Before heading to Auburn, Columbus baseball’s Ben Schorr has one final goal as a Blue Devil
Ben Schorr is no stranger to high expectations.
A senior at Columbus, Schorr and the Blue Devils opened the season Tuesday with an 8-2 win over Woodward Academy, an Atlanta private school that boasts one of the top baseball recruits in the nation, South Carolina commit Will Sanders. Schorr signed for Auburn last November, but the senior has unfinished business in Columbus before he heads for the Plains.
Columbus finished last season 24-9, but was swept by North Oconee in the GHSA class 4A playoffs. The Blue Devils watched their crosstown rival, Northside, win its first state title, in its first championship series appearance, over Denmark last season, adding to the hurt.
“We’ve worked for (a state championship) for four years now,” Schorr said before the Woodward game. “This is the fourth year. ... It’s all about getting hot at the right time.”
Now, Schorr and the Blue Devils are back with something to prove.
THE ‘TOM BRADY’ OF COLUMBUS HIGH
Schorr modeled his game after former Florida State and current San Francisco Giants catcher Buster Posey. The former MLB All-Star made his name at the collegiate level as an all-around player, excelling in the batters box, behind the plate or, sometimes, on the mound.
Schorr mainly plays catcher, but is comfortable hitting the ball. He’s quick to bark out commands to the rest of the team — a needed quality in a catcher. His coach calls him the “Tom Brady” of the team.
“He’s been our guy for three years,” Columbus High baseball coach Chad Mathis said. “He came in, he wanted it. He was very vocal. He’s been our leader.”
Schorr has played and started in 69 games at Columbus, hitting nine home runs and driving in 53 RBI in the last two seasons. He’s a two-time All-Bi City and Georgia Dugout All-State honoree. He was an All-Bi-City second-teamer last year.
Schorr is rated by Perfect Game as the No. 3 catcher in Georgia. He participated in the Perfect Game National Showcase in each of the last two seasons and was named to the 2018 Junior National Showcase Top Prospect Team. He also competed in the 2018 Perfect Game Underclass All-American Game, and was named a 2019 Preseason Third Team All-American.
Schorr has helped the Blue Devils to the region final in three straight seasons and the state quarterfinals in each of the last two years.
STAYING HOME
Auburn has always been a second home for Schorr.
The senior grew up attending football, baseball and even gymnastics meets (his sister, Gigi Schorr, was a “huge fan” growing up). The family arrived in Auburn each fall Saturday at 9 a.m. to tailgate. His family held season tickets to football games growing up, and he watched both the Miracle at Jordan Hare and the Kick Six from his seat above the 50-yard line.
“I just came to love it real quick,” Schorr said.
There was little doubt about where he would play his college ball once the Tigers offered in October 2017. He was considered among the top 300 players in the Class of 2020, per Perfect Game USA, when he committed to the Tigers that month.
But it wasn’t his love of the Tigers that made him lean toward the Plains. Rather, it was the people.
“The main thing that really sold me on Auburn was the people,” Schorr said at his signing ceremony. “The coaching staff, the players, they all want you to be the best player and person you could be.”
Schorr said he picked the Tigers over Alabama and LSU. He’ll walk into a Tigers program that made the College World Series in 2019 and finished 38-28.
BRINGING IT HOME
2018 was the season Schorr thought the Blue Devils had it in them. The team lost just seven games that year, and boasted talent like current Columbus State pitcher and first baseman Trent Grantham, and Robbie Tillman, who both received interest from SEC schools, throughout its lineup.
The Blue Devils ran into Blessed Trinity in the 4A state playoffs, as they’d done the two years prior. And the result was the same.
In game one, the Blue Devils had three errors and managed only two hits, losing to the Thunderbolts 6-2. They bounced back in game two, as senior Jonathan Brand, who now pitches for Miami (Ohio), held Blessed Trinity to one run on three hits. Schorr knotted the game at 1-1 with a home run, and then won the game in the eighth inning with a walk-off sac fly.
In the winner-take-all rubber match, Schorr blasted a two-out, three-run homer in the top of the fourth inning to give the Blue Devils a 3-2 lead, but two errors led to five unearned runs by the Thunderbolts in the fifth inning, and Blessed Trinity won 7-2.
Knowing Northside celebrated a state title last season provides a fair share of motivation for Columbus. Knowing it’s his last chance at a state title also gives Schorr an extra jolt.
There are some similarities to the 2018 team in the current squad, Schorr said, though it’s far too early in the season to know for sure. Pitcher and third baseman Will Nobles reminds the senior of Brand. The team just needs a solid left-handed batter, Schorr said.
A six-run win over a good Woodward team is a solid start.
“Our pitching is a lot better than what we had last year,” Schorr said. “We lost a couple of big bats, but I think we’ve been hitting a lot better, in my opinion, early this year.”
This story was originally published February 13, 2020 at 11:52 AM.
