Bob Jones will play in the finals of the AHSAA 7A Baseball Championship! Game one of the series will be played in Oxford, and game two will be played on the Jacksonville State campus. If necessary, game three will also be played on the Jacksonville State campus.
If the Patriots can win one game, they will be the most successful baseball team in school history. If they win two games, they will be state champions. However, there are giant Red Devils standing in their way; they’re from Central High School in Phenix City, AL.
Central-Phenix will be a much tougher opponent than any of the team’s previous competition. For one, they sport a 42-3 overall record. In addition, they haven’t lost a game throughout the playoffs, and they’ve won in many different ways too. Against Baker in game two of the quarterfinals, they applied Raid on the Hornets as they won 12-2 in dominating fashion. Against Auburn in the semifinals, they effectively tranquilized the Tigers with identical 1-0 victories. Safe to say that the Red Devils won’t make this series easy.
Despite this, Bob Jones will also be the toughest opponent that Central-Phenix will have faced this season. The strength of the Patriots lies in their great responses to adversity. Down early in the game against IMG, they roared back and achieved arguably the School’s most impressive baseball achievement of all time. In game three of the quarterfinals against Thompson, they cruised through, winning 7-1. After dropping game one to James Clemens in the semifinals, they grounded the Jets in game two, winning 9-1. However, in game three of that series, the season looked over. The Patriots were down 4-1, and there wasn’t much time left to salvage the series, yet, the Patriots pulled it off and won the game along with the series. Safe to say that the Red Devils can’t take this series easy.
Bob Jones and Central-Phenix have played each once in the early stages of this season. Despite the fact that Central-Phenix won, Bob Jones produced positive signs from that game. Bob Jones kept the game incredibly tight, only losing 2-1, and that was with a weaker lineup than what they will field in Oxford.
With the facts laid, there is only one thing we can say:
GO PATRIOTS!
