Georgia Tech Baseball receiving plenty of hype entering 2021 season
By Lee Cagle
The Georgia Tech Baseball team is receiving significant national attention from writers this winter as they prepare for the 2021 season.
After having their 2020 season cut short, the Georgia Tech Baseball program has high expectations surrounding them heading into the 2021 season.
Three major baseball publications in D1 Baseball, Perfect Game, and College Baseball Nation all rank the Yellow Jackets as a top-25 team heading into the season and one of the best in the ACC. Both D1 Baseball and College Baseball Nation have ranked the Jackets No.15 in the country while Perfect Game ranked them as the No.19 team in the country.
The defending ACC Coastal Champions are returning the bulk of their roster from the 2020 season. Notable retuning players include the Jackets a pair of left handed pitchers in top draft prospect Brant Hurter and freshman Dalton Smith. They also include notable right handed pitchers in Cort Roedig, Andy Archer and Zach Maxwell. Those of course are just a few pitchers the Jackets return as the return most of their starters and bullpen pieces from last season.
In the field and at the plate, they return a young but deeply talented lineup. It features older player such as Colin Hall and Luke Waddell but had deep depth in returning freshmen which includes first baseman Drew Compton, outfielder Tres Gonzalaez, catcher Jake Holland, and outfielder Stephen Reid.
Two of the incoming freshmen Jake DeLeo and Kevin Perada were named among the nation’s top prospects by Perfect Game, and Perada was named the fourth-best catching prospect in the country. DeLeo, on the other hand, was named the eighth best outfield prospect. Both freshmen came as part of the top-20 nationally ranked recruiting class by Perfect Game and will help round out one of the deepest lineups Tech has had in several seasons.
While there have been no announcements of a formal schedule yet, the ACC voted in December to play a 50 game schedule with 36 conference games, and 14 out of conference games.