MOULTRIE – Yes, but what about the squirrel?

Talk to anyone about Colquitt County’s first state baseball championship, which came 25 years ago next month, and the subject of the squirrel that nearly derailed the Packers title hopes in what could have been the last game of the season is sure to enter the conversation.

There is the other-worldly pitching (and hitting, lest we forget) of Hayden Gliemmo. The “Mr. May” performance at and behind the plate of catcher Will Stuckey. The 6-4-3 playoff-ending double play. The elegance of Heath Wetherington at first base. The late-in-the-season emergence of freshman Waylon Stuckey. Jerry Croft’s 300th career win and first state title.

All extraordinary.

And then, there is the squirrel.

The squirrel came into play in the of best-of-three Class AAAA state championship series between Colquitt County and Lassiter High of Marietta at Ike Aultman Field behind the old high school.

The Packers won the first game of the first-day doubleheader 7-3. Gliemmo was Gliemmo, striking out 10 Trojans to win his 11th game of the season.

He also hit a home run and joined the Stuckey brothers, Brad Tomlinson and Lerenzo Banks in rapping out doubles in the Packers 12-hit performance.

Colquitt picked right up where they left off in Game 2 and a championship series sweep seemed in the cards.

The Packers were leading 4-1 in the bottom of the third inning when a transformer blew, leaving the field, the stands, the members of the two teams and the expectant Colquitt County fans in the dark.

“I’m thinking, ‘What in the world?’” Packers hitting coach Tony Kirkland recalled.

Utility crews were unable to get power restored in a reasonable amount of time and the game was rescheduled as part of a doubleheader the next day.

Had the game gone five innings, it would have been a complete game and if the Packers had been ahead, Colquitt would have won the championship then and there.

But it seems a squirrel made an ill-advised foray into the transformer, causing the outage.

The disappointment on the Colquitt County side was compounded when, the next day, Lassiter won Game 2 to even the series and force a deciding game.

The Packers trailed 9-2 in Game 2 before rallying with a four-run fifth-inning to close the gap.

They never could catch the Trojans in Game 2, despite home runs by Gliemmo and the Stuckey brothers.

Gliemmo went to the hill again in the championship game and held Lassiter to three runs on seven hits over seven innings for the second day in a row and Will Stuckey homered and doubled to give the Packers their first state championship, despite the efforts of the squirrel to derail them.

And even though he was on another Packer state championship staff in 2003, Kirkland knows how rare being part of a state champion is.

“You don’t get to be part of something like that all the time,” Kirkland said.

The championship was especially gratifying after Colquitt was eliminated the year before when Gliemmo came up with a sore arm and could not pitch in the semifinals against eventual state champion Parkview.

And it was sweet for Croft, who got his 300th career win when the Packers defeated Lassiter in Game 1 and got his first state title since taking over the Packer baseball program in 1977.

Colquitt finished the season with a 29-8 record. The number of wins is still the most in a season for the Packers, although it was matched by the 2003 state championship team.

“Jerry really did a great job of putting our lineup together,” said 1997 Packers hitting coach Tony Kirkland, who later was team head coach for nine seasons,

Croft was named the Georgia Dugout Club’s co-Coach of the Year in 1997 and would go on to win 449 games in his 30 seasons as the Packers coach.

He went to be inducted into the Georgia Dugout Club Hall of Fame and the Colquitt County Sports Hall of Fame.

“That was just a magical season,” Croft remembers. “Everybody contributed in some way or another. They all had a role and their role was important.

“They were all good young men and coaching them is something I’ll always cherish. I’m just fortunate to have been part of it.”

The Packers went into the season picked to win Region 1-AAAA after posting an 11-1 region record, a 24-6 overall record and a berth in the state Final Four the year before.

Colquitt had three returning first-team All-Region selections in Gliemmo, Will Stuckey and Reggie Stancil.

Gliemmo was 9-0 with a 1.18 ERA as a junior in 1996 and hit .368.

Stuckey had been an All-Region pick as both a freshman and a sophomore.

Both continued to produce in the state championship season.

Gliemmo went 12-2 with a 1.48 ERA and struck out 161 batters in 99 innings.

And he dominated in the 13-game postseason, going 8-0.

He was the Region 1-AAAA Player of the Year.

“He was just so smooth and effortless,” pitching coach Keith Croft said. “You could tell there was just something different about that kid.”

So impressed was the Colquitt County staff by Gliemmo’s mechanics that it filmed Gliemmo to show to younger pitchers.

“One of the questions I’ve been most asked about him over the years is what do you say to him when you give him the ball before a game,” Keith Croft said. “I never gave him the ball before a game. He came and got the ball. He wanted to pitch.”

And Keith Croft having as talented a catcher at Will Stuckey behind the plate enhanced Gliemmo’s performances.

“You could count on the fingers of one hand the number of balls that got past Stuckey,” he said.

While Gliemmo’s performance in the state championship game capped the Packers season, it is not his most-remembered effort.

On March 11, in the Region 1-AAAA opener for both teams, Gliemmo and future major league pitcher Tim Drew of Lowndes squared off at Ike Aultman Field in front of a large crowd that included a number of scouts on hand to check the speed of Drew’s fastballs.

