East Jackson’s new baseball coach is already moving into his new job.
Josh Gandy, a former college and minor league pitcher, has accepted the position to lead the East Jackson Eagles baseball team coming from his high school alma mater, Ringgold High School in northwest Georgia, where he served as assistant coach and pitching coach.
Gandy said after applying for the job and learning more about the community, East Jackson was where he wanted to be.
“I went to college at the University of Georgia, and I love this area,” he said. “After learning more about East Jackson and the community in general, and how much support the community has, not just for the athletic program but for the school in general, I would be crazy not to want to come down here.”
Last year, the Ringgold Tigers went 12-9 overall, and 9-5 in the state. They made it to the first round of state playoff action, where they lost to Sequoyah.
Gandy said he hopes to bring that taste for success over to East Jackson.
“If you look at the way the region is going to be divided up now, you have Banks, Jefferson and North Oconee, which are very good programs, that we’re going to compete with. Hopefully, we can compete with them and get one of those top four slots in the region and go to a state playoff game and see what we can do there.”
Gandy said, however, it won’t be easy.
“It’s going to be a tough road,” he said. “The boys are just now getting to know me and what I expect. Hopefully, it will be a very smooth transition and we can win a few games.”
One thing that will help, he says, is having a core group of players from last year. Towards the end of their first season, the Eagles strung together several wins, including three in region play. One came against a strong Fannin County team that placed second in the region.
“You can definitely take that and build on it,” Gandy said. “Probably the best asset these kids have is just how hard they will work. They will work on their own and if I ask them to do something, they do it. Their work ethic is unbelievable here. That, and them having gelled together towards the end of last year are two things that we can take into this coming season and work with.”
Gandy has a lot of experience to pull from as he moves forward with the Eagles. After serving as a pitcher for the Ringgold Tigers, Gandy went to UGA, where he played for three years before moving to the minor leagues, where he played for the Twins and the Indians organizations for four years.
“I think what I learned the most is that there is really no secret to the game,” he said. “Going into spring training at Georgia, you spend hours and hours just working on fundamentals. There’s no big secret that they try to teach you. It’s catching the ball, throwing the ball, making sure you get it right and you’re in the right spot to do that. In high school, I think that’s how you get to that next level, by getting good at the fundamentals.”
And Gandy hopes those fundamentals will bring more success to the East Jackson baseball program in 2009.
