BELMONT, N.C. – All good things must come to an end.

For the No. 22 University of North Georgia (UNG) baseball team, the good thing that came to an end Saturday was the 2025 season.

After winning 40-plus games for the third time since 2008 and returning to the NCAA Division II Southeast Regional Tournament for the fourth time ever, the Nighthawks were eliminated in the 2025 NCAA Tournament after an 11-3 loss to third-seeded No. 12 Lenoir-Rhyne in Belmon, N.C. Saturday night.

"We just ran into a buzz saw today," said head coach Tom Cantrell after the game as he more so looked through the box score in front of him than at it. 

Cantrell's distant eyes displayed a man likely recalling the 26 years that led to this very moment, his last moment as the official head coach of North Georgia baseball.

The legendary head coach who amassed over 1,000 career wins is retiring now that the 2025 season is over. He leaves the Nighthawks baseball program not only better than he found it, but existent at all.

When Cantrell took the job back in 2000, he was tasked with restarting baseball at a school that had officially canceled the varsity sport a few years prior. 

From a swamp tucked inside the southwestern edge of historic Dahlonega rose Lynn Cottrell Park and Bob Stein Stadium. Out of the mud, Cantrell built and led a baseball program that made Saints, Nighthawks and everyone in between proud.

He would never say these things himself. Cantrell has maintained humility and deflected credit during his 26-year run as head coach of UNG. He always insists, "It's not about me, it's about them. It's about those players." 

Cantrell was not just the head coach of this program, he was the program. After deciding to step away from his duties prior to the 2025 season, Cantrell went out on a high note with one of the best seasons in program history. 

With a 41-17 overall record and a 23-4 mark in Peach Belt Conference play, the Nighthawks were crowned Champions of the PBC Regular Season for the fourth time ever. 

UNG's four losses against conference opponents are the fewest league losses in any NCAA season in program history. The Nighthawks never lost a conference series for the first time in program history and lost back-to-back games just once the entire year.

At the end of the regular season, Cantrell was named the 2025 PBC Coach of the Year for the fifth time in history. 

Along with Cantrell, UNG was recognized with the most all-conference selections of any school in the league as six players earned a spot on the two teams while junior center fielder Andrews Opata was named the 2025 Player of the Year and redshirt freshman Nicholas Stinson was designated as the 2025 Freshman of the Year.

Opata also made history for the Nighthawks this season when he crossed home plate 87 times, marking the third-most runs scored by one player in a single season in program history. He also stole 41 bases and was caught just twice, tallying the second-most swiped bags ever in a season.

The Lawrenceville, Ga. native was undoubtedly one of the best players in the country as his true "five-tool" ability and leadership guided UNG through the key stretches of the season. Like when he dove for an out in center field in Saturday's elimination game against second-seeded host and No. 14 Belmont Abbey (BAC), leading to a double play when the Crusaders appeared to be on the verge of scoring their first runs of the game. 

While Opata was one of the best all around players in 2025, right behind him was redshirt junior Phillip Ard who was one of the most talented hitters across the country.

Ard made history in Saturday's dominant, 8-2 win over the Crusaders to stave off elimination for the Nighthawks. His two-run homer in the fourth inning marked the 24th bomb this season. That number is the new record for the most dingers in a single year in North Georgia baseball history. 

Beyond that, the slugger was one of the most clutch hitters across the country as he averaged 1.72 RBIs per game which ranked second in the country. Ard brought in a staggering total of 98 runners in just 57 games this year. He finished the season ranked in the top 5 across the country in both home runs and RBIs.

With their backs against the wall Saturday, the Nighthawks had a tall task at hand. After losing the first game of the regional to LR 4-2 on Friday, they would need to win twice against BAC and the Bears to force an if game Sunday against LR. 

UNG completed the first step of that task with a sensational win over the Crusaders as redshirt sophomore starter Luke Earnhardt contributed the third outstanding pitching performance of the weekend. The lefty threw eight complete innings with eight scattered hits, two runs, three walks and five strikeouts. 

With Earnhardt recording his 10th start of six or more innings this season, UNG was comfortably set up to challenge the powerful bats of the Bears. However, the Nighthawks simply couldn't keep the ball in the yard as LR hit five home runs in total to contribute to an 11-3 win.

Just like that, UNG's historic season was over. 

"I'm proud of the young men for the way they competed all year, really. This group, I told them, I've never seen a group of young men that care about each other, love each other and play for each other as much as they did."

Some teams say they love each other. Other teams show they love each other. Those that were lucky enough to spend any amount of time with the 2025 UNG baseball team will understand the difference.

In the final season under their head coach, the Nighthawks put together a band of players that cared more about the guy next to them than themselves. That's rare these days. 

"I don't have any regrets. College athletics is hard. Playing sports is hard. But the expectations I put on young men [are] to not only be champions on the field but champions off the field," said a reflective Cantrell when thinking about his career. "This [feeling] is only going to last for a short time, but the things that they've learned will last them a lifetime."

"I'm thankful. That's the only way you need to be in this life anyway. I'm thankful for the opportunities that I've been blessed with and we'll go on to the next stage of life," said Cantrell in his closing remarks.

That next stage of life is right around the corner for both Cantrell and the baseball program he built over the last 26 years. Both have given Nighthawk Nation reason to be proud in that span. With the 2025 season now complete, proud of this team and its coach is the only thing any Nighthawk fan should be.