Mike Anthony
Cold October For Braves?
By: Mike Anthony
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
There is still plenty of baseball to be played in the 2019 regular season, but thanks to a torrid June and a good July, the Atlanta Braves have placed themselves in prime position to repeat as the National League East champions.
As the Braves dig in for the dog days of August and the stretch run in September, speculation will run rampant as to how the playoffs will shape up.
And with July 31 marking the annual trade deadline and new league rules prohibiting waiver trades during the month of August, playoff contenders will have only their current MLB roster and farm system (along with any unsigned free agents) to turn to as the pressure ramps up.
Regardless of the moves made in the final hours before the trade deadline, the Braves have built a formidable squad.
Ronald Acuna has progressed nicely from his 2018 Rookie of the Year form and 2019 rookie Austin Riley has proven to be a dangerous bat despite a midseason swoon.
Freddie Freeman continues to perform at near-MVP levels while Ozzie Albies is earning every bit of his new contract and the one-year deal struck with Josh Donaldson over the winter is paying big dividends as the third baseman has shown flashes of what made him a former American League MVP.
Without exception, any pitcher taking the mound against Atlanta’s lineup will have to tread carefully.
Unfortunately, the adage still holds true that good pitching tends to beat good hitting in the playoffs. And – in a scenario that seems to be resembling Braves division title runs from 2013 and last season – it could be the arms that prove to be their undoing.
To be sure, the Braves aren’t a bad pitching team. Mike Soroka has already racked up 10 wins in his rookie campaign, Dallas Keuchel is a solid piece in the rotation and Max Fried is quickly becoming a frontline starter.
Meanwhile, Sean Newcomb has found success in later innings since being dropped from the starting rotation and – all hair-raising Luke Jackson appearances aside – the Atlanta bullpen has been better than general complaints from fans would indicate.
But the problem with previous division title winners in Atlanta has been that their pitching just didn’t quite stack up with the rest of the best in the National League, and that issue could prove true once more.
The class of the National League has been the Los Angeles Dodgers, thanks in no small part to their starting rotation.
The Dodgers’ top three all started games in last year’s playoff series win over Atlanta, with Hyun-Jin Ryu and Clayton Kershaw combining for 15 scoreless innings against a similarly hot-hitting Braves offense.
Conversely, Braves starters combined to throw just 13.1 innings over the four-game series, allowing nine earned runs in the process.
The potential matchups aren’t much better for Atlanta if a team like Washington gets through the wild card round and brings its rotation of Max Scherzer, Stephen Strasburg and Patrick Corbin to town.
St. Louis is currently making a run to the top of the N.L. Central and – while not boasting top starters – has one of the most dependable bullpens in the league that can shorten up tight postseason games.
None of this is to say that Atlanta can’t win. The Braves have the second-best record in the National League and have proven that they can bash teams into oblivion on any given night.
But baseball purists love to look to the past to figure out what will happen in the future. And in the case of the 2019 Braves, that means that the pitching will have to hit another gear or the bats will need to keep hitting like its summertime for the next three months.
Ware Chomping For 2019
By: Mike Anthony
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
From 2012-2016, Ware County underwent its best stretch in school history.
During that span, the Gators won four region championships in five seasons and reached a state title game to go along with a semifinal appearance and two trips to the state quarterfinals.
Ware County has remained solid, but the past two years have seen a bit of a tail off. The Gators are hoping that some new coaching blood brings a shot in the arm to the program as Jason Strickland has now set up shop in Waycross.
Strickland’s resume is an impressive one and one that many in South Georgia are already quite familiar with.
Prior to taking the Gators’ head job Strickland notched winning records at Lamar County, Fitzgerald and Pierce County.
He coached four region champions – including at least one at each of his stops – and his next win will be the 100th of his career against just 39 losses to date.
He will inherit a Gator squad that went 8-4 with a second-place finish in Region 2-AAAAA last season.
Ware County took care of everyone it was supposed to, but dropped games to state powers Coffee and Lowndes before falling to Wayne County in the regular season finale to finish second to the Yellow Jackets in region play for a second straight season.
Last year’s Gator squad overachieved with a young roster, meaning that big expectations await this fall.
