Diamond Cougars Play For Another State Title

The Piedmont Academy baseball team will go for an unprecedented fifth state championship in as many seasons May 25-26 against a familiar foe.

Coach Wes Tanner’s team will face region foe Windsor Academy for the GISA Class AA state title in a best-of-three series at Mercer University in Macon. Game one will be Friday at 4:30 p.m. with game two set the following day at 10:30 a.m. A third game, if necessary would also be Saturday at 4:30 p.m.

Piedmont swept Southwest Georgia in the semifinals May 18 while Windsor advanced to the championship by defeating Brentwood, another region foe.

The Cougars and Knights met twice during the 2018 regular season with Piedmont posting 10-5 and 9-0 wins.

“It is a somewhat surprising opponent but not one we are unfamiliar with,” Tanner said.

Tanner’s team advanced to the championship by sweeping Notre Dame Academy, Crisp Academy and Southwest Georgia. The Cougars have outscored their postseason opponents 67-8.

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“We need to be on top of our game in all areas, especially offense,” Tanner said. “We simply have to keep doing the things we have been doing well.”

While playing for a championship has become the norm for the Piedmont baseball program, the experience never grows old for players and coaches.

“It feels good to be going back to the finals,” said right fielder Owen Brady.

“It doesn’t matter to us who we play. We will give our best effort. The key for us will be to have a better offensive series than we did in the semifinals.”

Teammate Rob Allgood is eager to play in the finals.

“We are ready to go,” the first baseman said. “We can’t take anything for granted. We have to play well to win. We know that and we will be ready.”

The Windsor Academy Knights reached the GISA Class AA finals by defeating Brandon Hall, First Presbyterian Christian Academy and Brentwood. Windsor is the No. 3 seed from Region 4-AA while Piedmont is the No. 1 seed. The Cougars will be the designated home team since they are the higher seeded team.

Tanner said he does not have concern that his team will overlook Windsor.

“Windsor has won 11 games in a row,” the coach said. “They are the hottest team in the league right now. That will get your attention.”

The Knights are an “explosive team” offensively,” Tanner said.

“They are the kind of team you might keep down for three or four innings and then they will put six runs on the board,” Piedmont’s coach said. “We have to eliminate the big inning. They are going to try to get you out of your element and then use a big inning to win. We have to know they are going to get runners on base and are probably going to score some runs. “

Competing for another state championship is special for all those involved.

“It is always a joy to coach our students at Piedmont,” said Piedmont assistant baseball coach Cameron Vaughn. “ I have the pleasure of helping these young people accomplish something that I never had the opportunity to do. Piedmont has had a great amount of success and that is due to the talent and work ethic of our players. We lost a good many seniors last year that helped us take state last year. The younger guys have stepped right in and taken on each challenge as the year went on. We take pride in the way we play the game. It is a great honor to be a part of the coaching staff with the players and coaches that we have.”

The players will continue with their approach of putting the team first.

“This weekend we will keep our ‘it’s not about me’ mindset as we take on Windsor,” Vaughn said. “We have played them earlier in the season, but they are playing good baseball right now. We just have to keep playing the caliber ball that we know how to play and we will have a good series. We just plan to have a great team effort this weekend to accomplish our goal for this season.”

In the Class AAA finals, Frederica Academy and Trinity Christian-Sharpsburg will face off in a best-of-three series also hosted at Mercer University.