Georgia College & State University -
Peach Belt Conference
Stellar 2010 Season -
Catcher Richard Pirkle, C.H.A.M.P.S. Athlete
Norcross HS Norcross, GA.

For immediate release
May 6, 2010
Contact: Al Weston
GCSU.SID@GCSU.edu
478-445-1779
www.GCSUBobcats.com

#8 Baseball Puts Seven on All-PBC Teams,
Carty Named Coach of the Year

MARTINEZ, Ga. – The Peach Belt Conference (PBC) announced its year-end baseball awards Thursday, with seven members of the No. 8 Georgia College & State University baseball team (35-14) picking up honors, along with head coach Tom Carty taking PBC Coach of the Year.

Pirkle was picked for the All-PBC team in 2008 at designated hitter. This season, he hit .367 with 14 home runs and 56 RBI. His batting average ranked 12th in the PBC, with his .741 slugging coming in third. He was also sixth in RBI and fourth in home runs. The last Bobcat to earn all-conference at catcher was Eddie Campbell in 2003.

Written by Richard’s Mom Barbara Camp – bcamp3@comcast.net

GCSU and Richard are NCAA Div II College World Series bound!!!

GCSU Bobcats won the NCAA Southeast Regional Championship this past weekend!  We were undefeated in the series.  In the final championship game, which was GCSU vs Francis Marion (both ranked #1 in their respective divisions in the Peach Belt Conference) and played at Francis Marion’s field in Florence, SC, we won 9-0.  Richard scored on a hit by his roommate & best friend, Chandler Snell, to make it 3-0 and then he hit a grand slam and followed up next with a solo HR.  So he played a part in 6 of the 9 runs!  We’re off to Cary, NC, for our 1st game this Saturday.  He made the Peach Belt All-Conference 1st Team, Peach Belt Conference Regional All-Tournament Team, Daktronics All-Southeast Region 2nd Team, and Rawlings All-Southeast Region 2nd Team.

WOW!  What an awesome experience for the team and parents.  The NCAA Div II College World Series (National Championship) was incredible…beautiful field, good weather (once the rain cleared out), perfect location (between Raleigh and Durham w/good shopping and restaurants) and great baseball!  The GCSU Bobcats finished 3rd in the country!!  We lost the first game which put us in the loser’s bracket but the team fought their way back and won the next 3 games.  We lost the game that would’ve taken us to the Championship game by one run (3-2); that was heartbreaking.  BUT, 3rd in the country is nothing to sneeze at!  We parents were so proud of all the players!

Richard had a pretty amazing run during this series.  He had the 2nd highest batting average on his team.  Out of 8 teams, there were only 6 home runs hit during the entire series and Richard had the 2nd one.  His 2-run homer actually broke a tie that put us ahead and eventually we won that game!  Needless to say, I continue to be proud of him.

He’s going to spend this summer taking a class or two, hopefully working, and getting his broken finger healed.  Depending on what the doc says about his finger, he may play a little baseball on the weekends for one of the summer college teams that play out of Norcross High School.  The Bobcats had 14 seniors on the team this year (6 were starters) so Richard is one of three starters returning next year.  I get to do this all over again next spring and can’t wait!!!

Thank you ALL for your support and kind words about Richard.  He’s a very hard-working, driven, and determined baseball player!