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The Troup baseball team will be playing for a state championship next Tuesday. One of the key players leading the Tigers has been Torreion Delaney. The junior outfielder continues to elevate his game and subsequently elevate the Tigers as well.

“This team is a brotherhood,” he said. “I’ve been playing with most of these guys my entire life. The bond we share is super tight.”

There have been a plethora of memorable moments for Delaney and the Tigers this season, but none stand out quite like game one in the Sweet 16 of the state playoffs. After letting a big lead slip away, the Tigers earned a walk-off win when Delaney stole home with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning.

“I just saw the catcher on his knees just casually lobbing it to the pitcher and knew that this was my opportunity,” Delaney said after that win on May 1. “I was worried a little bit, but I was so locked in that I was just in that moment and wasn’t thinking about anything else.”

The Tigers rode that momentum into game two and advanced into the Final 4. Delaney also had a big hand in that series as well. The junior led the team with two hits and two RBIs in the winner-take-all game three victory that saw the Tigers advance to the state championship series.

“When Brady (Willis) hit that walk-off, I lost it,” Delaney said. “I jumped over the rail on the dugout and almost fell on my face.”

Delaney’s rise has been a grind. Never the biggest player on the diamond, Delaney has had to work extremely hard to get to where he is today.

“I really focused in after my freshman year on getting bigger, stronger and faster,” Delaney said. “I really had to put in the work to get a starting spot.”

Growing up, Delaney was the definition of a multi-sport athlete. If Delaney wasn’t on the diamond, he was on the basketball courts or the gridiron. Eventually, those other sports fell away, and Delaney focused on baseball.

Letting go of basketball after his freshman season was especially hard.

“My mom really didn’t want me to let basketball go, but we talked and finally came to an agreement,” he said. “I really think it was the best decision for me to focus on baseball.”

Delaney’s decision paid off as he earned a starting outfield spot heading into his sophomore season.

In the past, Delaney was a middle infielder, but his athleticism and versatility have allowed him to play just about anywhere on the diamond.

“When I was really young, I was a shortstop, and then I moved to second base, and then last year, they put me in the outfield,” Delaney said. “I’m an athlete, I can play anywhere.”

When Delaney puts on the Troup jersey, it just means more to him. His mother is an alum, and he cannot imagine putting on a jersey in any color other than blue and gold.

“I take great pride in going to this school,” he said. “My family has always been Troupers.

“My mom wouldn’t have let me go anywhere else,” Delaney added, laughing. “I bleed blue and gold.”