The series between Winder-Barrow High School and Loganville, on paper at least, offers fans everything they could hope for.
With a region championship and a No. 1 seed for the AAAA state tournament at stake, the Bulldoggs and Red Devils will meet in a best of three series beginning Thursday. As the 2011 season progressed, there was really little doubt these would be the teams vying for the top spot.
In their regular season matchup, LHS managed a one-run lead after scoring the go-ahead run in the seventh inning. Two great teams were simply playing a great game. It’s what high school baseball at the highest level is all about.
Coach Jeff Segars has built somewhat of a dynasty at LHS. I covered the Red Devils for several seasons and Segars has only made his program even stronger since that time, including a coveted state title.
It has gotten to the point where LHS is going to be the preseason favorite in the region. It seems it’s only become a question of which team is going to challenge the king of the hill.
This year that team is WBHS. Coach Brian Smith and his troops have had another stellar season, losing only to Loganville in 8-AAAA play. Quality players are abundant on both teams and those who attend this series will get to see high school baseball at its finest. Neither team really has a weakness and as the 2011 season has progressed, that has become more than evident.
Both coaches take similar approaches with their programs. Both are somewhat low key and aren’t the types to be tossed from games for arguing with umpires and aren’t the type of coaches who chew players out or yell at them during games.
Will it be easy for the Diamond Doggs to win this series? Of course not. Yet, it also won’t be a cakewalk for the Red Devils either. Both teams are too talented and have many players who will be competing at the next level a year from now or perhaps playing for pay.
The games will be the kind where every out will be important. You don’t want to give your opponent an inch in a series of this nature. If you do, they can take it and go a mile.
In talking with Coach Smith early Monday morning, I asked him if something other than pitching, hitting or defense would decide the series. I was hoping for some type of insight into the series.
Perhaps Smith would share some baseball insider secret with me.
“No, those are the things the series will come down to,” Smith said. “We have to be able to deliver in all of those areas. If we do, then we will have a chance. Loganville is very good and has been for some time. Hopefully, this will be our chance to take another step up with our program.”
The battle for king of the hill should be fun to watch. What more could you really ask for?
Chris Bridges is sports editor of the Barrow Journal. You can reach him at cbridges@barrowjournal.com.
