Playoff baseball begins this weekend and the Belgreen Bulldogs, who finished runner-up in Class 1A Area 14, are one of the teams looking to make their mark in the postseason.
Coming out of a series loss to area rival and No. 6 Hackleburg (the Bulldogs handed the Panthers one of their six losses this season), Belgreen entered the week with an 11-11 overall record this season against opponents from a variety of classifications, not just 1A. Belgreen head coach Nathan Vincent said the schedule was set up to prepare his team for the kind of baseball they will be facing this weekend when they travel to Pell City to face Victory Christian School.
“Throughout the season we played some bigger schools. We played some 2A, 3A, 4A teams to see how we competed against them and against the pitching,” Vincent said.
That experience against tougher competition will help the Bulldogs in their attempt to make a postseason run, but this season’s schedule is not the only experience Belgreen will be able to tap into. Friday’s doubleheader will mark four straight playoff appearances for the Bulldogs. Although Vincent said he has a relatively young team, most of his players have already gotten a taste of the postseason.
“I think I’ve got four eighth graders starting and then I’ve got a mix of a few seniors and a few juniors, so we’re still pretty young but I’ve got pretty much the same team as last year minus just a few,” he said. “The seniors now this will be their fourth year of playoff experience…and the eighth graders now I’ve got three that played on the playoff team last year, so they know how it is and they know what it’s all about.”
Vincent said the Bulldogs have improved their game in many areas since the beginning of the season, but he’s been impressed with the performances of his pitching staff this season. A bulk of the work has gone to a trio of upperclassmen—Will King, Alex Guidry and Landon Cox have all pitched over 30 innings—but younger players have put in innings on the mound, as well.
“I’ve got two seniors and one junior that have pitched a majority of the season and the rest of the innings have been eighth graders, so it’s been a learning experience for them and they’ve done a really good job,” Vincent said. “We’ve played some bigger schools and they’ve pitched against those bigger schools to get them ready for the playoffs.”
“We’re probably a hitting team, but (the pitchers) have done a good job of coming in and working every day,” he added.
A pair of tune up games against Brilliant on Monday and Tuesday are all that remained on Belgreen’s regular season schedule, but the focus for the Bulldogs is now on its round one series against Victory Christian.
“Last year we got beat by the reigning state champions, Appalachian, obviously a really good team. I think it was good to play them,” Vincent said. “This year going into the playoffs we’ve got another year of experience. We’ve just got to make the routine plays, throw strikes, have an approach at the plate and be ready to go. At this point it’s win or go home, but I think we’re excited about the opportunity and we’ll be ready to play.”
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