EMERSON, Ga. – The GBSA Rays are the new kids on the block when it comes to competitive baseball in the state of Georgia, but they are making their mark on the tournament circuit. The defending champions of the 17u Perfect Game-East Cobb Invitational are competing at high levels with premier talent even though their program was only started in 2013. The coaches have a primary goal for their players: to become successful individuals and to get their players to play college baseball.
“We have been intricate in putting this whole program together since its inception in 2013,” said Eddie Phelps. “It was started so these guys would have an opportunity to look at Division 1 universities as a final landing spot. From there, Coach Harris has helped take the program to another level. It’s something we’ve really enjoyed being a part of. Perfect Game has given us the platform to play on and showcase the skill sets and talents of these young men.”
GBSA has enjoyed steady success over the past few years and they believe that the program is only on the upswing. Tournaments such as the Perfect Game/East Cobb Invitational allow programs, such as GBSA, to showcase their players’ talents not only as individuals but also in a team and in-game setting.
“Last year we were co-BCS champions and finished 10th in the country in only our second summer,” said Phelps “Events like this give us a platform for talented young men who want to be a part of what we’re doing here. Another thing that we stress is academics, we have around eight kids that have a 3.5 or better, AP courses included; several have already taken the SATs and ACTs and passed those. Some of the kids who came before them, for example Armond Upshaw (former GBSA player) ran a 6.1 in the 60 but also had a 3.85 GPA in the classroom and 1800 on his SAT leaving high school and that led him to commit to the University of Missouri from Pensacola State.
"Our biggest thing was to focus on education and the ability to play the game at a high level. Teaching, instructing, and making sure we carry ourselves the right way on the field. Perfect Game has given us the opportunity to grow and we appreciate Jerry Ford who has helped create this platform.”
Phelps and manager Dan Harris understand that the state of Georgia is full of competitive teams. Whether it be the East Cobb program, Georgia Jackets, or Georgia Bombers, the coaches understand that there are multiple teams available for athletes to choose from. GBSA has worked hard to distinguish their program as a deviation from the norm, a program that not only wants players to succeed on the field but one that pushes for academic and overall life success.
“At the end of the day we’ve created a great opportunity to be very competitive,” said Phelps. “When you start to compete with other elite Georgia programs, we have the opportunity to create another organization that we felt would be competitive. We have been competitive a lot quicker than we expected to be; when you come in your first year unranked and you finish 75th in the country, that puts a fire underneath you.
“The biggest thing we want to do now is continue to get recognition from playing hard and being respected. We want kids to know that if you come here you are going to play and at the same time we are going to keep up with how you do academically because that’s the biggest way to get the kids into school.”
GBSA was 1-1 coming into Wednesday’s game and winning today against Team Elite South East was imperative to continue into bracket play. The Rays stress an aggressive style of play and utilizing their speed to take advantage of every opportunity on the mound, at the plate, and on the base paths.
“The biggest thing is playing hard and leaving it on the field,” said Phelps. “Get here early and have the expectation of playing hard. We play fast, we play extremely fast. We steal a lot of bases and take a lot of extra-base hits. We’re going to extend a single to a double if the opportunity is there, that’s what we have been preaching is to do the unexpected and control the controllables. You can’t control what call is going to be made but you can control how hard you play with the pride and respect on the front of your jersey. Make sure when people see you they love watching you play.”
The players agree that an aggressive mentality, especially at the plate, will lead to greater success. They prioritized offense and, in the simplest of terms, to score more runs than the opposition.
“We have to get hits,” said Danny Harris IV, the No. 31 shortstop in the state of Georgia for the class of 2017. “(We have to) line up hits in a row to score some runs.”
Tristan Dobbs, the No. 32 righthanded pitcher in the state of Georgia for the class of 2017, started on the mound for GBSA and pitched tow quality innings. He struck out four and only allowed one run to score. Corey King followed Dobbs with four quality innings in relief, also striking out four over four innings. For as well as both Dobbs and King threw, the offense needed to string together some hits if GBSA was going to come back.
In the bottom of the fifth GBSA was able to plate three runs to take the lead. Marcus Smith scored on a wild pitch, Caleb Upshaw scored on a fielder’s choice and Kevin Barham had an RBI single to conclude the scoring. For the class of 2017 in the state of Georgia Kevin Barham is the No. 6 lefthanded pitcher and Caleb Upshaw is the No. 35 outfielder.
Unfortunately for GBSA, the three runs they gathered in the fifth were all the runs they were going to get on the day. Team Elite was able to mount a comeback in the sixth and seventh innings. They were able to execute a steal of home with two outs and the score tied in order to gain the lead and, eventually, the win by a score of 4-3.
GBSA falls to 1-2 in the tournament and will not be advancing to bracket play. This will not discourage them as the summer circuit is still young and there is plenty of time to improve. The coaches and players will be working hard to not only grow as a team, but to further establish themselves as one of the most competitive amateur baseball programs in the state of Georgia.