Nearly four months have passed since the Morgan County baseball team ended its 2026 season on the mountaintop, claiming the GHSA Class 2A baseball championship after sweeping Pierce County at Georgia Southern University on May 25.
The Bulldogs' victorious weekend in Statesboro unfolded dramatically, with a game suspension and several hours of rain delays before the championship series was completed.
Morgan County officially received its state championship rings Sept. 4 during a brief ceremony at Bill Corry Stadium before the football team’s matchup with Oconee County.
The 2026 Bulldogs' roster was honored with its new hardware on the field, with several recent graduates returning and others preparing to take the field for the 7:30 p.m. game.
Morgan County head coach Steve Westmoreland said the ceremony was especially meaningful because the returning seniors never got to celebrate their championship as students.
“Getting most of our guys back together was special. We were already out of school, so they never really got to go back on campus as state champions,” Westmoreland said. “It was nice to get them in front of the community on Friday night and get the recognition they deserved with those rings.”
According to Westmoreland, the Diamond Dogs began the ring design and sizing process a couple of days after returning from Statesboro. He said the coaching staff needed to move quickly because several players had busy summer schedules.
“I went back and looked at some of the pictures taken Friday night, and you see the look on their faces when they unveiled their rings, and it’s really special that these guys were able to accomplish their goal,” Westmoreland said. “It’s something they’ll have for the rest of their lives to bring back all the memories from this season in their high school careers.”
Morgan County finished their historic season 36-4 overall to claim the program’s first state championship.
Westmoreland described the achievement as “validation” of the team’s work over the last three years.
“We told our guys, if you would buy in and do the things that we’d asked, we would have success,” Westmoreland said. “We didn’t guarantee them a state championship, but we felt like we had a good plan for success. So to see that come to fruition was really special for us as coaches.”
Westmoreland said he is now looking forward to seeing some of the program’s younger players take on larger roles. He noted that Morgan County is in the early stages of preparing for the 2027 season and will be “full-speed ahead from this point on.”
“I think most of our guys keep saying back-to-back, so I think the goal will always be to put yourself in a position to win a state championship,” Westmoreland said. “We’ve got some really good players in our program that haven’t had as many opportunities to show people how good they are. I’m excited for them to get their opportunities to be starters and play a heavy role for us, to continue to build on what we’ve done the last three years.”