Sports

Can Eagles soar to state title game?

• The Terrell Academy baseball team will have a much clearer idea how much longer it can continue its amazing 2008 run today when the Eagles host Flint River for the right to advance to the GISA Class A state championship game.

Derek Barichello

DAWSON — Three transfer players, a new head coach and pressure to still win could have been a recipe for disaster for the Terrell Academy baseball team this season.

But one players-only meeting called by the seniors changed all that.

“Everyone was arguing about playing time and who's better at what positions,” Eagles senior center fielder Chris Dean said. “We had that meeting and the seniors spoke up and said, ‘No more complaining.’ We've been at the top of our game ever since.”

And the timing could not have been more perfect.

The meeting took place just before the state playoffs and what

followed was an Eagles team that went on to win four games in a row by a margin of 66-10.

Today, the top-seeded Eagles (18-3), who will be playing in their first Final Four since 2003 and bring in the No. 1 ranking in the GISA Class Coaches’ Poll, will try to keep the good vibes flowing as they host Region 4, No. 1 Flint River Academy (14-4) at 3:30 p.m. with a championship bid on the line.

“Everyone has come together in the playoffs,” Dean said. "I think we have good enough chemistry to win it all."

That team chemistry came about because the Eagles were willing to put their personal issues aside to win a state championship.

"We all have the same goal," said Eagles cleanup hitter Gil Brown, who is a transfer from Lee County, while the other two newcomers were No. 3 hitter Amp Landrum and catcher Will Griffin, both of whom came from Sherwood Christian Academy. "Wherever we came from, we had the drive to win instilled in us."

Along with the drive to win, the Eagles believe they can go as far as their ability to drive a baseball.

So far in the playoffs, they have hit .525 (53-101) and have an on-base percentage of .628 (85-137). Though those statistics have come against sub-par pitching (both Eagles playoff opponents pitched eighth-graders at one point or another), Terrell Academy has reason to believe it can keep putting up those big numbers.

"We've seen better pitching in the regular season, and we hit it just as good, if not better," said Landrum, who leads the team in the playoffs with 8 RBI. "I think the better the pitching gets, the better we play. And we'll see that kind of pitching this week."

First-year head coach Dwayne Suggs, who coached junior varsity at Lee County last season, is not surprised with the offensive output, since it is one of the things he stressed since the beginning.

"We do something with hitting everyday," Suggs said. "We knew we'd have to put runs up on the board."

Putting up those tallies will be a more challenging task today as the Eagles will see a lethal 1-2 combination at pitching from Flint River.

Last weekend's Game 1 Wildcats starter Jay Hamlett pitched seven innings, allowed one run without a walk and struck out 12 against Thomas Jefferson, while Game 2 starter Chet Harris recorded a shutout with 10 strikeouts.

The Wildcats' aces remind Suggs of another more familiar Wildcats team.

"They are like (Brett) Shiver and (Clark) Phelps at Westwood," said Suggs, whose Eagles defeated Westwood in two meetings this season 9-5 and 12-10 as Westwood split with David Emanuel in the other Final Four series— meaning the two local Southwest Georgia teams could meet for the state title if both win. "(Flint River’s) whole team reminds me of them. With that 1-2 punch at pitching, and an OK lineup with a few guys that can hurt, and the speed on the base paths. It'll be a tough game."

Adversely, Suggs' biggest concern is his pitching and their control as his Eagles vie for their first championship since 1980. Despite a deep staff with six pitchers to choose from, the Eagles will probably see the best lineup they faced all season today.

"If we don't walk folks, we'll be fine," Suggs said. "We have a deep staff, so I'm not going to wait for anyone to throw strikes."

Facing their biggest challenge yet, the Eagles have put the past behind them and only have one thing on their minds.

"All that other stuff is over with," Eagles pitcher Brady Copeland said. "Coach Suggs has prepared us, we have good leadership, we're playing good baseball. We're just trying to win."

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