Gordon Lee aiming to defend state championship
After 34 years of close calls and tough playoffs exits, the Gordon Lee Trojans finally returned to the summit of Georgia high school baseball last spring.
The Trojans won their first state baseball title since 1984 (their third overall) by going 8-0 and steamrolling through the Class 1A Public School tournament. They took down Clinch County, Charlton County, Bowdon and Telfair County by a combined 63-5, including five shutouts in eight games.
And while there was a long period of celebration in the Chickamauga community, the thrill of winning it all was a bit shorter for head coach Mike Dunfee.
“Last year was awesome and a lot of fun,” he said. “I was super excited when we won it. I was really excited for that team, those kids, their families and the whole community.
“But about 30 seconds after we won it, I was really kind of mad because it was over. It was so much fun and the kids were really playing well and together as a team and then, suddenly, it was over. I really wish there had been more games we could have played.”
But nine months have passed since the final out was recorded in Savannah and an entire new slate of games is just around the corner, beginning next Tues- day (Jan. 12) at Dade County.
“It’s time to start playing ball again and that’s the big thing,” Dunfee continued. “We just have to get them wanting more and wanting to compete again. We’ve got a good senior group, who are a great group of leaders and a great bunch of kids. Since we’re still in preseason practice, we really don’t know what we have yet. You really don’t establish your identity as a team until about 10 games into the season when you start figuring it out, but that gives a lot of kids a chance to do some things early.”
That senior class includes catcher Chris Potter, third baseman/pitcher Hunter Hodson, first baseman/pitcher Logan Streetman and outfielders Justin Wooden and Braxton Ledford, who have com- bined to log plenty of innings in the past three seasons.
A small junior class features three veterans in shortstop J.D. Day, second baseman Will Sizemore and utility player Jake Wright. Sizemore and Wright will also see time on the mound, while Wright was selected as a second team AllState performer last year.