in first playoff game

By STEVEN G. WATSON

Sports Editor

It’s that time of year when all the teams erase everything that they have done up until this point and dive into the playoffs with a clean slate.

There are 32 teams in the Class 5A State Playoffs and after Wednesday there will only be 16. Come Saturday that number will be whittled down to eight.

Those who can make it to the third round will play best-of-three-game series and get the luxury of a second chance, but in the single-elimination situation in the first and second rounds, it’s anybody’s ball game.

A ranking or record doesn’t ever guarantee a win and an off day can mean the end of a season.

Simply looking at the rankings, however, it would appear that Charles Henderson drew a good seeding in the 2000 bracket.

As the No. 10 ranked team by state polls, the only other ranked team in their half of the bracket is No. 9 Bibb County. In the other half there are four, including a first-round matchup between No. 2 Gardendale and No. 6 Etowah.

CHHS knows that nothing will come easy from this point on, however. Rankings or no, everyone will be bringing their A-games and some of the teams that are near the Trojans in the brackets have given them more than enough trouble during the regular season.

Charles Henderson draws Jackson in the first round who was a runner up to Citronelle in the Area 2 race.

The two teams will face off on the CHHS campus at Frazier Field in Hogan’s Hole. It will be the first playoff game hosted in Troy since 1990.

The Trojans are riding an eight-game winning streak into the playoffs that they started back on April 4 at the start of their Area schedule.

Many of the CHHS batters are hitting the ball particularly well. Junior’s Jason Barron and Scott Stetson have been scorching opposing pitchers as of late while the Trojans also regained the help of Hunter Mathews who has been out a majority of the season with a wrist injury.

The staple of seniors like Jonathan Neeley, B.J. Gralheer, Chris Boswell and Jared Kelly all are playing a huge part in the Trojans’ resurgence. Behind their leadership, the team has dedicated itself to flawless defense that has destroyed most teams they have faced.

Many of the CHHS freshmen are playing a role in the Trojans’ success as well. Clint Pugh retains his position at third where he took over for the injured Mathews while Justin Sims has given CHHS dependable left-handed relief and Roderick Burden, Jarvis Woods and LaKory Daniels give the Trojans some very useful speed around the base paths as pinch- and courtesy-runners.