College hurler Thornburg honors Eastpoint youth

The Charleston Southern baseball team recently visited Florida State University for a two-game series and Tyler Thornburg, son of St. George Island residents Mike and Dottye Thornburg, a two-way player for CSU, invited over 20 guests to see the game and to meet him and some of his teammates.

The group from Eastpoint United Methodist Church, along with Pastor Beth White, included some of the players on the Franklin County Little League 9-10 year old All Star Team and their coaches Michael Gilbert and Lanny Rester. The All Star Team is playing in the Little League State Tournament in Sebring, after recently winning their district tournament in Wewahitchka.

The kids went down onto the field after the game and had their picture taken with Tyler, who gave all of the kid’s a brand new Big South Baseball autographed by him. The youth group said it was one of their most exciting field trips.

Thornburg, a 5’11”, 190-pound junior right-handed pitcher and outfielder, was one of CSU’s top two-way standouts this season, earning Big South 2nd team All-Conference honors. He started 12 games on the mound, posting a 5-4 record and a 4.14 ERA. He notched CSU’s first win of the season Feb. 21 against VCU, striking out 10 batters in six innings, and then took down Holy Cross March 6, fanning six batters in 6.2 innings.

Thornburg scored his biggest victory of the season March 14, going the distance in a 6-3 win over sixth-ranked Florida, striking out 11 Gators in the game, while allowing three runs on seven hits.

He also played in 39 games as a position player, batting .252 with seven home runs and 18 RBI, and scored 20 runs and stole two bases. Thornburg finished the season with 24 career home runs, fourth most in CSU history.