Chargers host GCAA Championship Tourney as No. 2 seed

The Georgia Highlands baseball team split a doubleheader with West Georgia Tech Saturday in Carrollton to secure second place in the Georgia Collegiate Athletic Association standings and earn a first round bye in this week’s GCAA Championship Tournament.

Georgia Highlands (37-19, 14-10) won the first game of the doubleheader Saturday 6-2, but fell in the second game 7-6.

Brandon Bell homered and drove in three runs in the Chargers’ win. Jonathan White also had a two-hit game. Nick Fink had a hit and drove in two runs.

Colby Taylor pitched five innings to pick up the win. Tyler Sellers earned a two inning save.

West Georgia Tech came from behind to win the second game. GHC took a 6-2 lead to the bottom of the seventh when the Knights struck for five runs.

Bell, Caleb McElwaney, and Devin Bilardello had two hits each in the second game.

The Chargers are hosting the double-elimination GCAA Tournament at LakePoint Sports in Emerson and will open play Thursday at 3:30pm against Wednesday’s ABAC-Andrew College winner. ABAC is seeded third in the tournament. Andrew College is the No. 6-seed.

The other first round game Wednesday features 4th-seeded Gordon State against 5th-seeded South Georgia. The Gordon State-South Georgia winner draws East Georgia on Thursday afternoon.

East Georgia (28-19, 16-8) is the top seed for the tournament and regular season champion of the conference. The Bobcats have already secured a spot in the NJCAA East Central Regional regardless of their finish in the tournament.

The GCAA tournament winner will advance to the regional. If East Georgia wins the conference tournament, then the runner-up will advance.

The remainder of the GCAA tournament field is playing for the conference’s second spot in the NJCAA East Central Regional that will be played May 17-19 at Dyersburg State in western Tennessee. The regional winner in Tennessee qualifies for the NJCAA World Series that begins May 27 in Grand Junction, Colorado.

2017 Georgia Collegiate Athletic Association Tournament