The Palestine Herald
May 07, 2008 01:00 pm
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By SALLY SEXTON
H-P Sports Writer
GRAPELAND — New season, same situation.
After sweeping Cushing in last year’s Class A-Region III area playoff series, the Grapeland Sandies find themselves matching up with the Bearkats yet again in this season’s area playoff round.
The teams will play in a best-of-three game series with the first game at 7 p.m. Thursday at Whitehouse High School and the second game will be at the same time and location Friday night. If necessary, the third game will be played Saturday.
Cushing defeated LaPoynor in two games in the bi-district round to advance. Grapeland had a first-round bye after winning the district title.
“We played them last year and we know they are going to be solid and put the ball in play,” Grapeland head coach Wes Padgett said. “I think it’s going to be a pretty high-scoring game and we’re going to have to have good defense.”
The Sandies’ defense has not had much of a test this season, with Grapeland’s pitchers averaging close to two strikeouts per inning.
“When our pitching is on, we play really well but there have been some games where it wasn’t so it could really go either way,” Padgett said.
Tony Taylor, who has an ERA of 1.848 and 79 strikeouts, and Jared Murray, who has an ERA of 1.885 and 101 strikeouts, will get the starts in the first and second games.
“The key is going to be throwing strikes and making the other team hit pitches so we can get ahead and dictate,” Padgett said. “My main concern is fielding the ball and making defensive plays with pressure. That’s something we haven’t really had to do in district this year.”
Though Grapeland (18-6) will have a freshman behind the plate after the graduation of Ethan Owens last year, Padgett still has confidence in his team’s abilities.
“I still feel decent about holding runners, as we long as we can limit passed balls and wild pitches,” the Grapeland coach said. “The team that can settle down and play their game is going to be the team that wins.”
And the Sandies just may be a little better with that because of experience, reaching the regional semifinals last year before falling to Carlisle.
“I hope that last year’s experience would help but every season brings a little something different,” Padgett said.
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Sally Sexton can be reached via e-mail at sports2@palestineherald.com
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