As far as returning talent goes, Ware County couldn’t ask for more than seeing Thomas Castellanos back in action. Castellanos was a tour de force in his freshman year, winning the starting quarterback job and tossing 11 touchdowns to just five interceptions.
He also led the team with over 800 yards of rushing and even got in on the other end of the passing game, going for 52 yards and a touchdown on his lone reception of the season.
Castellanos will be breaking in a new receiving corps as his top three pass-catchers have departed, but that could be alleviated by an increased emphasis on the ground game. In addition to Castellanos’ ability to run, the Gators return three others who rushed for at least 280 yards in 2018.
Five of the Gators’ top seven tacklers from last year will return to their starting positions and at least one large chunk of the Ware secondary will remain a no-fly zone as Kevin Weatherspoon returns to his safety spot after hauling in five interceptions to go along with six pass deflections and 46 total tackles from a year ago.
Ware County will kick off its season by hosting Rockledge High School out of central Florida. Rematches with larger classification schools Coffee and Lowndes are back on tap and Region 2-AAAAA could easily come down to the final night of the season once again as the Gators play host to Wayne County on Nov. 8.
The Jesup Buzz
By: Mike Anthony
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
For the last two seasons, Wayne County has been the undisputed cream of the Region 2-AAAAA crop.
During that span, the Yellow Jackets have rattled off consecutive region championships with unbeaten marks in region play, as well as a 10-0 regular season campaign last fall and a pair of trips to the second round of the state playoffs.
Some tough losses to graduation and a quartet of region rivals that all appear to be on the upswing will make a region three-peat a tall order, but there’s every reason to count Wayne County as a favorite yet again until another school can prove otherwise.
At the helm for each of the last two seasons has been Ken Cribb, who has done an outstanding job of building the Jackets into a region power when things could have easily gone in a different direction.
The Yellow Jackets reached the state semifinals in 2013 and won a region title in 2014 under Jody Grooms, but the program was thrown into flux when Grooms was charged with theft in 2016. After a year under an interim coach, Cribb took over and immediately found success.
Cribb now faces the challenge of replacing many of the players who have paved the way to success recently. Six starters depart from a defense that was mostly good in 2018, but gave up its share of points.
They’ll be tested early and often as tough non-region games against Richmond Hill and Glynn Academy pop up in the first month.
Offensively, the Jackets can rest a bit easier as dual-threat quarterback Shamar Taylor returns for his senior season. Taylor threw for 1,689 yards and 12 touchdowns last fall while rushing for 247 yards and three more touchdowns.
However, Taylor will have to once again be a star as there is plenty of production left to fill in around him.
Running back and 1,000-yard rusher M.J. Fuller is gone from 2018 and Kaliz Hadley is the only Jacket other than Taylor with more than 200 rushing yards back on the roster in 2019.
Primary receiving target Ashby Cribb (60 catches, 748 yards, 5 TD last season) is also gone, leaving Hadley and Trevin Wallace as the only returners to put up considerable receiving numbers last year.
It will be hard for the Yellow Jackets to duplicate the 32.7 points per game that they averaged during the 2018 regular season, but if new faces are able to step up there should still be plenty of scoring in Jesup.
Return To Glory In 2019?
By: Mike Anthony
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
For a program with one of the most storied traditions in all of Georgia high school football, the last handful of seasons have been some to forget for Statesboro High.
From 1999-2013, the Blue Devils posted a winning mark every year, while racking up six region titles and two of the school’s five state championships. That all came to a drastic halt in 2014, as the team posted consecutive 2-8 seasons before bottoming out during a winless 2016.
Jeff Kaiser took the reins of the program in 2017 and has been slow but steady in the rebuilding project. Last season marked a big milestone for the Devils as – despite a 4-6 record in the regular season – they were able to clinch a spot in the state playoffs for the first time since 2013.
But for a program with awards and banners dominating most of the school’s trophy case, simply being competitive again isn’t good enough. And the 2019 Blue Devils know that there is much more work to be done.
While Statesboro has moved away from its former identity of a wishbone offense that runs 95 percent of the time and tries to overpower each opponent, the ability to move the ball on the ground is still central to the team’s success.
