GREYHOUND BASEBALL
For all accounts, games before region play amount to preseason in many sports. Baseball is hardly an exception for the Greyhounds, who will begin region play Feb. 27 at Union Grove.
Between now and then, the goal, as has been noted going into the regular season by Greyhounds head coach Mike Paulk, has been to improve each day. In the midst of that challenge comes another – a competitive schedule to begin the season.
A Saturday afternoon loss to Appling County dropped JCHS to an 0-4 start to begin the season following defeats of 11-4 to West Laurens and 15-3 to Perry. Those three teams began this week with a combined record of 12-0.
The Greyhounds went to West Laurens this past Tuesday to begin three games in three days road trip, playing Eastside on Wednesday and at AAAAAA powerhouse Houston County on Thursday. That leads into next week’s region opener at Union Grove, a set that includes a home game between the teams March 1.
The non-region schedule may have its rigor, but it also provides a level of competition similar to region play, meaning that there’s a built-in advantage of facing a tough slate of games before region records are on the line.
“It’ll give us a really good chance to look at where we are,” Paulk said. “We’re looking forward to facing good competition, so our young guys won’t be surprised when they see that during the season.”
