The postseason awards keep coming for a few Coffee Trojan baseball players. Shortstop/RHP Ben Fussell (junior), RHP/1B/DH Michael Strickland (senior), and INF Jimmy Timothy (freshman) have been named to the All-State baseball teams by the Georgia Dugout Club.
Fussell was an asset both as an infielder and a starting pitcher. And he also hit the ball extremely well. He led the team with a .450 average. He recorded 50 hits — 10 doubles, five triples, four home runs, and 21 RBI. He also threw 38 innings with a 3-5 record and a 4.24 ERA. He struck out 34 and walked 29. This year, Fussell set the school record for career triples with nine, eclipsing the previous record (held by Willis Crockett and Brady Skipper) of seven.
Strickland has been a steady and consistent presence in the Coffee line up for his entire Trojan career. An All-Region selection last year, he was named Co-Pitcher of the Year for the region. Then came the accolades from the Georgia Dugout Club. This season, Strickland posted a 7-1 record and a 2.02 ERA over 65 2/3 innings. He struck out 88 and walked 15. He also hit .390 with four home runs, 35 RBI, seven doubles, and three triples. He will play his college baseball at Mercer and is the first Trojan pitcher to sign with a Division I program out of high school since Michael Wilkerson went to Georgia Southern in 1987.
Timothy didn’t even start his freshman season as an infielder. Initially penciled in as a catcher – and with no guarantee that he would even make the varsity roster – Timothy made the most of a pre-season opportunity to get in some infield work during a practice that several of the regular infielders missed due to a field trip. He played well and impressed the coaching staff so much that at the end of practice, he was told that he had made varsity as an infielder.
Timothy played well defensively but he made his biggest impact at the plate. He hit .388 with eight doubles and a triple. He tallied 45 total hits with 27 RBI. He also scored 27 runs.
“Making a move to a new program always presents challenges. Coming to Coffee was no different. However, these three players helped make the transition as easy as it possibly could have been. It has been a joy to coach these players. Their hard work, knowledge of the game, and willingness to learn and get better were a big reason why we had the success that we did. I wish Michael the very best as he continues his career at Mercer. I’m looking forward to the next season with Ben and the next three with Jimmy. They are all incredible players and we haven’t seen their best yet,” says Coffee head coach Scott Grove.
The Trojans finished the 2025 season with a 19-14 record. They advanced to the first round of the state playoffs but lost the series 2-1 to Winder-Barrow. Coffee was also the only team in the region to beat eventual region champion Houston County.