretty solid from a defensive standpoint. We have some decent athletic guys," said Belcher. "I think we can play good up the middle.

"Don't mess the game up. Catch it and throw it, and take the outs as they come your way."

Georgia College, this time in Florida, will play an early season series again with the University of Tampa, which was No. 1 last year and No. 7 this year. The Bobcats also have Florida Southern and Eckerd (the home opener at John Kurtz Field Feb. 11-12) before Peach Belt play begins Feb. 24.

"We try not to shy away from any competition," said Belcher. "If you play good baseball, you'll win more than you lose. Concentrate and try to get better each day. As for where we'll fall in rankings, we don't get caught up in that."