Although Jones County officially opens the season on Saturday, region play does not start until Feb. 27 against Eagles Landing.
The Greyhounds stand a very good chance of getting a clearer picture of where the best fit is in the batting order and pitching rotation thanks to one of the state’s more ambitious non-region schedules. Of the teams on the early part of the Greyhounds’ schedule, three were state semifinalists a season ago.
Jones County hosts Jeff Davis and Wayne County at noon and 6 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 14, plays at Houston County Feb. 17 and Lee County on Feb. 21 in Tifton.
Jeff Davis was the state runner-up last year in Class A-D1, Wayne County was a AAAA semifinalist a season ago, Houston County was state runner-up last year and Lee County typically being one of south Georgia’s top schools in the largest classifications.
It’s a wringer that Greyhounds head coach Noble Coley welcomes.
“We’ll throw guys out there, and by the time we get to region play, that’s when we want to have a lineup,” Coley said. “It’ll allow us to work some guys into the lineup and see what they can do.”
JCHS hosted Putnam County in a preseason scrimmage on Friday, taking over early in a 14-2 win, a game in which the Greyhounds put four runs across in each of the first two innings and got looks at various parts of the roster. Both teams used the scrimmage to give multiple pitchers time on the mound, an adjustment that JCHS took in stride at the plate.
“I thought our pitchers did an outstanding job. Hitting-wise, when you see a different pitcher every inning, it can be hard to get timing down,” Coley said. “We hit some balls out of the park, but that’s not our overall objective. That certainly helps, and we’re not going to be disappointed about it.”
