The 8th best hitter in the 2018 Valley League season is, by all accounts, a polite, soft spoken southerner. And then when Trevin Eubanks recorded the strikeout to win the 2018 title, Chase Sudduth chased him down and laid him out with a tackle straight from Friday Night Lights.
No matter what his tackling form looked like, Chase, a senior at North Georgia, had a fantastic season for the Rebels in 2018. He was a less “heralded” member of the lineup, perhaps, than a couple hitters coming later on this list, but his contributions were just as important as his squad won its first title since 2002.
Chase also played in New Market in 2017, so let’s take a look at his VBL career stats:
| VBL | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | K | SB | CS | Avg | OBP | SLG |
| 2017 | 36 | 136 | 30 | 44 | 10 | 1 | 2 | 25 | 22 | 20 | 9 | 1 | 0.324 | 0.424 | 0.465 |
| Play | 3 | 11 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0.111 | 0.231 | 0.091 |
| 2018 | 38 | 127 | 31 | 43 | 7 | 3 | 4 | 33 | 35 | 22 | 4 | 0 | 0.339 | 0.479 | 0.535 |
| Play | 6 | 22 | 8 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0.364 | 0.467 | 0.545 |
As you can see, Brilliant Reader, Chase has hit very well in his 4 months in the Shenandoah Valley. He was an honorable mention top hitter in 2017, even though I spelled his name “Suddeth” back then. Sorry, Chase.
In 2018, Chase finished 7th in the league in OPS, tied for 3rd in on-base percentage, 9th in slugging percentage, tied for 1st in walks, 9th in total bases (68), 5th in RBIs, tied for 9th in home runs, 2nd in triples, 8th in runs scored, and was named 2nd team All-Valley at third base. He had 3 hits in a game 4 times, 2 hits 10 times, and had two crazy games with bases on balls: he walked 4 times on June 15th against Front Royal, and then a ridiculous 5 times on July 21 against Purcellville. His best game was in the championship series against Charlottesville, when, in game one, he went 4-6, with 2 runs, a double, triple, and 3 RBIs.
Chase spent his first two college years at Gordon State before transferring to North Georgia for his junior year. One thing is for sure- he’s controlled the strike zone:
| G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | K | SB | CS | Avg | OBP | SLG | |
| 2016 | 50 | 168 | 45 | 56 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 26 | 40 | 31 | 5 | 1 | 0.333 | 0.462 | 0.393 |
| 2017 | 52 | 176 | 50 | 68 | 14 | 4 | 7 | 58 | 39 | 20 | 10 | 0 | 0.386 | 0.489 | 0.631 |
| 2018 | 52 | 202 | 47 | 55 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 26 | 36 | 31 | 2 | 1 | 0.272 | 0.387 | 0.381 |
If you’re keeping score at home, over his college career, Chase has walked 115 times to only 82 strikeouts. His OBPs have been excellent over all three seasons. In 2017, he was named to the NJCAA All-American 3rd team after his 386/489/631 season.
Watch for Chase to have another solid season for the Nighthawks in 2019… and a note to his teammates: if North Georgia wins a title, watch your back!
