STARKVILLE — Archrivals Starkville Academy and Heritage Academy have played each other in numerous sporting events through the years.
However, one would be hard-pressed in recent memory to find a more important baseball game than the one scheduled for 6 tonight in the opener of a best-of-three series in the semifinal round of the Mississippi Association of Independent Schools Class AAA, Division II playoffs at Trip Carson Field in Columbus. The series winner will play next week for the state championship.
Starkville Academy will play host to game two at 5 p.m. Thursday. An if-needed game three would follow.
“This is the first time in the baseball playoffs for any of us out here,” Starkville Academy senior pitcher outfielder Ryan McKell said. “Everybody is excited. I think this is going to be a real good time.”
The Volunteers (21-9) finished as the top seed in the South Division. They are back in the playoffs for the first time since 2006.
“There is a lot of excitement and I hope we can perform to the best of our abilities,” Starkville Academy junior pitcher/outfielder Hunter Bolin said. “We don’t want to be tense or scared because it is the playoffs. We just want to do what we have been doing. Our mind-set is to go out there and treat it like another series. Go out there, relax, have fun, and embrace it.”
Starkville Academy coach Neal Henry has been preaching patience in practice this week. While he feels his squad is ready for the next step, Henry wants to approach the series as simply more games against a quality opponent.
“We are treating (tonight) like another baseball game, nothing more and nothing less,” Henry said. “The situation is amped up on its own because it is a playoff game and against a rival. However, I have a lot of confidence in my kids. I want them to go in there and play as a team and for us to do what we do. I think we will be ready.”
The fact that it is a rival in the other dugout won’t lost on either team. In one of the better area prep games of the season, Starkville Academy took a 4-3 win against Heritage Academy (18-12) on Feb. 20 in Columbus. That contest was the lone regular-season matchup between the squads.
“Playing a big game against your rival is what makes it really fun,” Starkville Academy senior first baseman Alex Holtcamp said. “It will be a real good series, because they have a great team. We beat them by one run the last time. Hopefully, we can add some more runs to it this time, so there won’t be nervousness in the end.”
If there is nervousness, the Volunteers may be in their element. Starkville Academy has won 10 times by one or two runs this season. A year ago, the Volunteers lost six district games by two runs or less.
“Our pitching staff has done a great job of keeping us in ballgames this year,” Henry said. “Our pitching staff has thrown strikes and not walked people. We have not let walks and errors beat us this year. That is the biggest difference in where we are this year, compared to where we were last year.
“The offense has gotten better. But we pitch it and defend it well enough to be in every game. When you play so many close games and do the little things right, you learn how to win those games.”
“Before the season began, the coaches told us we were going to focus on pitching and defense more and it has really paid off,” McKell said. “Some of the games we didn’t win last year it was because we didn’t play good defense. This year is like a totally different team.
“We are more focused on defense because our pitchers are doing such a great job. Every inning we believe we are going to get that big defensive play or that big strikeout to get out of an inning.”
Henry believes the winning mentality started on the football field. The football Volunteers went from a winless season in 2009 to a losing effort in the state championship game this past November. Henry said “90 to 95 percent” of his players got a taste of postseason play during the school’s first football playoff run since 2005.
“This is big because it is my playoff game as a baseball player,” said Starkville Academy senior pitcher/third baseman Ryan Mann, who was also a 1,000-yard rusher in football. “We got a taste of it in football. It’s different for the seniors, because this is our last chance to win a state championship.
“We worked real hard from the beginning of the fall. We have worked on making the routine plays and being better as a team. We knew we had to do the little things to win close games. That is what has allowed us to get to this point.”
Henry said the championship work ethic established in the football weight room and practice field has carried over to the baseball diamond.
“Those players got a taste of competing for a championship in the fall,” Henry said. “I think that has been huge for us in baseball. They played for the championship but didn’t win it. I think that emptiness has motivated this team. I think their work ethic and passion for what they are doing started at the beginning of the school year.
“It has paid huge dividends for us throughout the season.”
While football success, pitching and defense have all helped the Volunteers get to this point, they are also a close-knit bunch who have been together for some time. McKell, Mann, and Holtcamp are the only seniors.
“We have been together with these seniors since I was in seventh grade,” Bolin said. “We have grown up and matured together. We knew we had a chance to make it to the championship series if we did our part. It has been a lot of fun, playing with guys you have played with whole life, trying to do something really big for your school.”
To take the next step, the Volunteers will have to get by a squad that was the runner-up in the North Division.
“(Heritage coach) Bruce (Branch) has done a great job,” Henry said. “They are always fighting for the top. I think they have an advantage going into the series, since they were in the playoffs and we were not last year. However, I also feel like we have a good ball club with a good pitching staff, who has been through the wear and tear of a long season.”
Not only do the Volunteers have confidence, they also will have some support tonight.
“People have been talking about the baseball playoffs at school,” Mann said. “We are going to have a good crowd come to our game in Columbus. That does not happen a whole lot, having a traveling crowd in baseball. It certainly makes you feel good inside.”
Scott was sports editor for The Dispatch.
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