THE FLATS – Georgia Tech baseball continues the legacy of former Yellow Jacket standout and Major League Baseball relief pitcher Jim Poole, who passed away from ALS in October of 2023, by designating a student-athlete each year to wear his No. 21 jersey. The student-athlete selected must exemplify Poole’s characteristics both on and off the field.
This year, r-junior RHP Carson Ballard (Alpharetta, Ga./Wesleyan HS) becomes the fourth Yellow Jacket to earn the honor, continuing the tradition begun by Jack Rubenstein in 2023, Ben King in 2024 and John Giesler last season.
“Carson Ballard is the epitome of what it means to be a student-athlete at Georgia Tech,” head coach James Ramsey said. “He has been a mainstay on the ACC Academic Honor Roll as both a Biomedical Engineering major and a trusted arm for us over his three years with our program. He embodies the kind of dedication and love for Georgia Tech, both in the classroom and on the mound, that made Jim Poole such a beloved Tech Man. He has heard Jim’s legacy preached since he stepped on campus. Not only about what a great pitcher he was and the incredible MLB career he enjoyed, but the husband, father, coach and advisor that Jim was and the life after baseball that he earned through the hard work that he put in while in White & Gold. That work ethic is perfectly reflected in Carson. Beginning as a walk-on and working his way to becoming a focal point of our 2025 ACC regular season championship roster and now, becoming a scholarship player on a 2026 team that has hopes of being one of the very best to represent this incredible Institution. The No. 21 has a deserved venerable legacy here and Carson is the perfect player, leader and engineer to continue this tradition into 2026.”
Ballard will wear No. 21, having shown a longstanding commitment to Poole’s ideals – self-determination, a strong academic work ethic, and high moral fiber on and off the field. He is a three-time member of the ACC Academic Honor Roll, a two-time Academic All-ACC honoree and a member of the 2024 CSC Academic All-District Team. He is currently pursuing a degree in Biomedical Engineering.
On the diamond, Ballard is entering his fourth season as one of the more reliable arms on the Tech pitching staff that has shown dramatic improvements from his freshman season to now. He has made 30 appearances including seven starts over his two years on the active roster, collecting three wins and a 5.07 ERA, with 64 strikeouts over 71.0 innings pitched. He was leaned on most when the lights were brightest, pitching a team-high 14.2 innings against SEC competition last year and delivering 13 strikeouts and a .226 opponent’s batting average over those appearances with a 4.30 ERA. He introduced a knuckleball into his arsenal last season, throwing it with great effect down the stretch, including heavily relying on it during his 4.0 innings of work in an elimination game at the Oxford Regional.
“It’s an incredible honor and privilege to wear No. 21 this year,” Ballard said. “I hear all the time about the legacy Jim Poole left behind at Tech. Not just as a player, but as a person who impacted so many people on and off the field. He’s someone I strive to be more like every day. I’ll do everything I can to honor him and his family and to wear his number with pride.”
ABOUT JIM POOLE
Poole arrived on The Flats in 1985 and had an immediate impact, as Georgia Tech baseball would win the first of four-straight ACC Tournament Championships. During his four years, he pitched in 120 games and struck out 263 batters in 188 innings. He still ranks first in the Tech record book with 22 career saves, including 10 as a junior and nine as a senior. He was named all-ACC his last two seasons. Poole would be enshrined into the Georgia Tech Sports Hall of Fame just nine years later in 1997.
A stellar worker in the classroom, Poole elected not to turn professional after being selected in the 34th round of the 1987 MLB Draft by the LA Dodgers, and returned to Georgia Tech for his senior year, recording a 2.03 ERA and 113 strikeouts in only 71 innings. Once again, the LA Dodgers would call his name in the 1988 MLB Draft, this time taking him in the ninth round. He would return to graduate from the Institute with a degree in electrical engineering in 1990.