In a 2-1 Colquitt County victory, Gliemmo went 10 innings, giving up four hits while striking out 20. He went to three balls on just three batters and walked only one.

Drew was nearly as good, striking out 14 Packers.

But both of the Packers runs came on wild pitches, including the last one that allowed Lerenzo Banks to score the winning run in the bottom of the 10th inning.

It was a classic effort by Gliemmo, who was 5-foot-9 and, at the most, 160 pounds. He did not rely on his fast ball to retire batters. He would change speeds and spot his pitches.

“We lived on the outer half of the plate,” said Will Stuckey, who caught Gliemmo from Midget League and Pony League through their seasons on the Packers varsity.

During his time at Colquitt County, Gliemmo posted a 24-3 record with a 1.67 ERA. In 214.1 innings, he struck out 334 batters and walked just 89.

“He never impressed scouts, but that kid could pitch,” Jerry Croft said.

He was the USA Today Georgia Player of the Year and pitched for Team Georgia.

After leaving Colquitt County, Gliemmo pitched at Auburn, posting a 37-12 career record. He pitched one season in the Angels farm system, posting a 7-3 record before arm problems ended his career.

He was inducted into the Colquitt County Sports Hall of Fame in 2009.

But the 1997 Packers had more than Gliemmo on their pitching staff.

Stancil was 6-1 and had a 1.97 ERA, Travis Morse was 3-1 and also had a 1.97 ERA, Blake Samples was 5-0 with a 2.18 ERA and Lerenzo Banks was 2-2 with a 3.89 ERA. The Packers were loath to take the talented Heath Wetherington off first base too often, but, he, too, contributed on the mound.

Samples, Banks and Morse each had a post-season win.

The Packers allowed three runs or fewer in 26 games and were 22-4 in those games.

“You’ve got to give a lot of credit to Keith Croft,” Jerry Croft said. “He really developed those pitchers.”

And while Gliemmo is remembered for the pitching that took him to Auburn and to professional baseball, he was no slouch with a bat in his hand.

He led the Packers in 1997 with a .433 batting average with 29 runs batted in and five home runs.

In the playoffs, he hit .428 and four of his homers came in the final 10 games.

The Packers hit .329 as a team and hit 29 home runs.

Trevor Kruger batted .347 with four home runs; Will Stuckey, .333 with four homers; Stancil, .329, three homers; Brad Tomlinson, .322 with three homers; Banks, .299; and Samples, .293.

Waylon Stuckey got just 60 at bats with the varsity late in the season but hit .350 with four home runs.

“That was a group with a lot of role players who stepped up at the right time,” Kirkland said.

Will Stuckey said he believes one of the strengths of the team was that so many players contributed.

“If somebody was struggling, there was somebody to pick them up,” he said

Stuckey himself was one of was an outstanding defensive catcher and a rare clutch hitter.

In fact, in 1997, he went into the postseason with a .247 batting average.

Over the next 13 games, he went 19-for-38 with four home runs.

“That was my M.O.,” Stuckey said. “I’d struggle early, then I’d get into it.

“But we really had some guys who could absolutely swing it.”

Gliemmo and Wetherington were named to the All-Region 1-AAAA first team.

Stancil, Kruger and Will Stuckey were named to the second team. Samples received honorable mention.

The Packers opened the 1997 season in the Devil Diamond Classic in Tifton and won five of six games.

Gliemmo struck out 12 in five innings and hit a home run in the season-opening 7-1 victory over Albany.

Stancil went 3-for-4 and also homered.

Stancil was not available for the second game after suffering what at first was thought to be a broken hand.

He wasn’t missed in the 13-3 win over Dougherty that featured a six-run first inning.

Samples allowed just one hit over five innings and Gliemmo stole three bases.

Colquitt then fell 6-3 to tournament-host Tift County. Stancil returned to the lineup and pitched 4.2 innings of one-hit relief and hit a two-run home run.

Wetherington started and got the win in a 10-0 victory over Monroe to raise the Packers record to 3-1.

The Packers then got two runs in the seventh inning to beat Lee County 3-2.

Gliemmo started and struck out 12 and Samples got the win in relief.

Colquitt led Westover 21-4 when the Patriots conceded after three innings and the Packers finished the Devil Diamond Classic with a 5-1 record.

Gliemmo, Will Stuckey and Stancil, who hit two home runs and drove in six, were named to the all-tournament team.

The Packers next game was the Region 1-AAAA opener in which Gliemmo out-dueled Drew.

Despite pitching all 10 innings, Gliemmo threw only 137 pitches.

The only Lowndes’ run was driven by shortstop Nic Dodson.

The Packers’ bats were silent in their next game, a 4-0 loss to Lee County.

Colquitt avenged its loss to Tift County by pounding the Blue Devils 13-0 in five innings. Tomlinson went 3-for-4 with a solo homer as the Packers raised their record to 7-2.

The Packers then were shut out for the second time in three games when they fell to Valdosta 3-0.

Gliemmo suffered just the second loss of his career despite striking out 12 Wildcats.

