To be the man, You have to beat the man

I have taken a week or so off and now am back. I have gone to many high school baseball games and have drawn the conclusion I didn't think I would. To take a line from one of the great wrestlers of all time Ric Flair "to be the man you have to beat the man." And that holds true for even sports on the high school level. As i was going through the season I thought that Brookwood would be a little down after losing all those great players from last year's championship. If you remember they made it to the final four the year before and then won it all last year. This year they returned Ronnie Freeman, Michael Brown and Matt Adams but that was it as far as major contributors. And then you look at Wesleyan and they only returned a handful of players from last year's championship team. But both are back in the final four.
And in my opinion, which Blogs are just that, opinions, I think both have great shots at winning a title again.
Brookwood went down to a familiar place in East Coweta. The Indians were looking for revenge again. This is the third time the teams have met in the playoffs and for the third time the Bronco's bucked the Indians right out of the playoffs. Cam Bedrosian was 10-0 on the year. If you look at the kid's record over the last few years he only has 3-4 losses and all have been to Brookwood except one or two. Again I say, to be the man you have to beat the man and these Brookwood and Wesleyan teams will not be easy to eliminate.
I watched two dominant games with Wesleyan and Schley County. The Wildcats came into the series with a great 24-5 record and had simply destroyed all their opponents but then they ran into Devin Stanton and Drew Fithian. These two guys only gave up 2 hits together in 14 innings. I can sum it up in one word....Domination. They just dominated. All I have to say about both teams making it back to the final four is this....Gwinnett County is strong in all sports and that will continue because they will all reload and not rebuild. There are too many people in this county and the good ones will go to the places where winners are. So I may be writing this same kind of blog next season too. But for now, Good luck Wolves and Bronco's. We're pulling for you.

South Georgia North Georgia debate

Well it's that tme of year again and the debate never ends. Who has thebetter spors South Georgia or North Georgia. Well here is my opinion and having lived and seen both, I will give an unbiased opinion. Yes I am in the North Georgia part of the state but I lived in Augusta and Perry for many years and traveled all over south Georgia to see many good athletes.
I remember living in Augusta and remember Mike Kelly the former Georgia Tech star fom Westside Augusta. I remember Eddie Lee Ivory from Thompson who set many records at Tec. I remember covering Rod Ladd and Robert Shannon from Vienna and Shannon from Jakson. Then I covered other guys from south of Macon and believe me these guy were special. Lakista McCullers played at N.C. State and many compared him to MJ. Called him Baby Jordan. However, the North part of Georgia has produced some good ones that I have seen as well.
How about Stinchcomb's from Parkview, Quincy Carter and all the Southwest Dekalb guys. What about Jamal Lewis or Brandon Philips or Chris Neson or Jermaine Phillips. Remember Ezra Williams from Marietta or even Eric Zeier from Marietta. So the debate continues. But I would say that keep on debatng because for everyone you tell me about from the souhern part of Georgia we can find one from the Northern part of Georgia.
If you ask me, we are tied and will continue to be tied. Granted it runs in cycles but for now I feel the North is a little ahead but the south is close behind. But isn't it fun to debate it. With these high school playoffs going on now, let's see who takes the most crowns and that could determine the leader...for now.

Let the Playoffs Begin

Well Gwinnett County will be well represented in the state baseball playoffs. We have seven AAAAA teams in the tournament to go along with two AA/A teams. I will break down first the AAAAA teams and the matchups as I have seen all 8 teams that qualified including South Forsyth, who won region 7-AAAAA. Yes they are good. But the time i saw them, they were beatable. They got beat at Turner Field by Mill Creek. I really thought Mill Creek was the best team in the region and they came in fourth. That was amazing. They will have to go to South Gwinnett to play coach Steve Teschner's South Gwinnett Comets. This should be a great series. I hate to see either team lose. I will break it down. In game one it will probably be Matthew Grimes vs. Nick Blount on the mound. Blount throws hard and is an outstanding hitter while Grimes is a hard thrower that can mix it up. Watch for a tough 3-2 victory by South. Then Sean Handlan should battle Jake Adcock. Handlan is a great player that can give you a strong 5 innings with Kevin Caldwell coming in to sew it up. But i think Mill Creek bounces back to take a close 3-2 win and even the series at 1-1. That leaves Caldwell to start game three and I feel this might be where South comes out on top. Great first round matchup with South eeking out a 4-3 win to win the series 2-1.
In a matchup of 2 vs. 3 you got Parkview vs. North Gwinnett. This is a great series too and I think Wyatt Brown edges Parkview starter Zack Olsen in game one. And then in game two North squeezes by as well to win that series. Brandon Jacobs is pitched around for the most part and I feel the depth of the Bulldogs will prevail. The other 2 vs. 3 is Collins Hill vs. defending state champ Brookwood and Collins Hill beat them earlier this year 4-2. However, Brookwood improved and they are the defending champs. I love Collins Hill's team and I think it will go three games. That third game could be pivotal as Collins Hill is loaded with pitchers. That's where the defending champs should take it on the chin.
That leaves Grayson, the 4-seed battling No. 1 ranked South Forsyth. Well let's say they will go three games as well and as much as I hate it, that team is strong. South Forsyth in a squeeker. I hope I am wrong on that one. Good luck teams. We'll catch up to the rest of the county in the next blog. i am excited. As they say, "Let the Games Begin."