Tiftarea GIAA All-Region winners for 2024 Lane Cole, Asher Cox, John Jackson, Jackson Parrish and Winston Lamb. John Michael White, who earned honorable mention, was not present.

TIFTON — Tiftarea Academy baseball finished second District 3-AAA baseball in 2024 and advanced to the elite eight. Those efforts resulted in many players meriting postseason awards.

John Jackson and Lane Cole each earned GIAA All-State this year.

Cole, a senior, had a 2.43 ERA over a team-high 49 innings. His 61 strikeouts also led the Panthers and he tied for the lead with four wins. At the plate, he hit .280 while driving in 17 runs and scoring 12. On top of that, Cole was incredibly patient at the dish, working 18 walks, nearly 1/5 of Tiftarea’s total.

A junior, Jackson batted .311 for Tiftarea. He tied for tops of the squad with 29 runs scored and drove in 10. Five of his hits went for extra bases with four doubles and one triple. He also made a couple of pitching appearances this season.

Cole, along with Asher Cox, appeared in the GIAA All-Star game.

Cox, who recently signed to play at Thomas University, hit all three of the Panthers’ homers this year on a .272 batting average. His 24 RBIs was the most for the Panthers.

In District 3-AAA, Cox, Jackson and Cole joined Winston Lamb and Jackson Parrish on the All-Region team, with John Michael White earning honorable mention.

Lamb hit .300 while being one of Tiftarea’s most effective pitchers. Parrish turned in a team-high .360 average while tying Jackson for most runs scored. Mostly seen as the Panthers’ fireballer out of the bullpen, White fanned 52 in 36 innings with a 2.33 ERA.