County athletes go to College World Series
Two Columbia County natives are heading to Omaha, Neb., later this week to play a little baseball.
Georgia pitcher Johnny Dobbs throws in the fifth inning against Georgia Tech in the NCAA Super Regional game in Atlanta on Friday. Georgia won the game 7-5.
Photo by Allen Sullivan/Morris News Service
Harlem's Johnny Dobbs and Greenbrier's Chad Thornhill are two members of the Georgia "Diamond Dawgs" baseball team that will be playing in the College World Series at famous Rosenblatt Stadium, where Georgia won its first and only baseball national championship in 1990.
Georgia (43-21) will make its fourth appearance in the College World Series, earning the trip after a sweep of fourth-seeded Georgia Tech in the Atlanta Super Regional over the weekend. They will meet up with the winner of the Arizona/Long Beach State series on Friday.
Dobbs saw action in the 7-5 Game 1 victory over the Yellow Jackets, pitching 2 1/3 innings and surrendering one earned run. Thornhill did not play in Game 1, and neither Dobbs nor Thornhill played in the 5-3 Game 2 victory.
Dobbs has seen extensive action as a junior this season.
In 17 appearances, including three starts, Dobbs is 5-2 with a 3.61 ERA. He has struck out 37 in 42 1/3 innings pitched and is in the top three in fewest runs allowed, fewest hits allowed and opposing batting average.
Dobbs, who transferred from Chattahoochee Valley Community College, won his first start with the Bulldogs, going six scoreless innings for a victory against Mercer on April 7. Settling into the role of reliever, the Harlem product pitched 4 2/3 shutout inning of relief against Vanderbilt in the SEC Tournament.
Dobbs starred on the 26-5 region championship team for Harlem coach Jimmie Lewis in 2001. He led the Bulldogs with a 1.25 ERA his senior season.
A redshirt sophomore, Thornhill plays first base off the bench for the Bulldogs and has hit .278 primarily as a pinch hitter in 14 games this season. He has a double and four RBIs in only 18 at-bats this season.
Thornhill, a 2003 SEC Academic Honor Roll selection, was named All Area by The Augusta Chronicle and The Columbia County News-Times during his tenure at Greenbrier.