Georgia State's 2009 CAA Championship and NCAA Regional team will be honored prior to Saturday's game (2 p.m. vs. UT Arlington), with approximately 20 team members in attendance. Bradley Logan, MVP of the CAA Tournament and now the program's volunteer coach, shared his recollections of that memorable run.
Ordinarily, if your team bus breaks down and you are stranded on the side of the road, it's not a pleasant memory. But Bradley Logan and his 2009 Georgia State baseball teammates recall the experience fondly.
That's because of a special “passenger” sitting in the front seat of that charter bus that broke down on Interstate 20 near Florence, S.C.
“It helped that we had the trophy with us,” Logan smiled, recalling the return trip from a magical four days in Wilmington, N.C., where the Panthers made history by winning the Colonial Athletic Association Championship.
“We were sitting there on the side of the road on I-20 for four or five hours,” Logan continued. “We had the radar gun out, clocking cars going by, doing anything to help pass the time. I think we pulled into the Sports Arena about seven o'clock the next morning.”
Logan and his teammates had plenty of time to relive the four exciting games that brought home the trophy as the Panthers swept through the tournament with wins over Northeastern, host UNC Wilmington, top-seeded George Mason, and then UNCW again in the title game.
“The tournament had a weird dynamic because we didn't play Mason or Wilmington during the season, so we hadn't seen two of the three teams we played,” Logan recalled.
The second-seeded Panthers opened against Northeastern, from whom they had won two of three during the regular season. But after the Huskies scored two runs in the top of the eighth, Georgia State found itself trailing 5-4.
The Panthers tied the game with an unearned run in the eighth and then retired the Huskies in the top of the ninth. After GSU made two quick outs in the bottom of the ninth, Mike McCree kept the Panthers hopes alive with a single. He then stole second base, and that prompted Northeastern right-hander Les Williams to intentionally walk left-handed hitting Nick Hogan, the Panthers' leadoff batter, preferring instead to face the righty Derek Simmons.
“Derek was our all-conference DH, but Les Williams had struck out Derek with sliders in the game at Northeastern, so they probably thought it would be a good matchup,” Logan recalled. “Talking to Derek afterward, he actually was sitting on slider. And he got one.”
Simmons delivered the game-winning hit, and that dramatic victory propelled the Panthers forward.
In the championship game against UNCW, Georgia State fell behind 8-3 after four innings before rallying to win 12-10.
“We knew if could weather the storm early, we could win the game in the back half,” Logan said. “That was kind of our motto that whole year. Keep it close and try to win it in the back half, because we had a lot of older guys who would stay calm.
“Then we scored four runs in the fifth and four in the sixth, all with two outs. That's what a veteran team does.”
Logan, the Panthers' junior third baseman, was the tournament's Most Outstanding Player after homering in each of the four games.
McCree, the senior outfielder, senior catcher Marc Mimeault, junior starting pitcher Ryan Moore, who tossed a gem to beat George Mason, and freshman reliever Justin Malone also made the All-Tournament team.
“We had a lot of returnees from the year before, and we had a lot of younger guys who were supposed to come in and make an impact,” Logan said. “I think it was just that perfect mix of older guys who had been in the program long enough to understand what it takes and what the coaches wanted and younger guys who could come in and compete.”
That long journey back from Wilmington was just the halfway point in a whirlwind two-week period for the program. Winning the conference title earned the Panthers an automatic berth in the NCAA Baseball Tournament, another first for Georgia State baseball.
On Memorial Day, the team gathered at a local restaurant to watch the NCAA Selection Show, surrounded by friends, family and fans. Even though they knew their name would be called, what a thrill it was when “GEORGIA STATE” popped up in the bracket.
And a significantly shorter bus ride! The Panthers were placed in the Atlanta Regional, along with host Georgia Tech, Elon and Southern Miss.
“They set it up really nicely,” Logan said of playing in a Regional just a few miles from campus. “We stayed in a hotel and we were treated as team that had travelled, but we had a chance to bring a lot of people to the game. We wanted to play in front of our people, so we didn't care where we went. We got a lot of media coverage, and it was just a really cool atmosphere.”
Head coach Greg Frady shared the same recollections.
"I think my favorite memory of that 2009 season is playing Georgia Tech in the first game of the NCAA Regional in front of so many Georgia State fans,” Frady said. “I'll always remember seeing a full stadium that was half blue. And I'll remember Bradley Logan going yard on ACC Pitcher of the Year Deck McGuire and seeing our fans erupt."
Logan is proud of the stamp that he and his 2009 Panthers left on Georgia State baseball, and he looks forward to reuniting with many of his teammates Saturday.
“We were more than just a team,” Logan said. “Three of the guys, I've been in their weddings. We really did play for each other. We came together. We didn't accept losing or mediocrity. You don't get a lot of chances in life to be the first, but we were the first Georgia State team to win a conference championship and go to an NCAA Regional.
“What people on the outside don't see is how hard you work day in and day out to achieve something, so to have it happen is a really good feeling.”
