When the Columbus High School baseball team beat Starkville in back-to-back games to open region play, it never thought its playoff hopes would partly hinge on what its rival would do in today”s regular-season finales.
The Falcons (12-12, 2-6 Class 6A, Region 2) haven”t won a league game since beating the Yellow Jackets (9-11, 2-6) on March 25.
Since then, the Falcons have gone 3-8 and have been outscored 73-16 in six straight region losses.
All Columbus needs at 6 tonight at Sammy Fletcher Field is a win against Tupelo (22-1), which is undefeated (8-0) in region play.
Columbus could clinch the third playoff spot from the four-team region with a loss if Starkville loses at 4 p.m. today at South Panola, which locked up second place with a 10-8 win against Columbus on April 15.
If Columbus and Starkville win, Columbus would advance to the playoffs because of it holds the tiebreaker.
The Falcons haven”t made the playoffs under coach Jeff Cook.
“We lost a couple of games we should have won against South Panola,” Cook said. “I thought we played our worst game of the year against Starkville (12-0 loss on April 12), and that was the most frustrating part. But the kids are confident, and we feel like we”re ready to take care of business.”
If form is an omen of things to come, Starkville has an upper hand having won five of its last eight, including a 5-3 against South Panola.
Starkville”s biggest problem this season has been its on-and-off hitting, which saw the Yellow Jackets collect 39 hits in three straight games prior to scoring just three runs in their past two games.
Starkville is coming off a 2-1 win against Meridian and will start senior Garrett Batson (2-2, 3.00 ERA) at South Panola. He has allowed just five earned runs in his past three starts (17 innings), and has pitched six or more innings in three of his past four starts.
As well as Batson has been on the mound in the home stretch, Starkville can”t afford to have another sluggish night at the plate. The Yellow Jackets failed to score in Batson”s starts against South Panola and Tupelo.
“You go back and look at all the stuff that”s been negative about this year as far as not getting hits when we needed them,” Carlisle said, “we”ve done it to ourselves by leaving men on base. We”ve had the bases loaded 12 times — with multiple at-bats — in division play but have only gotten one hit. We had bases loaded against Columbus five times and didn”t get a hit. We had them loaded in the fifth, sixth, and seventh against Tupelo and didn”t get a hit.
“For all the things that have gone wrong, a win tomorrow can make a lot of them right.”
Columbus will send No. 1 pitcher Christian Dale to the mound tonight. On Saturday, Dale committed an error at shortstop and threw a wild pitch in the top of the seventh that allowed Caledonia to tie the game at 3. He then added a key hit in extra innings to help the Falcons escape with a 4-3 win.
Cook hopes to get a strong start, preferably five or more innings, from Dale as Columbus still battles injuries to Trace Lee (foot) and Nick Durrah (minor pectoral strain). Durrah has pitched just two innings since a loss to Starkville on April 12.
“In both games against Tupelo, with our top-tier pitching in, games have been close,” Cook said. “It wasn”t until we went to our bullpen, without our No. 2 and No. 3 guys, that teams have started to pull away.”
Cook said Hunter Mullis will be the first option out of the bullpen, but didn”t rule out using second baseman Dylan Patel, who pitched 6 2/3 innings and gave up just two hits against Caledonia. The only problem with taking Patel away from second base is not having a trusted backup to replace him — the reason he hasn”t pitched much this season.
“I think the guys have been frustrated by the lack of pitching we”ve had and the injuries we”ve dealt with on the staff,” Cook said. “But Christian is our guy, and this is a big-time game. Hunter is ready, too. We feel confident any time Christian is on the mound.”
Tupelo and South Panola will play a role in deciding the region”s third playoff team. Both squads have locked up playoff spots, and South Panola will open the postseason Thursday. Tupelo has a first-round bye and won”t begin postseason play until April 29.
Through that scenario, Tupelo is more likely to throw its No. 1 or No. 2 pitcher, JD Roberts or Cody Shrewsbury.
“They”re like us, they”ve got everybody ready if they decide to do that,” Carlisle said of South Panola. “They might throw off (use a third or fourth pitcher), you never know. I know if I was in their shoes, I”d throw off. Not trying to be ugly or anything, but they”re in the playoffs as a No. 2 (seed), so why would you burn your No. 1 or No. 2 arm, or even their three pitcher? You got to play three ballgames. But, by the same token, I hope Tupelo does the same thing.”
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