THOMASVILLE — The Great South League Championship game didn’t conclude until almost 2 a.m. Sunday.

Instead of feeling fatigued, the Thomasville Bombers were jubilant.

The Bombers captured the league championship with an 11-9 victory against the East Alabama Train. A day after winning the first title in the team’s brief history, coach Bobby Rodriguez was still excited.

“It was a great feeling, great feeling,” Rodriguez said. “I’m very happy for the boys.”

Thomasville only had to win one game Saturday but lost to East Alabama 7-5. The loss forced a decisive championship game at 9:45 p.m. Saturday. Thomasville trailed 6-1 before clawing back for the victory.

The win capped a thrilling end to the Bombers’ summer. Thomasville won 10 of its last 13 games.

“It was a beautiful thing,” Rodriguez said. “It sort of clicked when we played Gainesville the last series over in Live Oak.

“The bats started swinging. The pitchers started getting a little bit better. They started to gel. We came back with the same lineup again the following game. It produced again and I came back with it again. It produced and I said, ‘You know what. This is it.’”

Area players had a big part in leading Thomasville to the title. Former Cairo shortstop Hugh Russell Lee went 3-for-5 in the title game with two doubles and two RBIs. Thomas University’s Tyler Davis added three hits, including two doubles and one RBI. Rodriguez’s son, Ruben Rodriguez, chipped in with a homer and two runs scored.

Former Brookwood standout Drew Johnson added a hit.

Jonathan Jones notched the win in relief.

Thomasville’s skipper is hopeful this title win will benefit the team in future seasons.

“When we started this program here in Thomasville, the idea was to build it, hopefully get into the playoffs and getting recognized so we could get more kids to come to Thomasville to play,” the Bombers’ skipper added. “It was a great idea when they came up with it. Now, it’s starting to flourish and produce Now that we’ve become GSL champions, it gives us a little bit more responsibility of representing the name at a higher level.”

THOMASVILLE — The Thomasville Bombers are bound for Columbus.

The summer collegiate team swept a doubleheader from the World of Baseball on Saturday to advance to the Great South League playoffs, which begin on Thursday.

The Bombers advance as a No. 2 seed.

The Bombers’ stout pitching staff was the story in both wins at Varnedoe Stadium on Saturday.

Thomasville won the first game 7-1 before prevailing 2-0 in the second game.

Starting pitchers Tanner Fudge and Jonathan Jones pitched six innings each in their respective starts to earn wins for the Bombers.

“They did a very nice job,” Bombers (11-16) coach Bobby Rodriguez said.

“The hitting came through in the first game.”

Rodriguez’s son, Ruben Rodriguez, highlighted the first game with a solo home run.

He also added an RBI hit in game two that started the scoring for Thomasville. The Bombers added their other run in the second game when Tyler Davis connected with an RBI single in the sixth inning, scoring Brookwood graduate Drew Johnson.

Former Thomas County Central standout Tyler Wooten pitched a scoreless seventh inning to preserve the two-game sweep for the Bombers.

The Bombers will have a mandatory practice on Monday, July 6th at Varnedoe Stadium. 

Please make your plans to attend.

Go to www.photocr.com

Click to Thomasville Bombers Logo

Photos on June 6th -  Game 1 and Game 2 in Gainesville, Fl against the NCF

Photos on June 9th - Against Florida Legends

THOMASVILLE — On Wednesday, Ryan Stovall added to his lengthy list of contributions to the local baseball scene.

A native of Live Oak, Fla., Stovall became the first Thomas University and Thomasville Bombers player to be drafted. The hard-hitting shortstop was selected in the 19th round of Major League Baseball’s 2009 First-Year Player Draft by the Kansas City Royals. He was the 572nd overall pick.

Stovall, 5-foot-11, 185 pounds, posted record-breaking statistics in his lone season at Thomas University. While leading the Night Hawks to a 30-13 mark in 2009, he set single-season standards for batting average (.487), slugging percentage (1.032), hits (76), home runs (20), total bases (161) and stolen bases (14).

In addition to being named the Association of Indepedent Institutions Player of the Year, he earned second-team NAIA All-America status.

“I talked to him briefly. He called me right after he got the call (from the Royals),” Thomas University baseball coach Mike Lee said. “He was still waiting to find out where he might be going and when the guy who signs him will be coming down. He’s excited about it.

“It’ll probably be three or four days before everything gets ironed out and he can go somewhere and start playing ball.”

Lee is almost as thrilled about Wednesday’s development as Stovall.

“He’s a great kid, and I couldn’t be happier for him,” he said. “He did a fantastic job of representing Thomas University and we are pleased he is able to go on and pursue his dream.”

Lee said Stovall was an incredible difference maker for his team.

“Anytime you’ve got a leadoff hitter who can hit the ball out of the park and on-base percentage like he did, it changes the whole lineup,” he explained. “They couldn’t pitch around him and we had some hitters behind him who definitely benefitted from his presence — and, of course, he benefitted by them doing a good job.

“There weren’t too many times that we had him sitting on the bench.”

Lee hopes Stovall’s selection will boost his program.

“It gives the scouts a reason to show up when you’ve had one get drafted,” he said. “Hopefully, they will continue to come around, and anytime you can bring the scouts around you will get the (recruits) who want to be seen. It should help us tremendously.”

Stovall was playing for the Bombers at the time of his selection. They are a Great South League team established in 2007 for college and professional baseball prospects.