Houston County preparing for championship series
The chance to rest will come soon enough, and it will be welcomed.
Houston County’s baseball team, coaches and administration are facing a flurry of activity as the Bears prepare to host Loganville in the GHSA Class AAAAA baseball final series Monday and maybe Tuesday.
A schedule change didn’t come until fairly late Wednesday night, from 4 p.m. on Saturday to 4 p.m. on Mondaymoving the if-needed third game from Monday to Tuesday.
“Loganville has graduation on Friday night,” Houston County head coach Jason Brett said. “They were scared they were going to have rain issues. That would have pushed their time frame back to Saturday morning.”
Brett knew the feeling.
“It’s kind of similar to what happened to us when we played Whitewater a couple years ago,” he said of the championship series in 2014, which was won by the Bears on the road. “You had a graduation issue like we did, and Whitewater pushed it back for us.”
There are plenty of chances to play baseball but only one high school graduation.
“That’s an important time in these kids’ lives,” Brett said. “That’s the ultimate in high school. You’re getting your diploma.”
Loganville couldn’t finish its series at South Effingham until Wednesday because of poor weather. Houston County and Gainesville woke up Tuesday thinking the weather might have in impact in their series, but rain stopped early and the sun was out long before the first pitch at 6 p.m.
Loganville held on to beat South Effingham 5-3 in the third game, while Tanner Hall’s superb pitching effort keyed Houston County’s 2-0 win over Gainesville on Tuesday.
Changing the schedule will help Houston County prepare for a crowd likely to be five times larger than the normal playoff crowd. More than a half-dozen three-row risers had been placed down the left-field line Thursday, with more work to be done.
Concessions will expand, and more portable restrooms have been stationed.
Students on Monday are to park their cars behind the school, opening up parking lots in front of the school and on the west side near the baseball field.
Tickets are $10 for Monday’s doubleheader, and gates open at 2 p.m. There is a pre-sale at Houston County on Friday and Monday.
Houston County initially announced a parking fee of $5 on Wednesday but rescinded that on Thursday afternoon, thanks, Brett said, to help from the county school board.
The administration and staff have allowed Brett focus on the Bears and Red Devils.
“They’ve taken a lot of the load off me,” Brett said, citing school principal Doug Rizer and administrators Herbert Chambers, Jay Jones, Alyson Keenom and Melanie Moore, among others. “Our administration has been awesome.
“They started planning this stuff Monday. They didn’t tell me, because they know I’m superstitious.”
This story was originally published May 19, 2016 at 7:27 PM with the headline "Houston County preparing for championship series."