While Seth Gaspin is still old school as a baseball coach, he’s not opposed to learning from new tools.
Jenkins head coach Seth Gaspin walks along the third-base line during Friday night’s game against Bradwell Institute. (Photo by Prep Sports Report)
The longtime Jenkins coach said he used ChatGPT to create a starting lineup and a scouting report for the Warriors’ home game Friday against Bradwell Institute, before adding, “I go with my gut on most things.”
The artificial intelligence chatbot led Gaspin to move talented sophomore catcher Pedro Fabian from leadoff to third in the batting order. The real-life effect was very positive as Fabian went 2-for-3 with two RBIs and one walk, and his designated runner, Jaden McKinney, scored four times.
Jenkins sophomore Pedro Fabian bats against Bradwell Institute at Terry Webb Field. Fabian went 2-for-3 with two RBIs as the Warriors used pressure offense to pull away. (Photo by Prep Sports Report)
The overall result was Jenkins’ 18-5 win in five innings by mercy rule over Bradwell Institute at Terry Webb Field. The Warriors improved to 1-1 this season on a cold February evening, and the victory was the 420th in Gaspin’s head coaching career that spans nearly 30 years at four high schools, including three separate stints at Jenkins.
“Coach Gaspin has changed a lot, for sure,” said senior third baseman Charlie Stuart, a four-year starter for the Warriors at the corner infield positions. “To win that many games, and be here a long as you can, you’re going to get left behind if you don’t (change).”
Jenkins senior Charlie Stuart prepares to swing during the Warriors’ 18-5 win over Bradwell Institute. Stuart doubled and drove in a run as Jenkins pounded out 13 hits. (Photo by Prep Sports Report)
Gaspin, 56, said the team’s baseball style is suited to the players on the team in a given season. For example, the old days of aluminum bats and players swinging for extra-base hits gave way to composite bats, which didn’t have the same explosive qualities.
“Whenever it changed, it went from everybody hitting bombs to everybody bunting the ball,” Gaspin said.
His teams know how to do small ball right, working base to base and putting “pressure on defenses,” the coach said after the game. “We did a lot of that tonight.”
The Warriors worked four Tigers pitchers over four innings for 13 hits – the only extra-base hits were doubles by cleanup hitter Stuart and fifth-batting Jackson McKenzie, two of five seniors on the roster.
Jenkins also walked seven times, was hit by two pitches, and stole 11 bases. The Warriors bunted with one out to bring in a runner in the 10-run, five-hit second inning, and with two outs for an RBI in the third inning.
Brian Swinton breaks out of the batter’s box after putting down a bunt against Bradwell Institute. The Warriors executed multiple sacrifice plays in their 18-5 victory. (Photo by Prep Sports Report)
Among the standout performers was starting pitcher Ronald Dunham, a junior who batted leadoff. On the mound, he allowed five hits and five runs (two earned) with three walks and six strikeouts in four innings. At the plate, Dunham was 1-for-2 with three walks and three runs scored.
Center fielder Brian Swinton, a four-year varsity player, batted second and was 1-for-2 with one RBI, two walks, and three runs scored.
Gaspin called his team “grinders.”
“These guys are not the most talented as you see, but they work their tails off,” Gaspin said. “They make it fun for me and my staff. These guys work really hard. They leave it all on the field.”
Jenkins head coach Seth Gaspin watches from in front of the dugout during the Warriors’ 18-5 win over Bradwell Institute at Terry Webb Field. The victory marked the 420th of Gaspin’s head coaching career. (Photo by Prep Sports Report)
This is part of what doesn’t change in a Gaspin program. The players play hard, and the coaches coach hard. The results are usually good to very good.
“My method is still the same,” said Gaspin, who referenced a recent weekend. “These guys were out here Friday night until 7 o’clock and they were here Saturday morning at 7 o’clock. Everybody says you can’t do that with public school kids; these kids do it all the time, and they work their tails off for me.”
When the baseball team started in mid-January with GHSA-approved arm acclimation, Gaspin brought back after a long hiatus what he called “boot camp” sessions at 5:30 a.m. on that Monday and Friday before the school day started.
“I was trying to build toughness again,” said Gaspin, who had the players meet on the turf football field the first day, and they moved inside for that Friday because of cold temperatures.
“We didn’t do that the last three years,” Stuart said. “My freshman year, I don’t think we would have anyone show up besides a few people. We weren’t there – just young guys.”
That Warriors squad in 2023 went 3-26, 0-15 in Region 1-5A, and they were 11-16, 1-14 the next season. Jenkins moved to Class 3A in the 2024-25 school year, and the baseball team that spring was 14-6, 6-0 in Region 3-3A.
