After winning state title, Houston County in full rebuilding mode

The numbers are new for Houston County’s baseball team.

For one, the Bears have already lost two more games than they did all of last year.

Last week, they were lumbering around with a 5-11 record, having played a few more games than last year at the same point. And a year ago to the day Friday, they were 12-5.

Certainly there was going to be some solid rebuilding necessary for the 2016 GHSA Class 5A champs.

They lost the All-Middle Georgia Player of the year, Tanner Hall, plus now-at-Georgia Tony Locey (for baseball) and Jake Fromm (for football).

They lost D.L. Hall, who transferred to Valdosta for his senior year, and outfielder Blake Dawson and reliever Tyler Flewellyn, among others.

“And we have four innings back,” head coach Jason Brett said.

Chandler Ring is that “experienced” pitcher. Outfielder Austin Hittinger is the lone pure everyday player back from last year’s 29-9 team, although catcher Lawson Trawick, infielder Cole Simmons and designated hitter Austin Langford got a fair share of innings and at-bats.

The infield and starting pitching staff are underclassmen. There is a fair number of seniors, but it’s not a terribly experienced senior class.

The Bears carry an 8-11 record into Friday’s home doubleheader (first pitch is 4:30 p.m.) against Valdosta. Both teams are 3-1 in Region 1-6A play.

“(8-11) is not where we expect to be, by any means,” Brett said. “But the level of competition that we’ve played has also been good, some national competition.

“We’re just young, and I did us no favors by scheduling the hardest schedule in America.”

To think the team equals the record might be unwise for opponents.

The Bears of a year ago lost 10-0 in back-to-back games in mid-March, to McEachern and Parkview, and played a serious schedule.

And again, Houston County loaded up the schedule for 2017 with powerful teams from inside Georgia and outside. The newer and younger Bears actually have fared better competitively, if not record-wise.

They lost 2-1 to Hewitt-Trussville, Alabama, 4-1 to Sparkman, Alabama — both elite teams in that state — and 9-5 to Brookwood, plus 8-4 to Walton and 2-1 to Winder-Barrow.

Winder-Barrow is No. 21 in Perfect Game’s latest national poll and Walton is No. 28, while Sparkman and Hewitt-Trussville have been nationally ranked.

The Bears did better record-wise during the stretch against big-time competition last year but were actually more competitive this year. They have quality wins over East Paulding, LaGrange and Veterans.

“When we were losing, it got a little frustrating, especially when we were playing these good teams and we’re losing by one, two, three runs,” said Hittinger, who leads the Bears with a .345 average. “Just had to fix up some errors, mental errors and errors on the field and win a few ballgames.”

But even at 5-11 a week ago, the Bears had confidence, based on the big picture rather than just the record.

“I think we’re we’re a good baseball team,” Brett said. “Our baseball, from day one to today, is night and day.”

Hittinger said the patience is starting to pay off.

“I feel like we’re in good shape coming into region play,” he said. “It’s kinda like we’re playing possum. They’ll look at the record and they don’t really look at the way we’ve played.

“We’re a good ball team all the way around.”

So far, they’re proving themselves right. They took two from Coffee last weekend by a 23-3 count and topped Warner Robins on Tuesday. They were 1-4 in their first five games and are 4-1 in their past five.

Ring, Cam Jones and Chandler Dawson are the starting pitchers, and each has an ERA below 2.70.

The offense again doesn’t have much power — only two home runs, which is one short of last year’s team at this point — but has balance with three regulars above .300 and five more between .270 and .300.

Houston County has a .908 fielding percentage, a drop below last year’s .947, but not surprising with so many new position players.

Jacob Profit has been a surprising spark, surprising because he’s a freshman playing second and leading off.

“He’s a ballplayer,” Hittinger said. “He’s making the routine plays, getting in the box with purpose, getting on base.”

That might sum up this year’s Bears, a team without the firepower and headliners but with players just playing.

“We knew we’d have struggles because we were young, but we also expect to compete,” Brett said. “Our expectations, it doesn’t matter who we put out there, we expect to be one of the best teams in the state.

“(8-11) is obviously not that, but we compete that way. It’s about developing guys and getting ready for the playoffs.”

This story was originally published March 30, 2017 at 5:52 PM with the headline "After winning state title, Houston County in full rebuilding mode."