Colquitt raised its overall record to 8-3 and its region record to 3-1 with a 10-0, six-inning shutout of Coffee.

In a 6-3 victory over Cook, Gliemmo went 4-for-4, Kruger and Waylon Stuckey hit home runs and Samples got the win.

Ranked No. 10 in Class 4A, the Packers knocked off Lee County 12-9 to raise their record to 10-3.

Reggie Stancil struck out 15 batters, including 11 of the last 12 batters he faced, in the Packers 9-2 win over Bainbridge.

Kruger, who was 11 for his last 20, had a pair of doubles.

Morse was the winning pitcher in a 4-2 win over Thomas County Central, but Lowndes turned the tables on the Packers in the next game, winning 2-1 in Valdosta.

Gliemmo struck out 12, but fell to 2-2 on the season.

The Packers were ranked No. 6 in the state when they took down Tift County 9-3.

Stancil raised his record to 5-0 and he and Wetherington homered in the game.

The Packers fell to 13-5 overall when they lost 2-1 to Thomas County Central in a game in which they stranded 10 runners.

Gliemmo then struck out 10 and allowed just two hits in an 8-2 win over Valdosta that kept the Packers tied for first place in the region.

Stancil had two doubles, drove in five runs and raised his record to 6-0 in a 14-4 win over Coffee that raised Colquitt’s record to 15-5 overall and 7-2 in the region.

In Adel, the Packers got a three-run homer from Wetherington and Morse stranded 11 base runners in six innings in an 11-3 win.

Colquitt then split a pair of games against Ware County.

Gliemmo struck out 16, including 13 in the last five innings, in a 10-3 victory. He also had three hits in the game.

Ware won the rematch 4-0.

In their final regular-season game, the Packers pounded Bainbridge 11-1.

Both Colquitt, 18-6 overall, and Valdosta finished 9-3 in the region and a one-game playoff was set to determine the region’s top seed to the region playoffs.

The two teams had split their two regular-season games and the game, played in Valdosta, was tied 5-5 headed to the eighth inning

Hal Funderburk doubled in the winning run in the top of eighth and Gliemmo shut down the Wildcats in the bottom of the inning to give the Packers the top seed.

Gliemmo uncharacteristically walked four batters in the fourth inning, but then retired 11 in a row to get the win that raised his record to 5-2. He struck out 14.

Colquitt then met Lowndes in a best-of-3 series in the Region 1-AAAA tournament.

Lowndes won the opener at home 7-1, but the Packers responded by sweeping the Vikings in a home doubleheader 2-1 and 4-3.

Gliemmo scattered three hits to win the opener.

He also started Game 3 before giving way to Samples in the fourth inning.

Samples escaped a pair of bases-loaded, no-out situations, including the last one that featured a game-ending and state berth-clinching 6-4-3 double play.

Gliemmo and Drew each homered in the game.

The win locked up the home field advantage for the 23-7 Packers, now ranked No. 10 in the state.

Lakeside of Evans came to Moultrie for the first round series and the Packers swept the first-day doubleheader 5-3 and 9-5.

Banks got the win in Game 1 with help from homers by Kruger and Waylon Stuckey.

Gliemmo started the nightcap and got relief help from Morse and Samples.

Kruger had his second homer of the day in the game. Gliemmo also homered.

In the second round, South Effingham came to Colquitt County and the Rebels were immediately the victim of a Gliemmo no-hitter. The Packers starter struck out 16.

Banks homered and Gliemmo and Funderburk added doubles.

The Packers needed extra innings to win the second game, however.

The game was tied 5-5 before Colquitt erupted for four runs in the top of the ninth.

Will Stuckey’s two-out double broke the tie and Waylon Stuckey followed with a three-run homer to put the game out of reach.

Gliemmo pitched two innings in relief to get the win.

Walton came south for the state semifinal series and managed just four runs in dropping both ends of a doubleheader.

Gliemmo was in control in the first game, a 4-2 Colquitt County win.

The Packers exploded for seven runs in the third inning and went on to a 13-2 win in the second game.

Morse gave up just two runs and five hits and Wetherington backed him up with a homer. Kruger added two doubles.

The Packers, now 27-7, got Lassiter at home in the state championship series and gave Jerry Croft win No. 300 in the opener.

The Packers had 12 hits, including six doubles, in the 7-3 win, including a homer by Gliemmo, who also struck out 10 Lassiter batters.

The Stuckey brothers, Gliemmo, Tomlinson, Banks and Samples had the two-base hits.

Then the squirrel spoiled the Game 2 lead.

And after Lassiter won the do-over, Gliemmo, Stuckey and company put the exclamation point on the season in the 13-2 championship game victory.

Gliemmo got his 12th win of the season and Will Stuckey finished his junior season going 6-for-7 with a double and four RBIs in the doubleheader.

Also playing for the Packers in 1997 were Keith Moody, Ron Sluss, Jerry Croft’s son Jared Croft, Kyle Conger, Eric Bell, John Saunders, Chip Venet, Tanner Jenkins, Jonathan Vines and Stephen Mathis.

Keith Croft summed up the season succinctly.

“It really was a team effort,” Keith Croft said. “And the community really, really got behind us.”