The 2025 season hasn’t been an easy one for the Coffee Trojans. It’s been an up and down year, complete with some of the highest of highs (handing Houston County its only region loss of the season) and lowest of lows (letting close – and important – games against Lee and Houston get away).
However, after a sluggish start, the Trojans began picking up steam. They played Lee close, took two out of three against Thomas County Central (and former Coffee head coach Sy Jones), swept Northside-Warner Robins, took one from Houston (and almost swiped a second), then swept Veterans.
Their region record was good enough to slide them into the playoffs as the #3 seed, something that didn’t really look very likely in the early stages of the ’25 campaign.
So when things went a little off the rails in the first round of the playoffs against the Winder-Barrow Bulldoggs in Winder, it appeared as though the postseason would follow the same script as did the regular season.
Game one got away from the Trojans after Coffee led most of the contest. Winder won 7-6 on a walk-off double to put the Trojans in a precarious position. During the break between games, a lightning storm rolled through Barrow County, forcing officials to postpone the second game of the scheduled doubleheader until Thursday.
With the threat of more bad weather, first pitched was moved back even further, to noon instead of the originally scheduled 1 p.m. Coffee head coach Scott Grove sent sophomore Gavin McElroy to the mound to keep the Trojans’ postseason hopes alive.
He did not disappoint.
The Bulldoggs scattered seven hits against McElroy. However, they were unable to capitalize on any of their opportunities and managed to score just one run – and it didn’t come until the top of the seventh. McElroy went the distance, throwing 75 pitches over seven innings. He struck out one and walked one in one of the gutsiest pitching performances of the year.
Outside of the seventh inning, Winder’s best chance to score came in the top of the third. The Bulldoggs had runners on first and second with one out when McElroy got a ground ball that the Coffee defense turned into an inning-ending double play.
The Trojans, meanwhile, jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first when Ben Fussell, who had led off the game for Coffee by reaching on an error then moving to third on a Jimmy Timothy sacrifice, scored on a two-out double steal. In the bottom of the second, Will Walker reached on a single. After a strikeout for the second out of the inning, Fussell hit an 0-1 pitch out to left for a two-run home run and a 3-0 Trojan lead.
That’s all Coffee would need. The Bulldoggs made Trojan fans squirm a little when they loaded the bases in the seventh with one out. McElroy, however, maintained his composure and pitched himself out of the inning for the win.
Fussell was 1-3 with two RBI and two runs scored. His homer was the only extra-base hit for Coffee.
Game two started on time but fell victim to a weather delay in the bottom of the fifth. By then, Winder was up 3-0. The Bulldoggs scored their last run in the same inning just after the weather delay ended.
The Trojans loaded the bases with no outs in the top of the seventh. McElroy led off with a double. Brax Carson was hit by a pitch then Taven Harden singled to right. Carter McMillan grounded out to third, scoring McElroy. Coffee loaded the bases again, this time with two outs, but the Trojans were unable to score. The Bulldoggs won the game 4-1 and advanced to the second round.
Coffee managed just four hits; Timothy had two by himself. He went 2-4 on the day. McElroy was 1-1 with two walks and a run scored. Taven Harden had the other Trojan hit.
Fussell started and took the loss. He surrendered three runs (all earned) on four hits in three innings. McMillan threw the final three innings, giving up one unearned run on one hit.
Coffee finishes the season 19-14 in Coach Grove’s first year at the helm of the Trojan program. Several Coffee players had excellent seasons and you will no doubt see their names on All-Region and All-State lists. Winder-Barrow lives to fight another day and will face the Effingham County Rebels in next week’s second round.