There’s a tradition in Minor League Baseball that resurfaces annually during the final games of the season. It’s commonly referred to as “playing all nine.”
The accomplishment consists of players bouncing around the diamond on the mission of playing all nine positions in the span of nine innings. In Georgia Tech’s 14-0 seven-inning victory over West Georgia on Tuesday night, Vahn Lackey nearly completed the feat.
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The junior, ranked the No. 12 prospect in the 2026 Draft per MLB Pipeline, primarily alternates between catcher and designated hitter for the Yellow Jackets, but head coach James Ramsey had a different plan for Lackey in his 112th game for the program.
"The word joy comes to mind when it comes to Vahn,” Ramsey told reporters after the game. “Since the day he stepped on campus, he’s helped change this place.”
As a way of honoring Lackey, Ramsey decided to replicate something he saw Buster Posey complete at Florida State.
“[Posey] was a guy that was great,” Ramsey said. “He was versatile, but he also had a huge future ahead of him.”
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Ramsey sees those same qualities in Lackey, which is why he wanted to celebrate his catcher by letting him play all nine -- starting at third base.
Lackey manned the hot corner for three outs without seeing a ball hit his way before moving across the diamond for the second inning.
In his new spot, Lackey got involved right off the bat. Leadoff batter Blake Bradford sent a ground ball back to Georgia Tech pitcher Dimitri Angelakos, which he fielded and tossed to Lackey for the out -- his lone action of the frame.
For the next two innings, Lackey journeyed to the outfield grass. He spent the third in left before splitting the fourth between right and center. After the mid-inning move, the baseball gods teased Lackey with a fly ball to right -- the position he had just moved from.
“I was kind of mad at the timing of it,” Lackey said after the game. “That could’ve been my ball, but I’ll take it, I guess.”
Lackey knocked out shortstop and second base in the fifth and sixth, once again making it through the frames without a ball coming his way. In the seventh, with fans chanting “let him pitch” throughout the stadium, he took his natural position behind the plate.
An additional wrinkle Lackey worked into his pursuit of playing all nine was nearly hitting for the cycle. After walking in the first, the Georgia native clubbed a triple to right field in the second. He checked two more boxes by roping a double down the left-field line in the third and mashing a two-run homer in the fifth -- his seventh of the season. Lackey fell short of the achievement after grounding into a fielder’s choice in the sixth.
When asked where the night ranked among his Georgia Tech memories, Lackey’s answer was quick.
“Probably the best night of my college career,” Lackey said.
Which is exactly what Ramsey had hoped for.