GHSA first-round playoffs
(best-of-three series with DH starts)Class AAAAMadison County (17-9) at Northwest Whitfield (13-7), 3Heritage (15-8) at Buford (24-2), 5Class AAAPepperell (10-10) at Ringgold (21-6), 3Cedartown (13-9) at Calhoun (20-5), 4:30Sonoraville (16-8) at Central-Carrollton (17-7), 5Class AAOglethorpe County (14-7) at Gordon Lee (15-7), 3Dade County (13-8) at Rabun County (15-4), 5
CHICKAMAUGA, Ga. -- He may be the best-kept secret in Georgia high school baseball, but if Gordon Lee makes another long playoff run, that anonymity will end for Conard Broom.
As the Trojans, back-to-back state runners-up in Class A, begin their first postseason in Class AA, the rest of the state might just find out what the rest of northwest Georgia has been dealing with for three-plus seasons.
Conard Broom is one bad dude.
"He's among the best that's ever pitched in Georgia," Gordon Lee coach Mike Dunfee said. "His season and his career have been incredible. From the first game of the year his freshman season, we knew he was special. He went five innings against Northwest Whitfield and never backed down.
"He's gotten better every year and we're real proud of him for what he's accomplished, but we're not done with him yet."
The right-hander enters the postseason with 41 career wins, only three off the state record. If the Trojans, the No. 2 seed from Region 7-AA, go deep in the postseason, he likely will break the record. It's something Broom is aware of, though he's more obsessed with something else.
"That is an individual goal, and I'm more interested in the team goals," he said, "but if I get it and we win it all, that's even better."
Broom and the Trojans (15-7) open play today at home against Oglethorpe County (14-7) in a doubleheader start of a best-of-three series, a feat in itself considering the team's baffling slow start. They were 5-7 before ending the regular season with 10 wins, including a 6-0 defeat of region champion Darlington in which Broom pitched a one-hitter and earned a measure of personal revenge. In a season that's included a pair of no-hitters, this was his finest moment.
"The best thing this year was beating Darlington," he said. "Three of my six losses in high school have been to Darlington, so it was a thrill to go out there and throw a one-hit shutout the last time."
It shouldn't have been a surprise, however. Broom has a 6-1 record this season and has allowed one earned run in 40 innings pitched. He's also struck out 82 batters.
He no-hit Boyd-Buchanan and was so dominant in an 11-1 win over East Hamilton that Hurricanes coach Steve Garland said Broom's stuff was "pure nasty."
A subtle change in his delivery has made the difference this season, according to the pitcher, who is going to Mercer University on a baseball scholarship next year.
"I had gotten away from throwing submarine and was more sidearm, and this past offseason I went back throwing more submarine and my curveball started tailing more," he said.
"I started using that more in games and it started working good, especially against right-handed batters. It's really helped me get more movement on my pitches."
Dunfee calls him a bulldog and his teammates call him "Johnny" when he pitches -- not because he reminds them of anyone in particular. It seems the easygoing Broom takes on a different personality when he toes the rubber.
"He's a loose kid in practice and he's a great teammate, but when he's on the mound it's like he's got a split personality," Dunfee said with a laugh. "He's dialed in like no other kid I've had. They call him Johnny because he's like some other guy."
Jake Rogers has played with Broom since the two were 9 and said the team plays at a different level when Broom is on the mound. Broom's confidence, it seems, rubs off on his teammates.
"He's been on every game, and he has a nobody-can-hit-me attitude every time he goes out," Rogers said. "When he gets on the mound we're locked in, because we want him to get the no-hitters and we want him to set the state record.
"He raises our level. He competes every time he steps on the mound, and we know if we get a couple of runs it's over."
If Broom is going to get the record, he and the Trojans will have earned it. If they get past Oglethorpe they likely will travel to play Benedictine, the defending state champ, next week. Get past that one and perennial power Wesleyan likely will be waiting.
"It's a tough road, but we won't back down," Dunfee said. "We know that every game and every inning and every pitch is important. We're hungry to prove ourselves in double-A and show them we can compete with anybody.
"The guys also really want to get Conard the state record, and he wants to set it for his teammates. But he wants to win the state championship more."
Contact Lindsey Young at lyoung@timesfreepress.com or at 423-757-6296.