MIDDLE
GEORGIA COLLEGE
Middle
Georgia College is the home of the premier JUCO Baseball Program in the nation.
The “Baseball Warriors” have a long and proud tradition.
It reached national prominence in the 70’s and has won national
championships during the last three decades.
In 1975, the Warriors finished 3rd in the JUCO World Series
under Coach Roy Umstattd. During
his tenure (1967-1975), Umstattd compiled a record of 277 wins and 95 losses for
a .745 winning percentage. His
teams won the conference and/or state championship in eight of his nine seasons.
During the 1974 season, the team had a 33 game winning streak and
finished the season with 40-7 record. Coach
Umstattd moved to the University of Georgia as head coach.
Mr. Robert Sapp was hired as head coach beginning in 1977.
Over the next 20 years, the Warriors won four JUCO National Championships
(1979, 1980, 1982 and 1995), two runners-up (1983 and 1990), third place
nationals (1986) and fourth place nationals (1984).
During this run, the Warriors won 890 games while losing only 181 games
with a .831 winning percentage. Coach
Sapp was inducted into the National Junior College Baseball Hall-of-Fame in May
95 in Grand Junction, Colorado. Following
the ’96 season, Coach Sapp moved on to the University of Georgia as head
coach.
A
total of thirteen(13) former Warriors have had major league careers.
They are:
1.
Larry
Littleton -- Cleveland Indians
2.
Tommy
Dunbar -- Reds and Rangers
3.
Jeff
Treadway -- Reds, Braves and Dodgers
4.
Earnest
Riles -- Brewers, Giants, Angels and A’s
5.
Kal
Daniels -- Reds and Dodgers
6.
Ray
Stephens -- Cardinals
7.
Mike
Fitzgerald -- Cardinals and Phillies
8.
Shawn
Hilligas -- Dodgers and Angels
9.
Jim
Leyritz -- Yankees (1996 & 1999 World Series Champions),
Angels, Rangers, Red Sox and Padres
10.
Warren Newson --
White Sox and Rangers
11.
Matt Turner --
Marlins and Indians
12.
Garey Ingram –
Dodgers
13.
Jody Davis - Cubs and Braves
Since
1967, MGC has had 114 players that were either drafted out of high school or
while in college. Eighty-Eight(88)of
those former Warriors have signed professional contracts.
Currently, eleven(11) former Warriors are active in professional
baseball. Plus, Jeff Treadway is
the Manager for the Macon Braves. For
the 1999 season, Nineteen(19) former players are continuing their baseball
careers at four-year schools.
A
MGC Warrior baseball uniform is on display in the Baseball Hall of Fame in
Canton, Ohio. Additionally, Gary
Ingram’s bat is on display in the Hall. He
is one of sixty (60) odd major leaguer’s to hit a “Home-Run” in their
first major league at-bat.
Just
as some have distinguished themselves with professional baseball careers,
numerous other former players are having distinguished professional careers –
Medical, Law, Ministry, Banking/Finance, Coaching, Teaching, Forestry, Real
Estate, Corporate Executives and as entrepreneurs. For more information on former Warriors, click on “FORMER
WARRIOR BIO-SHEETS”.
Coach Young just
completed his second season at the helm of the Middle Georgia College program,
after six seasons at Abraham Baldwin College.
He is a graduate of Union County High School in Blairsville, Georgia.
Coach Young originally signed a football scholarship with Liberty (SC)
University out of high school, but realized his heart was in the game of
baseball. His chance to get back into baseball materialized after one
year, when he signed a baseball scholarship with Georgia Southwestern
University. He was team captain in
1984 and 1985, in addition to being the team MVP in 1985. He stayed on as a graduate assistant coach at Georgia
Southwestern University the following year to begin work on his masters degree.
Coach Young’s next stop was Elbert County High School in Elberton,
Georgia, as Head Baseball Coach and assistant football coach for the 1986-87
school year. He led the Elbert County Blue Devils to the state playoffs in his
first season, before returning to Southwestern as a full time assistant coach
from 1988-91.
In
the summer of 1991, Coach Young took over the head coaching duties at Abraham
Baldwin College. We wasted little
time building a winning tradition at ABAC, compiling a 168-155 record at ABAC
from 1991-97, which included an upset of Middle Georgia College to win the 1993
State Region XVII tournament, in addition to the Region XVII Coach of the Year
honor for 1993.
Coach
Young graduated from Georgia Southwestern University in 1985 with a B. S. Degree
in Health and Physical Education and a Masters in Health and Physical Education
in 1989. He has served as an instructor since 1986.
Coach Young has a wife, Lynn, and three children; Chase, Jessie, and Cal.
A
new assistant coach is Chris Halliday. He
comes to MGC after recently graduating from college and getting married.
Chris is a graduate of Evans High School in Evans, Ga.
While at Evans, Halliday was a member of the 1990 and 1993 AAAA State
Champion teams. In 1993, he was
named MVP of the State Tournament. Shortly
after his senior season, the New York Yankees drafted Chris. However, he decided to begin college by signing a baseball
scholarship with Florida Community College of Jacksonville, Fl.
After the fall season, Chris decided to head back to Georgia where he met
up with Coach Young. He finished his two years of junior college ball with Coach
Young at Abraham Baldwin College. After
his first collegiate season, the Yankees drafted Halliday a second time.
But once again, he chose to continue his education.
Next, Halliday found himself at Kennesaw State University with Coach Mike
Sansing. While at Kennesaw, Chris was a member of the 1996 Division II
National Champion team and was the Most Valuable Player.
Also, as a junior, Halliday was a first team all-region, all-regional
tournament team, and all-PBAC tournament team.
For the 1997 season at KSU, the team finished fourth in the nation.
For his senior season, Halliday was chosen for the all-regional and
all-conference tournament teams.
Aside
from coaching baseball, Chris is the Housing Director of Eastlake on-campus dorm
which houses most student-athletes including baseball.
His wife is named Lisa.
We
are thankful that outstanding young men elect to continue their baseball careers
at the collegiate level and chose to do so as a “MGC Warrior”.
As
usual, we look forward to the region, district and national tournament.