Sports

Blackmon, Nichols add sting to Tech’s ACC title hopes

• Former Lee County star Thomas Nichols and Second-Team All-ACC honoree Charlie Blackmon, whose family has Southwest Georgia ties, hope to lead Georgia Tech to a deep run in the conference tourney beginning today.

Scott Chancey

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — It appeared at first that Lee County High School product Thomas Nichols was the lone Southwest Georgia presence on Georgia Tech’s baseball team.

That’s not the case, anymore.

It just so happens the other link to the area, Charlie Blackmon, has been the sparkplug for the Yellow Jackets’ offense, earning Second-Team All-Atlantic Coast Conference honors.

“I didn’t even know he was in the area until he told me around Christmas that he had family now near Lake Blackshear (in Ashburn),” Nichols said Monday of Blackmon, whose mother, Ellen, is from Albany.

Starting today, the two will try to help the Yellow Jackets win the round-robin ACC Baseball Championship at the Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville. Georgia Tech (38-17 overall, 16-14 ACC), seeded fifth and in Division A, plays fourth-seeded North Carolina State at 10 a.m. today.

Top-seeded Miami and eighth-seeded Clemson also are in Division A.

Second-seeded Florida State headlines Division B, which also includes third-seeded North Carolina, sixth seed Virginia and seventh-seeded Wake Forest.

But before either Blackmon or Nichols can begin thinking about facing any of those other teams for the championship at 1 p.m. Sunday, the work begins today against N.C. State (37-18, 18-11).

Nichols, who was the 2007 Herald Player of the Year for baseball, played practically every position last season to help Lee County reach the GHSA Class AAAA semifinals. This year, while only playing second base at Georgia Tech, Nichols is batting .286 with six home runs, 15 doubles and two triples. Nichols says the transition from high school to college has been helped along by hitting coach Bryan Prince, who has also helped him temper his mindset in hopes of being more consistent at the plate.

“That was actually a conversation I had with (Prince) just the other day,” Nichols said. “I’ve got to find a medium spot somewhere in between and not to be too fired up, letting my emotions be too much a part of what I’m doing. Since then, I’ve become more calm and collected. The more calm and collected you are, the better you do. Once I realize it’s just a game and about having fun, I’ll be better for it.

“Baseball’s a funny game: You can fail seven times out of 10 and you can still be a hero.”

Even Blackmon has taken notice of Nichols’ fiery play.

“Thomas is a player who is always going to give it everything he has and I love that about him,” Blackmon said. “Even if that means swinging as hard as he can every time he swings the bat. He’ll do his best no matter what. He’s a colorful character.”

Blackmon joined Georgia Tech after being a star pitcher at both North Gwinnett High School and Young Harris College. He was drafted in the 28^th round of the 2004 Major League Baseball draft by the Florida Marlins and in the 20th round of the 2005 MLB draft by the Boston Red Sox, but elected to remain in school. While playing at Young Harris, Blackmon won 15 games during two years, recording 138 strikeouts in 127 innings. He played in only one game last season at Georgia Tech and was granted a medical red-shirt with tendinitis in his throwing arm. During the past offseason, however, he realized something

“Apparently, I learned I could hit better than I could pitch,” Blackmon laughed.

Blackmon now boasts the team’s best batting average (.377) with eight home runs, 12 doubles and three triples and 21 stolen bases.

“He’s a great ball player,” Nichols said of Blackmon. “He’s one of those guys who goes hard every day and hits and steals bases and puts pressure on the other team. That’s great for a leadoff hitter and he hits for power.”

Being barely above .500 in conference play is not the only thing the Yellow Jackets have had to deal with. Earlier this season, pitcher Michael Hutts accidentally died, reportedly, of morphine toxicity.

“It was extremely hard,” Blackmon said. “We practiced together every day.

We as a team have spent a lot more time with each other off the field (since then.”

Added Nichols: “It’s tough, he was a good buddy of ours and he was a great competitor. It’s tough to be without him. He was an upbeat guy every day in the locker room.”

Somewhere down the line in the ACC tournament, should Nichols and Tech meet up against Florida State, which has former Lee County teammates Jack Posey and older brother, Buster — the ACC’s Player of the Year — it will have to be in Sunday’s championship game since the teams are in different divisions.

“It’s always fun to see those guys again,” Nichols said. “Buster, of course, is killing the ball for them. He’s got Player of the Year and it’s always good to see Jack again. It will be good to talk to them.”

Although Georgia Tech is seeded fifth out of eight teams, Nichols and Blackmon are optimistic about this week’s tournament.

“I think we have a good chance,” Blackmon said. “We finished the season well and were able to move up a couple of spots in the seedings. We’ll have to play well, but we’ve been playing well down the stretch.”

Nichols even refuses the notion that the Yellow Jackets can be tournament dark horses.

“On any day, any of our starting pitchers can throw a gem,” Nichols said. “All eight teams in the tournament are great teams.”

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