While a lot of programs were on the Coast playing in the Battle at the Beach, the Wildcats opted to play just one game last week to tune up for Region 8-3A competition.
Columbia (2-6, 0-2) traveled to George County High School March 14 to take on St. Pius X (Houston) and had its best offensive showing of the young season in an 11-1 win, according to head coach Greg Owen.
“I feel like we can hit so much better than what we’ve been doing and it’s waiting to bust out. We’re hoping as the weather heats up, the bats kind of heat up with the temperature, too. It typically does each year, so we’ve been waiting on our swings to start producing. And they did against St. Pius,” he said. “We hit well all the way through the lineup and we were pleased with that going into district play.”
After St. Pius got on the board first with a run in the top of the first inning, the Wildcats matched it with a run in the bottom half, then hung eight runs on the Panthers in the second and two more in the third to end the game after three innings.
Owen said Landon Sanders looked like his old self and settled in on the mound, tossing all three innings. Owen added that the struggles the pitching staff has had to begin the year were predictable after losing three of its top four arms from last season, but he’s expecting to see some growth going forward.
“When you look at total innings from last year to this year, if you take away Landon — Aiden (Singley) threw a little bit — but other than that there’s really no experienced innings,” he said. “We’re relying heavily on our No. 3, 4 and 5 guys that didn’t pitch last year. We knew it would take some time for those guys to come around, and hopefully now they have enough innings under their belt.”
The Wildcats played their second district series of the year Tuesday and Wednesday, but results were unavailable at press time. They played at Jeff Davis County Tuesday and hosted the Jaguars Wednesday. They will play host to Franklin County Thursday on Military Appreciation Night, which will begin on the field around 5:45.
Owen said Tuesday the Wildcats are trying to elevate their game now that the district slate is about to heat up.
“We just want to make sure we’re peaking at the right time,” he said.
Pictured Above: Columbia's Grady Lucas rips a single against Forrest County AHS. | Photo by Joshua Campbell
