“There’s a lot of great teams right now, but then again, it’s who can get hot for three weeks,” Madison County coach Charlie Griffeth said.
That hasn’t been the Raiders in recent playoff appearances.
The program’s last postseason victory came in 2003 when Madison County downed Westlake in the rubber game of a first-round playoff series.
Since then, the Raiders have been swept in three straight playoff series, which amounts to a six-game losing streak in postseason play.
The Raiders, who fell 3-0 to Winder-Barrow in last Wednesday’s regular season finale, are preparing differently for this postseason.
Instead of intensifying workouts, Madison County is pulling back the reins a little bit.
“We kind of looked at that and backed off a little bit on the practice dates … just not as many days,” Griffeth said.
The Raiders — who are hosting a state playoff game at the new baseball field for the first time — will see if the relaxed method pays off against a Sprayberry club filled with veterans. The Yellow Jackets’ roster lists eight seniors and six juniors.
“They’re a senior-dominated team,” Griffeth said. “They’ve got seven or eight seniors, about all of them start.”
The Yellow Jackets finished third in their region with a 14-2 record, dropping down to Class AAAA this year.
Griffeth notes Sprayberry’s experience with larger classification competition.
“They know how to play the game, playing up there the Cobb County Class AAAAA league,” he said.
Sprayberry’s standouts include senior shortstop Jared Breen, “who can play,” Griffeth said, and ace pitcher Caden Ferguson, who Madison County will likely face in the opener.
Ferguson, a 6’2” 175-lb. lefty, throws in the low 80s and possesses a good breaking ball.
The Raiders have no history on the baseball diamond with Sprayberry — at least not in the last 20 years.
“Never even in a summer tournament,” Griffeth said.
Win or lose, Madison County enters the state tournament already having accomplished a lot.
The Raiders won 20 games for the second year in a row and earned a postseason bid out of a tough Region 8-AAAA.
All this despite losing their top two senior pitchers from last year’s team.
“Yeah, it was very satisfying,” Griffeth said, “back-to-back 20-win seasons when you lost your no. 1 and no. 2 (pitchers) from last year … so it was a very satisfying season,” Griffeth said.
•Winder-Barrow 3, MCHS 0 (April 29): The Raiders lost their final regular season game, falling to Winder-Barrow 3-0 on the road Wednesday.
Winder-Barrow went up 2-0 in the first inning with a two-run homer from Jeremy Donaldson and added an insurance score in the sixth inning.
