Sports Daily: Feeling the sting

The weekend was not kind to any of the local squads, save the Dream.

The Braves dropped another series. Both college baseball teams got bounced from their NCAA Tournament regionals. United faltered.

But Georgia Tech’s off-the-field loss may be the most painful.

Quick links: Red Sox 3, Braves 1 | Tech baseball ousted | UGA, too

SUDDEN DEPARTURE

Credit: Jason Getz/AJC

Credit: Jason Getz/AJC

Life on the edges is tough, man.

You’re Georgia Tech, fighting and clawing to return to consistent sporting glory. You finally hire an athletic director who’s both a prolific fundraiser and prone to picking the right coaches (see: Brent Key and Damon Stoudamire).

You even sign that AD — just a few months ago — to a multiyear extension.

And he *still* leaves for a mid-tier Big Ten school.

Tech AD J Batt is reportedly set to depart for Michigan State, less than three years after arriving on the Flats.

The man who landed a sponsor for Bobby Dodd Stadium’s field; launched a half-billion-dollar campaign to pay for facility renovation; and was set to lead the Jackets into the revenue-sharing era, is cutting bait.

That stings.

An administrator at one power conference school told AJC columnist Ken Sugiura this: “On the surface, it doesn’t make sense — a Southern guy going to Michigan State. I think it’s more of a conference (move) than anything. … I just think now the Big Ten and SEC have the upper hand from a resource standpoint.”

Then there’s this from columnist Michael Cunningham: “Tech can offer Batt a lot of good things, but it’s never going to rank top 20 nationally in spending on sports programs like Michigan State has for the past three years.”

All true, all a bit of a bummer and all a part of life — these days more than ever.

Will the Jackets be OK, keep on rising? You never know, but probably. Batt seemingly leaves them well-situated for the future — and perhaps one of these potential candidates will get the job and keep things humming along.

“We made a clear commitment to athletics, and that commitment remains stronger than ever,” Tech president Angel Cabrera said in a statement. “We will continue competing at the highest level and seize the momentum in place to recruit the very best to lead Georgia Tech into its next chapter.”

Fans, though, find themselves in the familiar position of waiting, wishing and hoping for the best.

How are you feeling about things, Tech fans? Give me a shout at tyler.estep@ajc.com and your thoughts could land in tomorrow’s edition of Sports Daily.

SPEAKING OF UNPLEASANT GOODBYES …

Credit: Eldon Lindsay/GT Athletics

Credit: Eldon Lindsay/GT Athletics

Georgia and Georgia Tech baseball both entered the weekend with high hopes for advancing through their NCAA Tournament regionals.

Both lost in pretty unsavory fashion.

The nationally ranked Bulldogs gave up four ninth-inning runs and got walked off on their own field by Oklahoma State on Sunday — and the Jackets couldn’t muster a late rally in a season-ending loss to Ole Miss.

🫡 The latter also ended the career of Tech coach Danny Hall, who’s retiring after 32 years at the helm in Atlanta.

“He’s a legend,” outfielder Drew Burress said. “He’s gonna be one of the names that in 20, 40, 100 years in college baseball people are still gonna be talking about Danny Hall. It’s been a blessing to be able to be coached by him. It just sucks we couldn’t finish it off better for him.”

CALLING QUITS ON PITTS?

Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez/AJC

Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez/AJC

Is Kyle Pitts ready for a breakout year — or will the Falcons trade him?

Those are the internet’s perennial favorites for offseason chatter, and the trade angle got an extra boost over the weekend. ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler suggested that Pitts and the team are at least open to the idea, and that the asking price would reportedly be *at least* a second- or third-round draft pick.

Hard for me to see that (or, honestly, the breakout year) happening. But where you do land on potentially cutting bait with the highest-drafted tight end in NFL history?

🔗 Bonus link: Falcons great Julio Jones sat down with D. Orlando Ledbetter for his first extensive postretirement interview.

WEEKEND WONDERPERSON

Credit: Butch Dill/AP

Credit: Butch Dill/AP

OK, so the Braves lost 3-1 to the Red Sox on Sunday and dropped their fourth consecutive series. As the aforementioned Mr. Sugiura wrote earlier in the weekend, this may just be who they are.

But young Spencer Schwellenbach stuck out 11 and got the win Saturday, which also happened to be his 25th birthday.

🏆 And seeing as he’s steadily working his way toward All-Star consideration, he’s earned today’s “Weekend Wonderperson” honors.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT …

⚽ Atlanta United dropped its match against the New York Red Bulls on Saturday. Manager Ronny Deila says small mistakes (especially on defense) still need to be eliminated.

🏀 The Dream attacked the basket, limited turnovers and wore out the Storm to come back from a 17-point deficit. That’s four straight wins for Atlanta, which plays again Friday at Connecticut.

PHOTO OF THE DAY

Credit: Screenshot

Credit: Screenshot

The NBA Finals are set, with the Thunder and Pacers set to square off starting Friday.

But the “Inside the NBA” crew, which is destined for ESPN next season, already signed off for the final time on Atlanta-based TNT. Naturally, most of them were wearing weird hats at the time.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

Thanks for reading to the very bottom of Sports Daily. Questions, comments, ideas? Contact me at tyler.estep@ajc.com.

Until next time.