TRENTON, Ga. – Chip Henderson learned a little something about his baseball team Tuesday, an intangible that might prove to be a key to any long postseason run.
Henderson’s Calhoun Yellow Jackets were stuck on a bus for three-plus hours Tuesday because of an overturned RV on Interstate 75 in Gordon County, arriving at Dade County High for a crucial Region 7B-AA game two hours behind schedule. After a long Monday night following a game at Georgia Tech University, the road-weary Jackets surprised their coach with a 16-1 crushing of the Wolverines.
“We were on that bus a long time, and as a coach you always worry how a team will respond to adversity like that,” Henderson said. “To their credit, they came out really loose and hit the ball. We had a good win Monday (11-6 over Class AAAAA’s Alpharetta) and it kind of carried over to today.”
The win improved Calhoun to 14-5 overall and a perfect 7-0 in subregion play. More importantly, it gives the Jackets a three-game lead over Dade (14-5, 5-3) and Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe for the subregion’s top seed with four games to play. Region 7-AA will hold a tournament to decide its four playoff seeds, with the champion in each subregion playing each other in a best-of-three series to determine the champion.
Dade will host LFO Friday in a game likely to determine the subregion’s No. 2 seed.