CALEDONIA — Cody Allsup and Brandon Darling wanted to make a statement in their senior year.
After missing out on the playoffs earlier in their career, Allsup and Darling have teamed this season to be a potent 1-2 punch for the Caledonia High School baseball team.
Allsup will get the starting nod at 7 tonight when Caledonia plays host to Itawamba Agricultural High in game one of the best-of-three Mississippi High School Activities Association Class 4A North State playoff series.
Game two of the series will be Saturday in Fulton, followed by an if-needed game.
“I think the seniors have stepped up this year,” said Allsup, who has been selected to play in the NEMCABB All-Star game for seniors. “We decided that this was our year to make the playoffs.
Allsup and Darling lead the Confederates (16-9) with 5-2 records. Allsup has a 1.51 ERA and has struck out 49 and walked only five in 41 2/3 innings, while Darling has a 3.41 ERA and has 36 strikeouts and 17 walks in 41 innings.
Combined with Ryan Unruh, Caleb Brown, and closer Montana Jacobs, coach John Wilson has quality depth in his pitching staff.
Allsup earned the victory in a 1-0 win against Louisville on March 20. He said he felt after that game the team had the chance to realize its goal of making the playoffs. Looking back to the start of the season, Allsup said everything has come together.
“We have fielded the ball better than last year, and we have four or five pitchers step up,” Allsup said. “I think our hitting still can come together. If that can come together, I think we can really do something good in the playoffs.”
Darling said the Confederates have worked hard to get back to the playoffs. He said the team no longer goes easy at practice and is focused on not being satisfied with just making the playoffs. He feels the seniors have set an example he hopes carries over to future classes.
“Every day we tell them you need to do this to get better and you need to work hard and we need to strive to get better every day,” Darling said. “We have lifted the upperclassmen up to start varsity and they have listened to us. They have listened to us and have strived to get better.”
Wilson said the team has reached the postseason in spite of the fact is has three sophomores up the middle in key positions. He said a lot of players, including Brown (team-leading .368 batting average), Trey Lancaster, Nathan Kendrick, and Jeremy Reed-Wood, have contributed and that the team has relied on pitching and defense to stay competitive in a tough district that includes Kosciusko and Houston.
“Last year, we started to establish what we’re doing now in my first year,” Wilson said. “It was a struggle to get them to do it, but they have bought into the little routine we do. If you watch our practice, there is no one standing around, and we get a lot accomplished in two hours.
“Last year, the 12 or 13 games we lost, we had the lead or were ahead in the fifth inning. That hasn’t happened to us this year. Mentally, there is more there and we are getting more out of them.”
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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