TIFTON —
Jeff Kilgore’s wife, Meredith, is about to give birth to a baby boy. Now he’s ready to give new life to the baseball program at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College.
Kilgore, 31, took over the reins of the Stallions on Oct. 25 when Steve Janousek elected to move to full time faculty status in the School of Human Sciences at ABAC. Janousek served as the ABAC baseball coach for 15 years.
“I’m excited about the opportunity,” Kilgore, who was entering his third year as the ABAC assistant coach, said. “I’m really looking forward to the future of ABAC baseball.”
Kilgore says he expects the Stallions to be strong on the execution of the fundamentals of the game.
“I expect the guys to perform the tasks they are asked to do,” Kilgore said. “We are not going to be a ‘knock the ball out of the park’ type of team but it is going to be an exciting style of baseball. Pitching is going to be our strong point this year.”
Kilgore is counting on two transfers, Matt Moses from Chipola and Kevin Werner from Mercer, to be the foundation for the mound staff. Both are righthanders. Moses is from Live Oak, Fla., and Werner played at East Coweta.
Two other righthanders, Mason Tyler from St. John’s River and Aaron Westbury from Lamar County, will also be called upon as well as returnee Justin Hicks, a lefthander from Live Oak, Fla.
At the plate, Neal Gandee from Henry County hit .360 last season, and Hayden Kudela from Colquitt County smacked the ball at a .330 pace.
In the always tough Georgia Collegiate Athletic Association, Kilgore believes the Stallions will be in the playoff picture.
“It’s still early but it looks like everyone is kind of even across the board,” Kilgore said. “Middle Georgia won the league last year. Gordon finished fourth in the conference but won the district tournament and then finished third in the JUCO World Series.”
Kilgore played second base and shortstop for a Johnson High School team in Gainesville that set a school record with 26 wins during his junior season. His 12 home runs that year set a school record which still stands.
Emmanuel College offered him a scholarship, and Kilgore had a terrific career, hitting .394 with 14 home runs during his junior year when the Lions made the National Christian College Athletic Association World Series, and he was named to the all-conference team.
Kilgore has an undergraduate degree in business from Emmanuel and a master’s degree in health and physical education from North Georgia College. His experience includes two years at Emmanuel as an assistant coach and one year at West Hall High School as an assistant coach. At ABAC, he has served as interim intramural director as well as assistant baseball coach.
The Stallions open their 2013 season at home against St. John’s River at 4 p.m. on Jan. 25.
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Jeff Kilgore
Kilgore ready to give new life to ABAC baseball program
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