Starting with pitching
Stuart said the current squad, though it lost some key contributors through graduation and transfers, has a lot of camaraderie and players who work hard. He mentioned Fabian as well as freshman pitcher Hayden Lego, who relieved Dunham for the fifth inning and struck out two of the four batters he faced to close out what became the final inning.
Jenkins junior Ronald Dunham delivers a pitch against Bradwell Institute. Dunham earned the win, striking out six in four innings while also scoring three runs at the plate. (Photo by Prep Sports Report)
Gaspin said of the pitching rotation, “We’re kind of juggling it, mixing them in a hat right now.”
Dunham is again the No. 1 starter; Fabian, who was converted to catcher as a freshman, is in the mix; and Lego is showing promise to move from the bullpen to a starting spot.
“His confidence tonight was really good,” Gaspin said Friday of Lego. “Tonight we saw a little bit more (velocity) and a little bit more spin. So we like that a bunch.”
Gaspin, supported by a coaching staff including longtime assistant Billy McAdams, genuinely cares about his players. Stuart said the tough-but-fair approach is to develop them beyond baseball in preparation for real life.
“(He’s) a pain in your tail at times, but at the end of the day, that’s kind of what you want, too, in a good way,” Stuart said. “He pushes you really hard. There are some guys, and he rides them really hard. There are some guys he needs to, and some guys, I believe, he can lay off on a little bit, but that’s OK.
“He’s obviously adapted,” Stuart continued. “From the stories I’ve heard, he used to be real, real hard on everyone, even the kids he should have been a little more relaxed with. I think he’s starting to get this new generation. Some of them don’t respond to that at all. He’s adapting.”
Gaspin has spoken about how he has evolved in his philosophy from enforcing uniformity to working with players’ individual strengths and learning methods.
He has seen the game from a player’s perspective, as a standout at his alma mater, Memorial Day School (where he coached from 1997-2003 and won a then-GISA state title in 2001), and in college, including at Savannah State. Now he gives back to the game as a coach/teacher, becoming an institution at Jenkins, where he has been the head coach from 2004-12, 2014-18, and 2021-present.
“I love these kids and I love this game,” Gaspin said. “I feel like they still need me. When I feel like they don’t need me anymore, that’s when I’ll probably hang it up.”
Friday’s game
Jenkins 18, Bradwell Institute 5
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E | |
| Bradwell | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | x | x | 5 | 5 | 5 |
| Jenkins | 4 | 10 | 1 | 3 | x | x | x | 18 | 13 | 4 |
WP — Ronald Dunham (1-0)
4 IP, 5 H, 5 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 6 K
LP — Angel Sanchez Jimenez (0-1)
1 2/3 IP, 7 H, 10 R, 5 ER, 2 BB, 1 K
1 2/3 IP, 7 H, 10 R, 5 ER, 2 BB, 1 K
Leading Hitters
Bradwell Institute
Jayden McLendon 2-3, 2 RBI
Angel Sanchez Jimenez 1-1, 2 R, RBI, 2B, BB, 2 SB
Jayden McLendon 2-3, 2 RBI
Angel Sanchez Jimenez 1-1, 2 R, RBI, 2B, BB, 2 SB
Jenkins
Ronald Dunham 1-2, 3 R, 3 BB, 3 SB
Jaden Ellison 2-3, RBI, HBP, 3 SB
Brian Swinton 1-2, 3 R, RBI, 2 BB, SB
Jackson McKenzie 2-4, 2 R, 3 RBI, 2B
Pedro Fabian 2-3, 4 R, 2 RBI, BB, SB (DR — Jaden McKinney 4 R)
Charlie Stuart 1-4, R, RBI, 2B
Logan Adams 2-3, 2 R, 2 RBI, SAC, 2 SB
Trenton Harrelson 2-3, R, 2 RBI, HBP
Ronald Dunham 1-2, 3 R, 3 BB, 3 SB
Jaden Ellison 2-3, RBI, HBP, 3 SB
Brian Swinton 1-2, 3 R, RBI, 2 BB, SB
Jackson McKenzie 2-4, 2 R, 3 RBI, 2B
Pedro Fabian 2-3, 4 R, 2 RBI, BB, SB (DR — Jaden McKinney 4 R)
Charlie Stuart 1-4, R, RBI, 2B
Logan Adams 2-3, 2 R, 2 RBI, SAC, 2 SB
Trenton Harrelson 2-3, R, 2 RBI, HBP
Records—Bradwell Institute 0-3; Jenkins 1-1.
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