All it took were three swings of the bat and Madison-Ridgeland Academy was on its way to a MAIS baseball state championship.
MRA, not known for its power in 2012, launched three clutch home runs in last year’s state championship series en route to a 2-0 series sweep of Parklane Academy.
Those three pings off the aluminum still sting and are something Parklane players haven’t forgotten.
Some of the Pioneers that witnessed that firsthand have graduated, but those who remain, that either played or viewed from the dugout, can get their long anticipated shot at redemption tonight at 6:30 when Parklane hosts MRA for Game 1 of the MAIS AAA Division I best-of-three series.
“Last year we were ahead in both games and they came back and took it from us,” said Parklane senior pitcher James Michael Schmidt, who will start Game 1. “It’s a personal thing, and I want it.”
The Pioneers (17-13) have fallen in the state champion in consecutive seasons, although last year’s losses of 5-2 and 4-2 were much harder to get over. A trip back might be a bit harder this season.
Parklane’s current group features mostly youngsters that have the same goal in mind as past squads at Parklane. Sprinkled in with the youth are guys like Schmidt and juniors Tanner Whittington, Matthew Artigues and Walt Aldridge.
“I’m not scared to play them because they hit (three) home runs last year … it’d be one thing if the drummed us and we had a lot of resentment toward them, but it definitely should fuel you,” said Artigues, who is a returning starter at shortstop. “It’s tough to get that close and not win a state championship.”
During the rough patches of the year, and the Pioneers have had several, those four have helped lead the way back to a state of normalcy.
Even Schmidt helped rally the troops following Parklane’s 13-3 loss last Tuesday to East Rankin, a game in which the Pioneers committed eight errors.
“It was a bad loss and I told him, ‘Coach, come Thursday, we’re going to go out there and handle our business,’” Schmidt said.
That was last Thursday when Parklane split a doubleheader with East Rankin. More importantly, first-year coach Robert Young finally saw his team click. It was almost foreign to Young, who came from Amite School Center to replace former coach Michael Clements, after the Pioneers had been mired in a two-week long slump that featured a 4-7 record.
“Our young guys are growing,” Young said. “That’s a part of it, those young guys are starting to click. As far as being on a consistent basis, they’ve gotten better throughout the year.”
Parklane will need a squeaky-clean performance in the field if plans to compete with MRA (19-6). Young will hand Schmidt the ball, moving him up from his normal Thursday role as the second pitcher in the rotation. Schmidt is technically Parklane’s No. 1 starter, but Young used Whittington in the No. 1 spot during the regular season for matchup purposes.
Schmidt had a strong start to the season but has tapered off of late and worked around control issues to pick up the win in last Thursday’s game. As one of Parklane’s most notable leaders, a smooth start can help jolt the Pioneers’ spirits.
“I just need to get out there in the first inning with three up, three down, shut them down and get our first three or four guys on base and catch a few runs,” he said. “We need to jump on them quick.”
Whittington will start Game 2 on Thursday at MRA, and the X-factor of the series could be Artigues, who has tossed nine straight scoreless innings of relief in his last two outings.
Young has used Artigues only when he’s had to this season because Artigues is the captain of the infield at shortstop.
“I feel confident throwing him at any part of the series and he’s been outstanding out of our bullpen,” Young said. “He’s done very well.”
Artigues’ approach isn’t speed out of the bullpen but he locates his spots effectively and keeps hitters off balance enough to let his defense handle the labor.
“I’m not an 85-mile per hour pitcher so the ball’s going to get hit a lot,” he said. “It’s tough for me to know that I’m pitching to let my defense feed off it. If they’re playing well and the ball is going to them then I’m comfortable and I’ll throw strikes.”
The winner of the series will face the Jackson Academy-Jackson Prep winner next week for the state title.
