Pitching, experience on the side of Gordon Lee

Few Class 1A teams in the state can boast of the success in baseball that the Gordon Lee Trojans have enjoyed over the last 15-plus years.

Gordon Lee has been a fixture in the state playoffs with several deep postseason runs, but it’s been the last seven seasons that have seen the most success.

Their past five appearances in the Class 1A Public School state playoffs (Gordon Lee was classified as a 2A school in 2015 and 2016) resulted in five trips to the state championship finals. The Trojans finished as state runner-up in 2013, 2014 and 2017, but have claimed state titles in each of the past two seasons.

“All the credit goes to the kids,” head coach Mike Dunfee said. “They’ve worked hard, stayed hungry and stayed humble. I was really nervous about last year, about them possibly being complacent or satisfied (after winning it all in 2018), but they came out hungry.”

And there is no reason to believe that the Navy-andWhite won’t be a favorite to make it three in a row this spring.

“It’s been fun, but I just love the game and I’m excited,” Dunfee added. “The kids have had a good winter workout, especially lifting and getting stronger and that’s a big deal. When I first got here, we were playing teams that were bigger and stronger than us and I told the guys that we needed to get into the weight room and they have. (Head football) Coach (Josh) Groce has helped out with that a lot.”

It starts with a deep pitching staff that includes senior Jake Wright, a recent CarsonNewman signee, and University of Georgia commitment Jake Poindexter, who is about to begin his junior campaign.

Wright was 9-0 last season with a 1.00 ERA in 70 innings of work. He struck out 112 batters and finished with just 25 walks to make first team AllState. Meanwhile, Poindexter overcame some early-season injuries to finish 8-1 with a 2.20 ERA in 57.1 innings on the mound. He struck out 82 batters, walked just 18 and was a second team All-State pick. Both players shared Walker County Pitcher of the Year honors a year ago.

Offensively, Gordon Lee also has a first team All-State selection in senior shortstop J.D. Day, who was the Walker County Co-Player of the Year in 2019. The future Cleveland State Cougar batted .368 with five homeruns and 41 RBIs as a junior. The Trojans also return second team All-State pick Brody Cobb. Cobb hit .339 as a sophomore last year with two homers and 25 RBIs, while going 6-1 on the mound with a 2.70 ERA in 33.2 innings. He will see innings again this season, but will be the team’s new primary catcher.

Both junior outfielder/relief pitcher Cade Peterson (.333, 3 HR, 25 RBIs) and senior second baseman Will Sizemore (.331, 1 HR, 28 RBIs) will also return to the lineup, while Wright hit .291 last year with six homers and 34 RBIs near the bottom of the batting order.

The rest of the junior class includes corner infielder Cody Thomas, outfielder Griffin Collins, pitcher Riley King, outfielder/pitcher Blake Erby, infielder/pitcher Jackson Moore and utility player Jacob Neal.

Among the returning sophomores are Garren Ramey and Tanner Wilson. Ramey was one of the Trojans’ top designated hitters a year ago, while Wilson saw his share of innings in middle relief as a freshman.

The rest of the sophomores include Ethan Rider, Curtis Wells, Ryan Swaney, Cody McCutcheon, Hayden Brewer and Grant Dillard, while the freshmen contingent features Brodie Genter, Nate Dunfee, Conner Whitman, Blake Rogers, Tyler Forester, Holt Roberts, Kade Cowan, Cooper Jackson, Bo Rhudy, Hunter Holmes, Logan Webb and Eli Shell.

Dunfee said there is good talent among the underclassmen that will give his team solid depth and help make for good competition to see who can make an impact on the varsity roster. After that, it’s just a matter of peaking at the right time.

“I always say, you have to grow every day and every week,” he said. “For the past few years, and the last two specifically, we have grown every week and then we’ve gotten hot there at the end. Our pitching has been solid and we became consistent at the plate and that’s what you have to do. You have to fall in love with the process.

“The guys just have to do their jobs in practice, get better every day and work hard. It’s going to be exciting, but it’s a long road. That’s why we always say that it’s a marathon, not a sprint. We just have to take it one day at a time.”