After losing the opening game of their season-ending series with Walnut Grove, Flowery Branch’s backs were certainly up against the proverbial wall if they were to snag a first round home playoff series.
But Falcons coach Dusty Black said he never wavered that his group would respond to having to sweep a doubleheader against the Warriors on Friday to make that happen. They rolled to 2-0 and 9-1 wins to secure the No. 2 seed from Region 8-5A.
“Our guys have always had confidence in their abilities and I think that showed last Friday when they weren’t fazed by the situation,” Black said. “It was good to see them come out and play our game.”
The Falcons (16-11) will need the same kind of effort against Jones County (21-5), who come into the opening round series at Hog Mountain Sports Complex riding a 7-game win streak.
For Gainesville, it was a similar scenario last week as they took on Johns Creek with an outside chance to win Region 7-5A. Instead, the Red Elephants (12-17) were swept by the Gladiators, dropping two games by 2-runs or less to finish third in the region.
A sluggish spring break and the flu that swept the dugout did not help. Gainesville coach Chan Brown is hoping they are back to 100 percent as they head to Woodstock to take on River Ridge (19-11) to open the Class 5A playoffs.
“We were playing very good baseball going into Spring break, but (the break) was not good to us,” Brown said. “We had eight cases of the flu going through the team, and we did not have a full team last week.
“But we have had a couple of good days of practice this week. Hopefully, the kids will show up and take care of the little things that we need to do for us to play well.”
The Falcons got superb pitching in the doubleheader as Javi Ojeda tossed a no-hitter and Riley Castaneda scattered three hits, combining for 15 strikeouts in the two games. Throw in Jacob Miller, and the Falcons have a starting staff that can contend with anyone.
“Starting pitching is always important when you get to the playoffs. Having three guys that have shown that all year, it’s a little less stress and much more optimism about how they are going to perform.,” Black said.
At the plate, Ojeda, Jackson Freeman, and Antonio De La Torre Mariscal have had tremendous seasons, combining for 30 doubles, 8 home runs, and 92 RBI.
“Those three guys have had a great year, but we don’t rely on one person or group to win games,” Black said. “We will need everyone to do their jobs and pick someone else up when (needed).”
The Red Elephants will be big underdogs against the Knights on the road but Brown said the key will be just doing the little things.
“We cannot give them bases in the freebie war,” he said. We need to make them earn what they get and not walk (anyone) or make errors. We must execute what we do offensively -- bunts and timely hitting -- and just play the game as hard as we can.”
The Falcons won’t be the only ones at home on Wednesday. Buford, the Region 8-6A champion, will open their three-game series with Region 2 No. 4 seed Chapel Hill at Gerald McQuaig Field.
(See below for the full schedule for Wednesday.)
BASEBALL 1st ROUND PLAYOFF SCHEDULE, Wednesday, April 23
(All series are best-of-3 at site of higher-seeded team)
(Doubleheaders)
Class 6A
Chapel Hill (Region 2, Seed 4) at Buford (R8, S1), 4 p.m.
Class 5A
Gainesville (R7, S3) at River Ridge (R6, S2), 4 p.m.
Habersham Central (R7, S3) at Lee County (R2, S2), 4 p.m.
Class 4A
Jones County (R2, S3) at Flowery Branch (R8, S2), 4:30 p.m.
East Forsyth (R8, S3) at Union Grove (R2, S2), 4:30 p.m.
Class A D2
Irwin County (R2, S3) at Towns County (R8, S2), 5 p.m.
