Legacy awards highlight
2025 baseball banquet

Published 10:14 am Friday, May 16, 2025

By Wayne Grandy

MOULTRIE – Wednesday’s annual Colquitt County baseball banquet recognized not only the 2025 team, but also honored several of the program’s most cherished former players.
Six of the program’s top individual awards were presented by ex-Packers whose names are synonymous with Colquitt County baseball success: Hayden Gliemmo, Muzzy Jackson, Jerry Croft, Dennis Powell, Tony DeRosso and Tony Kirkland.
Those awards went to the top players on the 2025 team that won 16 games under first-year coach Ryan Strickland.
The team overcame the loss of several pitchers expected to lead its staff and still managed to come within a win of earning a home playoff series.
Both the offense and defense showed considerable improvement over the team’s performance a year earlier.
“We took a great step forward this year,” Strickland said of a team that did so against one of the state’s most difficult schedules.
The Packers improved significantly defensively, gave up the second-fewest runs in region play and increased its number of runs scored and extra base hits.
“The future of the program is being built,” Strickland said.
And leading the Packers in 2025 were its seniors: Ethan Allegood, Adam Beverly, Jaxon Chambers, Brady DeRosso, Gabe Eubanks, Hayden Hembree, Cole Holder, Rylan Howell, Ross Sparkman, Cook Tompkins and Jake Walker.
Having revered former Packers on hand to present the top individual awards was a highlight of the banquet.
The Hayden Gliemmo Competitive Spirit Award goes to the player who gets the most out of his ability.
Gliemmo, a two-time region player of the year, posted a career record of 24-3 with a 1.67 ERA.
The left-hander is considered one of the top pitchers to come out of Colquitt County and is a member of the Colquitt County Sports Hall of Fame.
He went on to have an outstanding career at Auburn, where he pitched and played in the outfield.
Gliemmo presented the winner of the first award named in his honor to senior shortstop Adam Beverly.
The Muzzy Jackson Teammate of the Year Award honors a player who exhibits both talent and character.
Jackson, who hit .481 with seven home runs as Colquitt County senior first baseman in 1986, went on to an outstanding career at Mercer University, where he slugged 36 home runs and drove in 150 runs for the Bears.
He went on to work in the front office of several major league teams and currently is a wealth management advisor for Merrill Lynch.
A member of the Hall of Fame at both Colquitt County and Mercer University, Jackson traveled up from his home in Coral Gables, Fla., to present the award named in his honor to sophomore Jackson Edwards.
The Jerry Croft Packer Leadership Award is named for the coach who is the program’s all-time leader in victories with 449.
Croft coached the Packers from 1997-2006 and led the program to state championships in 1997 and 2003 and to Final Four appearances on two other occasions.
The Colquitt County Hall of Fame produced teams that had a 31-14 post-season record.
Croft presented the winners of the award named in his honor to seniors Brady DeRosso and Cook Tompkins.
DeRosso was one of the team’s top hitters and Tompkins, a left-handed pitcher, turned in two of the team’s most notable performances, 2-hitters against Lowndes and Richmond Hill.
Dennis Powell, another Colquitt County Sports Hall of Fame member, was unable to make it to the banquet from his home in the Los Angeles area, but did send a video that was played at the banquet.
Powell, a left-handed pitcher, played for Croft from 1978-1981 and later was signed by Los Angeles Dodgers as a free agent.
He pitched professionally for 16 seasons and made 207 major league appearances for the Dodgers, Seattle Mariners and the Milwaukee Brewers.
The winner of the first Dennis Powell Most Valuable Pitcher Award went to sophomore right-hander Bowen DeRosso.
The Tony DeRosso Offensive Award is named for the former outstanding Packer infielder/pitcher who played nine seasons of professional baseball.