Poole played 11 years in the major leagues, predominantly with the Baltimore Orioles, Cleveland Indians, and San Francisco Giants. In 431 games played, he finished with 22 victories and a 4.31 ERA, as well as 256 strikeouts and four saves. He helped pitch Cleveland to two American League Championship Series (1995, 1998), making it to the 1995 World Series where he would face the Atlanta Braves.
Following his retirement at the end of the 2000 season, Poole returned to Georgia Tech to join the Alexander-Tharpe Fund as a fundraiser and supporter of the baseball program. He then began serving as the pitching coach at Johns Creek High School in 2010, teaching many young men about pitching mechanics, while also conveying his personal pitching philosophy.
He later joined the business world as a Personal Wealth Advisor for the Baseball Division of BIP Wealth.
After being diagnosed with ALS in 2021, Poole worked tirelessly to raise awareness for the disease. In addition to serving on MLB ALS boards, he also worked with Georgia Tech, who together hosted an ALS Awareness Day during the 2022 baseball season, with Tech wearing Jim Poole shirts and both teams wearing honorary wristbands. Professional players also wore the shirt. Tech later designated the number 21 each year to be worn by a student-athlete who exemplify Poole’s ideals – self-determination, a strong academic work ethic, and high moral fiber on and off the field.
Every 90 minutes, someone is diagnosed with ALS, or Lou Gehrig’s disease, with an estimated 30,000 people living with ALS in the United States at any given time. Primarily affecting people between the ages of 40 and 70, ALS is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord. There is no known cure.
For more information about ALS, visit www.ALS.org.
2026 Georgia Tech Baseball
Georgia Tech enters the 2026 season as a consensus Top-5 team with the most preseason All-Americans in the nation according to Perfect Game’s Preseason All-American list. The Jackets received four All-American nods, including being the only program in the nation with multiple players listed on the 1st Team: CF Drew Burress (1st Team), C Vahn Lackey (1st Team), 2B Jarren Advincula (2nd Team) and UTL Alex Hernandez (3rd Team).
2026 will be the first season for new Head Coach James Ramsey who has been serving as an assistant coach for the past seven seasons. Since Ramsey took over coaching the offense in 2019, Georgia Tech leads the ACC in batting average (.308), OPS (.918), OBP (.408), hits (3,961), doubles (796) and SAC Flies (208) and is second in runs (2,937), triples (84), home runs (547), RBI (2,709) and slugging (.510) with more to come in 2026.
First pitch for the highly anticipated 2026 season is scheduled for Friday, Feb. 13 at 4 p.m. when the Yellow Jackets host Bowling Green for a three-game series at Mac Nease Baseball Park at Russ Chandler Stadium.
2026 Season Tickets
Season tickets for Georgia Tech’s 2026 regular season home schedule, including five ACC home series and a collection of non-conference games, are on sale now. Visit ramblinwreck.com/tickets to purchase. For complete information on 2026 baseball tickets, including premium membership options, please visit the official Georgia Tech Baseball Tickets page.
2026 Single Game Tickets
Single game and mini plans for the 2026 regular season are on sale now featuring tickets for individual games and mini plans such as the Hattie B’s ACC Saturday Pack and the Midweek Pick ‘Em Plan. Purchase your tickets today to watch the defending ACC Regular Season Champions strive for more trophies in 2026!
Full Steam Ahead
Full Steam Ahead is a $500 million fundraising initiative to achieve Georgia Tech athletics’ goal of competing for championships at the highest level in the next era of intercollegiate athletics. The initiative will fund transformative projects for Tech athletics, including renovations of Bobby Dodd Stadium at Hyundai Field (the historic home of Georgia Tech football), the Zelnak Basketball Center (the practice and training facility for Tech basketball) and O’Keefe Gymnasium (the venerable home of Yellow Jackets volleyball), as well as additional projects and initiatives to further advance Georgia Tech athletics through program wide-operational support. All members of the Georgia Tech community are invited to visit atfund.org/FullSteamAhead for full details and renderings of the renovation projects, as well as to learn about opportunities to contribute online.
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