After years of battling turnover and inexperience in the backfield, Statesboro has plenty to feel confident about in its running game this season. Jaylon Roberson emerged as a star running back two seasons ago, but was pressed into emergency quarterback duty for the final half of the season. He resumed his stellar rushing career last year and will be featured heavily in his senior season.
Roberson was the only runner locked into a starting role at the beginning of 2018, but will be joined this season by fellow seniors Devardrion Lipsey and Corey McCullough.
It was Lipsey’s ability to find the corner and McCullough’s bruising inside running that created a more balanced – and more dangerous – SHS rushing attack by the end of 2018.
Calling the shots under center for a second straight year will be Drake Horton, although the senior quarterback will be without his top two wide receivers from last season.
The SHS defense carried the team early on in 2018, but a tough schedule and mounting injuries kept it from being as effective in the second half of the season.
The Devils return the teeth of what was a very good defensive secondary last season. Graduation claimed some of the front seven, but senior defensive linemen Dake Williams and Xavier Lee figure to hold up the front while experience is gained through the rest of the defensive depth chart.
Statesboro once again finds itself in a five-team region, meaning that the last month will consist of all of its region games for an all-out sprint to state playoff eligibility.
Wayne and Ware County once again figure to be the powers in the region, with Statesboro looking to repeat last year’s victories over South Effingham and New Hampstead for a repeat trip to the postseason.
Gators Look To Chomp on 2019
By: Mike Anthony
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
The 2018 season was the best in recent memory for the Gators of Bulloch Academy.
An 8-2 record and a second-place finish in region action was solid in its own right, but the Gators took things a step farther in winning their first state playoff game since 2009.
In fact, Bulloch Academy could have gone even farther if not for how its schedule played out. The Gators lost a non-region contest to John Milledge Academy and missed out on a region title when they dropped a close one against Frederica.
Those turned out to be possibly the only teams that could handle Bulloch last season as the Gators made it to the quarterfinals before being eliminated by John Milledge, which advanced to the state championship game before falling to Frederica.
All of that came in the first season with Pat Collins running the ship for BA. Collins has been the school’s athletic director for two seasons, but stepped into the football head coaching role – a title he has previously held at Portal, Screven County and Southeast Bulloch – during the spring of 2018.
He has seen success wherever he’s gone and while he usually inherits a rebuilding squad, he now has the task of continuing to build on an impressive debut.
“We’ve definitely got our work cut out for us,” Collins said. “We lost 12 seniors, a three-year starting quarterback and 98 percent of our offensive yards from last year. That’s a lot to replace, but we’ve got eight rising seniors who are stepping up and I think we can be a good team again this season.”
Fischer Oglesby is the heir to the quarterback spot vacated by Don Aaron. And while Collins admits that nothing can replace Aaron’s experience, Oglesby has more size and speed that will fit well in the Gators’ offense that showcases plenty of option, with the ability to take long shots down the field.
While the offense settles into an entirely new backfield, it will be the defense that Bulloch relies on early in the season.
Eight starters return, giving Collins hope that his thoughts on the gravity of experience translate into a shutdown defensive unit.
Perhaps the biggest edge Bulloch can take into 2019 is its depth. Not only did plenty of underclassmen get quality playing time last season – including a JV squad that went undefeated in its abbreviated schedule – but the numbers continue to creep up on the roster in general.
The Gators figure to have at least 40 – and possibly 45 – players in uniform to open the season. That’s up from the normal roster of 30-ish Gators from just a few years ago and will allow the team to avoid too many instances of two-way players that can become an issue late in the season as fatigue mounts.
Bulloch will once again kick off its season against arch-rival Pinewood as part of the Erk Russell Classic at Paulson Stadium on the campus of Georgia Southern University.
The Gators will face familiar non-region foes – including Westfield and a rematch with John Milledge – early in the season before playing the entirety of its Region 2-AAA schedule over the final four weeks of the regular season.
Flight Path?
By: Mike Anthony
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Coming off of his first full season as a head coach, in which he turned a 2-10 catastrophe into a 10-3 bowl-winning squad, it would be easy to envision that Georgia Southern’s Chad Lunsford is breezing through his summer.
Then again, he’s now an established FBS head coach, and those guys aren’t known for breezing through much of anything.
