Brady Badon still hasn’t forgotten the 2012 loss to Magee last April, one that ended North Pike’s baseball season.
It was the third time in as many years that Magee had put a damper on North Pike’s post-season hopes, eliminating the Jaguars from the Class 4A playoffs.
So when North Pike opens up the 2013 playoffs 6 p.m. Friday at home against St. Stanislaus, not Magee, there is a bittersweet sense of relief.
“I’m happy and disappointed at the same time,” Badon said. “Whether they are good or bad, we always seem to have bad luck against them. I’m just glad we don’t have to play them.”
St. Stanislaus (15-10) is hardly a pushover and North Pike coach George Lott struggled to find any advantage the Jaguars might have for the best-of-three series. Game 2 and 3, if necessary, will begin at 2 p.m. Saturday in Bay St. Louis.
Lott described the Rock-a-Chaws as a fundamentally sound team that puts the ball in play.
“They’re going to be one of the better teams we’ve played all year,” he said. “Their district is probably the toughest in the state as far as top to bottom.”
Any team that consistently puts the ball in play causes more pressure on the defense, something North Pike has (20-4) struggled with. There are games when the Jags play error-free or games when things spiral out of control like an eight-error performance earlier this month against Columbia.
“Confidence and not being scared,” Badon said of correcting the errors. “A lot of those errors were being tight and us not being confident. They were routine plays.”
North Pike will send Jacob Fleming (5-1, 1.54 ERA) to the hill on Friday and will counter with Badon (8-1, 1.26 ERA) on Saturday, which gives the Jags a strong shot at pulling off the sweep.
“That’s probably one of the best pitching duos I’ve had since I’ve been here,” Lott said. “They both throw well, and if there’s any advantage I’ve had since I’ve been at North Pike, that would be it.”
North Pike appeared to have that same advantage last season when Fleming led the Jags to a win over Magee in Game 1 but the team got some unlucky bounces as Magee took two games the following day to advance.
“It hurt us bad,” Badon said. “We just want to get out front that way we don’t have to worry about close games.”
One thing North Pike hasn’t had an issue with is its bats. The Jags have 81 hits and 48 RBIs in their past 10 games.
The top five hitters — Badon, LaDarrius Coney, Reed Taylor, Fleming and Dallas Smith — have been on fire. But North Pike’s success will likely depend on some of its young hitters down in the lineup.
“They’re going to be big and actually the game we beat Columbia (on April 12), they were big,” Lott said. “They were pretty much the deciding factor.”