A four-year starter for the Packers baseball team, DeRosso had a career batting average of .373 with 16 home runs and 75 runs batted in.
As a senior, he batted .444 with seven home runs and 21 RBIs.
A member of the Colquitt County Sports Hall of Fame, he is now the president of the Packer Diamond Club and the father of senior outfielder Brady DeRosso and sophomore pitcher Bowen DeRosso.
Tony DeRosso presented the Offensive Performance Award named in his honor to Jake Walker, who was the team’s leading hitter with a .372 average. He also led the Packers with 10 doubles and was second on the team with 21 runs batted in.
Tony Kirkland was the hitting coach on Colquitt County’s 1998 and 2003 state championship team and went on to become the head coach at both South Effingham and at Colquitt County.
He won 302 games as a head coach.
Like Croft, he is a member of the Georgia Dugout Club Hall of Fame.
He is also known for creating the hitting chart that many teams use to gauge their offensive output.
He presented the first Tony Kirkland Team Hitter of the Year Award to senior Brady DeRosso.
Twenty-one Packers earned scholar/athlete awards for having grade point averages of 3.5 or higher.
They went to Jackson Edwards, Hardin Reeves, Bryce Roberts, Carter Summerlin, Judson Taylor, Hayden Hembree, Bowen DeRosso, Jake Walker, Brady DeRosso, Cook Tompkins, Owen Bennett, Ross Sparkman, Tyson Samples, James Horne, Cole Holder, Adam Beverly, Jaxon Chambers, Gabe Eubanks, Parker Goss, Carter Penuel and Wyatt Thompson.
Three scholarships were presented.
The annual Angie Davis Memorial Scholarship goes to the senior with the highest grade point average.
It is presented in memory of former Lady Packer softball player and coach Angie Causey Davis and was presented by her son, Packers assistant baseball coach Ryan Davis.
The award went to Jake Walker.
The Fundamental Factory, owned and operated by Tony Kirkland and Greg Tillery, presented scholarships to Packer seniors Brady DeRosso and Adam Beverly.
The family of former Packer pitcher Garron Wingate, who died tragically on March 28, presented a scholarship named in his honor to Packer senior Hayden Hembree.
Colquitt County coach Chance Carter presented its pitching points honors to its top four pitchers, led by sophomore Bowen DeRosso, who had 222 points.
The others were Bryce Roberts, who was second with 167 points; Cook Tompkins, third, 158 points; and Cole Holder 131 points.
The hitting points leader was senior Brady DeRosso, with 182.5.
Also earning 100 or more points were Adam Beverly, 160.5; Bryce Roberts, 154.0; Jake Walker, 142; Hayden Hembree, 133.0; Rylan Howell, 117.5; Bowen DeRosso, 111.0; and Carter Summerlin 109.5.
The hitting points formula is the one designed by then-Colquitt County assistant coach Tony Kirkland.
It awards points for positive at bats and deducts points for unsuccessful at bats.
Strickland was especially pleased that the team batted over .300 and its total walks and being hit by pitches was higher than its strikeouts.
The Packers had 10 players named to the All-Region 1-6A team, including Jake Walker, Bryce Roberts, Brady DeRosso, Bowen DeRosso, Cook Tompkins and Hayden Hembree, who were selected for the first team.
Adam Beverly, Rylan Howell, Cole Holder and Carter Summerlin were named to the second team.
The Packers batted .304 in region games.
The team’s freshmen were Owen Avery, Ragan Bozeman, Tripp Bridges, Bradley Bryan, Trenton Coney, Jaxson Dorminey, Chason Enfinger, Wesley Hall, Gavin Henderson, Kade Hopper, Cohen Lawson, Briar Littleton, Brey Sands and Carson Taylor.
The sophomores were Bowen DeRosso, Jackson Edwards, Parker Goss, James Horne, Carter Penuel, Hardin Reeves, Bryce Roberts, Luke Strong, Carter Summerlin, Judson Taylor, Wyatt Thompson and Davis Wingate.
The juniors were Owen Bennett, Eli Hobbs, Tyson Hobby and Tyson Samples.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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