MOULTRIE – Here is the dilemma facing Colquitt County baseball coach Tony Kirkland as he prepares to lead the Packers into Friday’s Region 1-7A home doubleheader against Camden County.

He has three pitchers – Dylan Collins, Cory Newsome and Ethan Phillips – who deserve to start those two games.

Just look at the statistics: Collins, 3-0, 0.42 ERA, three walks, 23 strikeouts; Newsome, 2-2, 3.36 ERA, five walks, 24 strikeouts; and Phillips, 0-1, 0.47 ERA, eight walks, 13 strikeouts.

Collins and Newsome started the region-opening doubleheader split at Lowndes last Friday.

“And the Lowndes people were asking me, ‘What’s wrong with Phillips?’” 

Kirkland said of the senior right-hander who threw a no-hitter in a state playoff game against McEachern last spring.

“I just told them he was the odd man out.”

But not for long.

On Friday, Collins and Phillips are expected to start the two games against the Wildcats, who swept Tift County in their region opening doubleheader last Friday.

“All three of those guys are doing an excellent job,” Kirkland said on Tuesday. “And while they make it hard to make a decision, it’s also not that bad a problem to have.”

A case in point: “Cory could come in and close both games if we need him,” Kirkland explained.

And, Kirkland added, the Packers could go through the region schedule without any of the other three teams seeing the same two Packers starters twice.

All three have committed to pitch at the next level next season: 

Collins at Northwest Florida State, Newsome at Gordon State and Phillips at ABAC.

And it’s not just those three who are putting batters away with regularity. The entire pitching staff – which also includes Gavin Patel, Turner Sircy, Eli Faison, Trace Eakins, Jared Horne and Brandon Dean – has performed well, with a combined ERA of 1.67.

“This is as good a pitching staff as I can ever remember,” Kirkland said.

And the top five hitters in batting order also are doing their job, posting a combined average of .358.

Gordon State-bound shortstop Patel is hitting .382; second baseman Dylan Dalton, .290; third baseman Raines Plant, who recently committed to Thomas University, .361; and outfielders Tanner Wilson, .419 and Tucker Buckner, 286.

Kirkland, however, is still looking for production from the bottom of the order. Those four slots are hitting a combined .141.

“We’ve got to start doing something there,” he said. “You have to weigh offense to defense and sometimes it’s more important to have defense. But we need to see more offense.”

The defense has played well excepted for crucial breakdowns in two games, including the second-game, 4-0 loss at Lowndes last Friday.

“It could be better,” Kirkland said of how his team has played afield.

The Packers would like to put all three aspects together on Friday against Camden County, a team Kirkland says he knows precious little about.

One player he remembers from last year is pitcher Aaron Wainwright, who gave up one run and four hits while striking out 12 in the 3-1 victory over Tift County.

“He dominated us once and we lit him up the other time,” Kirkland said.

The Wildcats are 6-6 overall.

Kirkland is banking on his team’s goal of duplicating last year’s region championship.

“I think those guys in the clubhouse really want to do that,’ Kirkland said. “ And I still think this is a special group.”

In the other region doubleheader on Friday, Lowndes will play at Tift County.

Next week, Colquitt County will travel to Jeff Davis on Tuesday to try to avenge a 6-3, eight-inning loss on Feb. 28; will play host to Tift County in a region doubleheader on Friday, March 23; and will go right back to Jerry Croft Stadium and Ike Aultman Field to meet Bacon County on Saturday, March 24.