Less than a month after Georgia Southern’s Camellia Bowl victory last December, Lunsford found himself in the middle of a press conference reminding reporters and his team alike that – for all of the huge strides taken in 2018 – the Eagles had only finished third in their own division and that there was plenty more to strive for.
“One thing we’re talking a lot about this summer is embracing expectations,” Lunsford said. “Last year was a different deal because of what we were coming from. Now we’re back, and everyone needs to know exactly what the expectations are for the Georgia Southern football program.”
The Eagles surprised the entire college football world by sprinting out to a 6-1 mark last season, highlighted by a 34-14 drubbing of archrival and eventual Sun Belt champion Appalachian State just days after App had gained its first ever FBS top-25 ranking.
But losses to UL Monroe and Troy following that high-water mark kept the Eagles from participating in the first ever Sun Belt championship game.
“We had the opportunities to achieve our goals last season,” Lunsford said. “We didn’t do it. A lot of last year was about how we responded better to adversity, but we didn’t get it done in some games where it would have really helped us.
“When it was time for us to put ourselves in the driver’s seat, we didn’t. I think everyone understands now what it takes to go that next step and to deal with what we know is going to be an even tougher schedule this season.”
The 2019 Georgia Southern team was finally all together in one spot last week as incoming freshmen arrived on campus.
Full team workouts were still a few days away and fall camp won’t convene until early August, but Lunsford and his staff wasted no time in beginning the process of bringing together the 2019 squad as its own unique and special unit.
Following team activities throughout the week, players and their families all attended a huge cookout – complete with tons of food and even a huge water slide.
“College football is a business,” Lunsford said. “But that doesn’t mean we can’t make it a family business. We want everyone from players, to recruits, to all of their families to feel like we’re all invested in this together.”
As a longtime assistant within the Georgia Southern program, the culture and personality of Lunsford made him a clear favorite of players when an interim had to be named midway through the 2017 season. He kept the same personality in taking the Eagles from a spiraling mess to a conference contender in just one season.
Time will tell how the 2019 team will fare, but the team is sold on Lunsford and he is just as confident that he can use his established culture and newfound momentum to demand and expect even greater things for his team this fall.
Putting In The Werts
By: Mike Anthony
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
In 2017, Shai Werts was a redshirt freshman who was thrown into the fire as the quarterback of an inexperienced offense that ended up posting the worst record in Georgia Southern history.
Last season, Werts entered the year with plenty of question marks around his ability to run the offense and take control of games.
He answered the questions with plenty of big plays and bold statements as he fueled one of the best turnaround stories in college football history. Werts looked smooth in driving the Eagles’ option attack and didn’t turn the ball over once all season en route to a 10-3 record and a bowl victory.
Now entering 2019 as a grizzled veteran and unquestioned team leader, Werts is ready for the added expectations.
“I feel good,” Werts said as he relaxed on a couch at the Ted Smith Family Football Operations Center Monday afternoon. “We’re ready for a big year. We’ve got a lot of games that will make it tough to top last year’s record, but that’s what we’re setting out to do.”
Werts was cheery and casual with his answers, but he isn’t taking anything for granted. His demeanor was the same coming off of a 2-10 season where not much of anything went right for him.
The cheerfulness is part of his outward personality, but it only partially hides a more serious side under the surface. That focus and determination played a large part in getting the offense on track last season and is still burning even after the success of 2018.
“We took a lot of pride in what we accomplished last year,” Werts said. “I know some people are still picking us to finish behind Troy (and Appalachian State) again this year. They are really good teams, but we definitely take it to heart that some people don’t think we can beat them.”
For each of his first two seasons, Werts had the benefit of some senior leadership in the backfield with him.
There is still plenty of talent at the skill positions, but several offseason transfers and the graduation of running backs Wesley Fields and Monteo Garrett and tight end Ellis Richardson leave Werts with far more career snaps under his belt than anyone else who will line up in the backfield.
That can be an issue in the Eagles’ triple-option scheme. Even if running backs have all the vision and speed in the world, all of the timing between players has to sync up perfectly in order for reads, gives and pitches to work as designed.
