Meet Micah Owings! Micah is the new director of baseball operations with Gainesville High School baseball and the head coach of the Gainesville Gol’ Diggers, a team that is a member of the Sunbelt League. The Gol’ Diggers are a wooden bat league made up of college baseball players from Georgia, Florida and South Carolina.


They play their home games at Ivey Watson Field in Gainesville. For the third year, the Gol’ Diggers are hosting an Independence Day celebration at Ivey Watson Field on July 3rd with one of the biggest fireworks shows in the area, sponsored by Black Tower Studios.

“King of Pops is coming out, Downtown Drafts will have their trailer along with the Bucket ‘O Shrimp food truck,” Owings said. “The fireworks will start at dark and it’s $15 per car.”

Owings, who graduated from GHS in 2002, spent just two years playing for the Red Elephants but his impact was long-lasting. In his junior and senior baseball seasons Owings led GHS to state championships and was named Georgia Player of the Year and a first-team high school All-American by Baseball America and Collegiate Baseball. Owings played for his father’s alma mater, Georgia Tech and in 2004 he transferred to Tulane University. He spent six seasons in the Major Leagues after the Arizona Diamondbacks drafted him in the third round of the 2005 MLB June Amateur Draft.

Question: What is your favorite thing about Gainesville Hall County?
Answer: “I think it’s the people. When I was in Arizona my coaches would ask why I hadn’t bought a house yet, and I would say because this isn’t home.”

Q: What is your favorite restaurant in Hall County?
A: “For breakfast Longstreet and for dinner Luna’s.”

Q: If you could travel anywhere in the world right now, where would you go?
A: “I always have wanted to go to Australia, that is on my bucket list.”

Q: Favorite athlete or baseball player of all time?
A: “When I was a kid I always loved Greg Maddux as a pitcher and Frank Thomas as a hitter.”

Q: Where do you see yourself in five or 10 years?
A: “Right now, I just stepped into what I plan to be doing for a long time; this is my dream situation.”

Q: Where is one of the most beautiful places you’ve ever been?
A: “Anywhere in Montana, I lived there for a while and it is amazing.”

Q: What is something you have been proud to check off your bucket list?
A: “Being an uncle, I have 9 nephews and one neice.”

Q: Favorite go to music or favorite bands?
A: “I like Jason Aldean and Jeremy Camp is my favorite worship artist.”

Q: Who inspires you to be better?
A: “I can’t think of one person…I would have to say my parents and my mentor Chris Carpenter and my family.”