MOULTRIE —
Colquitt County head baseball coach Tony Kirkland has a number of reasons to like Austin Dykes.
The senior outfielder-pitcher hit .359 as a junior last year and was named to the All-Region 1-AAAAA first team.
He had a .368 batting average as a sophomore and hit .319 as a freshman.
And the left-hander can handle himself on the mound as well and had a 3-3 record last year.
But what Kirkland especially likes about Dykes is what he does to become the best player he can be.
“He’s a very dedicated kid,” Kirkland said. “I’m in the (batting) cage with him every weekend.”
And that dedication to honing his smooth left-handed swing caught the attention of Georgia Perimeter College coaches and on Wednesday Dykes signed to play for the Jaguars next year.
“It’s a great place for him,” said Kirkland, who added that the choice of college might work out even better than he thought.
Although Georgia Perimeter signed Dykes as an outfielder, the Jaguars also are in the market for a left-handed pitcher.
Dykes has been getting his fastball up into the mid-80s recently and could help the Packers this season and the Jaguars next year on the mound.
But even if he never climbs up on the hill for Georgia Perimeter, the Jaguars are getting fine player.
Dykes started last season as the Packers designated hitter and later in the season took over in left field.
He stroked eight doubles, two triples and a home run and drove in 25 runs. He is expected to play one of the corner outfield positions this season and the Packers will be counting on his bat.
And when asked about what he would like to accomplish this season, he points to team goals.
“We want to defend our region championship and get a shot at a (state championship) ring,” he said.
The Packers went 24-12 last year and advanced to the state semifinals.
In an effort to prepare himself for his senior season, Dykes spends plenty of extra time with Kirkland.
“He teaches you how to play the game the right way,” Dykes said of Kirkland, now in his second year as the Packers head coach. “He has turned this program around.”
Dykes also works out with Danny Copeland of COGI Athletics in Thomasville.
“He is helping me be a better athlete,” Dykes said of Copeland. “He works with me on the mental aspects.”
Austin Moore Dykes moved to Colquitt County from Worth County before his eighth-grade year and was on a GRPA championship Pony League baseball team that included several of his current Colquitt County High teammates.
He also has played on several summer teams, including Chain, an outstanding travel baseball team.
As a 12-year-old, he was on an all-star team that played in a Cooperstown, N.Y., tournament and finished second out of 99 teams.
The success he has achieved so far should help prepare him for joining a Georgia Perimeter program that went 42-17 last year and won the regular-season and Georgia Collegiate Athletic Conference championships.
The Jaguars opened their 2012 season on Tuesday with a 11-2, 7-1 doubleheader sweep of West Georgia Tech at their new park on the Newton campus.
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Related Photos
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Colquitt County outfielder/pitcher Austin Dykes signs on Wednesday at the school media center to continue his playing career at Georgia Perimeter College in Atlanta. With him when he signed were, front, from left, his aunt Donna M. King; his father, Johnny Dykes; Austin; and his mother Trudy Tiernan; back, Packers assistant coach Craig Pitts, Georgia Perimeter assistant coach Robert Morgan; and Packers head coach Tony Kirkland. Connie Southwell
Discussion
Dykes signs to play baseball at Georgia Perimeter College
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