That’s where Werts is stepping up as a leader. “We have a thing at least once a week called ‘Blue Collar’,” Werts said. “It’s player-led, with no coaches. We’re just going over plays individually. We’re getting on the same page right now. When fall camp starts, that’s when it will be time to execute in game situations and see who steps up.”
The 2019 Eagles are a complete unit, with all incoming true freshmen checked in for their first day on campus. Workouts, meetings and a few team bonding activities will fill up the calendar in the coming weeks, with fall camp slated to begin during the first week of August.
Georgia Southern kicks off the 2019 regular season on Aug. 31 with a trip to Baton Rouge to take on LSU.
Field Of Dreams
By: Mike Anthony
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Georgia Premier Academy phenom Daniel Espino achieved the goal of a lifetime’s worth of work as the flame throwing pitcher was selected by the Cleveland Indians with the 24th pick in the first round of Major League Baseball’s draft last week.
A member of the Georgia Premier Academy for the last three seasons, Espino blossomed into one of the best professional prospects – at the high school or collegiate level – in the country.
He was rated by Baseball America as the best prep pitcher in the nation last summer and he is certainly still the hardest throwing after being clocked at 99 miles per hour at a Perfect Game showcase at Wrigley Field last summer.
A dominant showing by Espino during GPA’s spring season made sure that he was on the radar of every team and it was the Indians that finally called out his number.
“It was such a great feeling – I can’t even describe it,” Espino said. “This is what I’ve dreamed about. It’s been crazy the last few days, but that’s a moment I’ll remember forever.”
The moment was especially memorable for Espino, not so much because of the new members of the Indians’ organization that will be coming into his life, but because of the old members of his journey to the draft that were there to share in the celebration.
Espino grew up in Panama before leaving his home country behind in search of better chances to develop as a player in the United States.
He has only seen his family sporadically over the last few years, but everyone was on hand for his graduation from Bulloch Academy before joining him on his journey to New York for the draft.
“Everything is more special because I get to share it with my family,” Espino said. “They’ve supported me and encouraged me the whole time. They’ve also helped to keep everything calm leading up to (the draft). To be able to tell my mom and dad that I had been picked and to be able to hug them – that was very special for me.”
All of the hype that has surrounded Espino for the last two seasons will only grow now that he is a first-round selection, but the next step for him is still uncertain.
Joining the Indians will likely come with a big signing bonus and plenty of support from the organization to give their top pick a good path to the big leagues.
On the other hand, Espino and his family also value education and he has already locked down a scholarship to play at LSU next spring if he chooses to go to college before turning pro.
“I’ll be making a decision pretty soon,” Espino said. “I see it as a win-win. I like what I’ve seen from Cleveland’s organization and it’s obviously great to be able to start a professional career. But LSU is also a great school with a great team and coaches that I like.
“God has it all planned out. I know that it’s going to be great.”
Swing For The Fence
By: Mike Anthony
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Despite a division title defense that hasn’t quite gone as expected so far and a few glaring issues that cause fans stress on a nightly basis, the Atlanta Braves are still in a great spot to build off of last year’s surprise playoff appearance.
In fact, the Braves and their fans should buckle up right now and take their best shot at the ultimate goal of winning a World Series.
While the Braves have a lot of pieces in place at the major league level and figure to have more coming up the pipeline in the near future, it’s important for the franchise to realize that this isn’t the same game that allowed it to win division titles for the better part of two decades.
Major League Baseball is now a game of windows when it comes to competing for a world title, and although the Braves aren’t even two years removed from wallowing at the bottom of their division, right now is the right time to strike while the iron is hot.
Atlanta already has a lineup that consists of a guy on track for Cooperstown in Freddie Freeman. Ronald Acuna has gone from runaway Rookie of the Year winner to serious MVP candidate and Dansby Swanson is starting to look more and more like a former overall No. 1 draft pick with each passing day. And now the last two weeks have seen the rise of Austin Riley.
Of course, it hasn’t all been sunshine and roses for Atlanta. The Braves’ bullpen was a huge question mark entering the season and has done little to make any fan comfortable with any late lead.
The starting rotation has also been in flux as Sean Newcomb is nothing like his 2018 self and Mike Foltynewicz isn’t putting up anything close to the ‘ace’ numbers that had him at the top of the rotation in the spring.
