Georgia RHP James Hays enters the NCAA Transfer Portal

Georgia right-handed pitcher James Hays has entered the NCAA Transfer Portal. He only spent one season with the program.

In his lone season with Georgia, Hays appeared in two games, amassing three total innings pitched. In his limited time on the mound, Hays allowed 10 hits and seven runs while recording three strikeouts. Hays also threw one wild pitch and walked one batter.

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Hays played high school baseball at The Westfield School (GA). He was the No. 108 overall recruit and No. 29 RHP in the 2023 cycle, according to Perfect Game. Hays’ high school career was limited by elbow and knee injuries.

Hays participated in the 2022 MLB-USA Baseball High School All-American game. Further, he earned All-Region and All-State honors for his high school after boasting a 19-10 record.

Georgia still moving forward in the postseason

Despite Hays’ decision to enter the transfer portal, Georgia’s season is far from over. This past weekend, the Bulldogs went 3-0 in the Athens Regional to advance to the NCAA Super Regionals, where they will square off against NC State in a best-of-three series.

Georgia has not won its regional since 2008. Now, in head coach Wes Johnson’s first year at the helm of the program, they will participate in the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament. After Georgia defeated Georgia Tech on Sunday to secure the regional, Johnson revealed how he’s turned the program around so quickly.

“You just got to go out there and do your job,” Johnson said. “It takes everybody. It’s not just me here. It takes our coaching staff, it takes our support staff, the grounds crew – it takes everybody if you’re going to be successful. It’s hard to push the rock uphill both ways so to speak, so I think it’s important those people are mentioned because without them I don’t think we’re here.”

Georgia senior Corey Collins has been a first-hand witness to the program’s U-turn. After UGA’s most recent win, he revealed how it affects the team’s mindset moving forward.

“It just gives us confidence,” Collins said. “As Coach mentioned, we didn’t end the season well, but he said, ‘Guys, we’ve got to get over that hurdle.’ That stuck with me.

“Now, we have work before the next one. This was just another hurdle that we had to get over. We competed, we won, now it’s back to work and try to get over this next hurdle, which is the Super.”