A couple of decades ago, this would have been the recipe that called for the Braves to hold tight, continuing to develop all of the currently excelling talent while trusting that other proven commodities would either return to form or eventually be replaced by guys in the minors.
That’s not how things are done anymore. The Braves have a lineup that can do damage against the current MLB pitching staffs that can roll out one flamethrower after the next. And – on the right day – the squad also has enough arms to shut down the better teams in the league.
This is where the front office has to believe in itself and let loose all of its power to make the Braves a World Series contender. The should make a few deals to solidify the pitching staff. Fast-track a prospect or two in order to make sure that the end of the bench and bullpen is good enough to steal a win here and there.
Like it or not, there is no place in the current state of MLB for crafting a model that results in over a decade of division championships. In the current league setup, you’re either contending for a World Series title, or you’re bottoming out at the major league level while stocking up in the minors.
The teams that win 70-80 games are getting nothing in terms of postseason action and are put behind the 8-ball in terms of gaining new prospects by picking later in the draft.
The Braves are in danger of falling into that unproductive middle if the status quo continues. They’re far too talented and young to be a team that is undergoing a rebuild. So, it’s time to lean on the strategy that has produced so much success from Riley over the last couple of weeks.
Hit the gas pedal. Do whatever is necessary to find all of those extra wins over the next four months. The iron is hot, but you still have to strike it.
Bull-Pen
By: Mike Anthony
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Putting together a winning team in Major League Baseball is a tall order.
In a sport where each team needs to cover so many different and individually specialized positions, a shortcoming or a rash of injuries anywhere on the diamond can be the source of an entire season’s worth of frustration and the difference between an elated or frustrated fan base.
For fans of the Atlanta Braves, it doesn’t take more than a split second to identify the area on which the 2019 season hinges.
The defending National League East champions are in position to rule the division once again and possibly do much more as their talented core of youth comes into its own, but seemingly every game gets transformed into a three-ring circus every time the bullpen gates open and the Braves’ relief pitching comes into play.
The Atlanta bullpen was one of the only weaknesses in the 2018 squad and despite high hopes for another postseason run this season, fans were a bit on edge this spring when the team did almost nothing to improve its late-inning options in 2019.
If the front office’s hope was that another year of experience would bring improved performance, that plan ran off the tracks early as closer Arodys Vizcaino was shut down for the season just after opening day.
A.J. Minter was the next man up to fill the closer role, but was sent back to the minor leagues after posting a 9.82 ERA and walking 11 over nine innings of work.
The Braves seemed to find an answer at the end of the game in Luke Jackson, who converted four consecutive saves from May 10-17, but Jackson has looked shaky since.
Even for the best teams in baseball, solidifying a bullpen is never an easy task. After all, there aren’t many guys whose lone career track has been that of a reliever.
Just about every pitcher in every bullpen in the majors began as a starter, but was moved to relief due to a lack of effective number of pitches or an inability to hold opponents scoreless for more than an inning or two.
That said, the Braves have found themselves in that dreaded position where no lead feels safe and everyone in the ballpark is on pins and needles until the final out is in the books.
The bullpen issues need to be addressed, but that is easier said than done. Braves fans have been getting louder in their constant reminders that Craig Kimbrel is still a free agent.
But Kimbrel is still demanding a salary and contract length that the notoriously stingy Atlanta front office doesn’t seem to be interested in.
On top of that, any team wanting to sign Kimbrel would have to forfeit a first-round draft pick unless they wait until after next week’s draft to sign him.
If a return to Atlanta for Kimbrel isn’t in the cards, there are plenty of other options for the Braves to manage the late innings. Any scout in baseball will tout the Braves’ young pitchers – either still in the minor leagues or called up to the majors last season – and predict big things for them in the future.
They could provide immediate help, but that would raise the question of whether it’s prudent to derail the progression of a future starting pitcher in order to put him to work in the bullpen.
The shuffling and experimenting will continue so long as the shaky relief outings continue to mount. However, the good news is that solid starting pitching and a young lineup that is hitting the ball better with each passing week should give the bullpen plenty of leads to attempt to preserve as the season continues.
There’s a long way to go, and the Braves look to be in for another playoff push. And if those bullpen questions are answered, 2019 is looking very bright for Atlanta.
