Colquitt County 8th-grade baseball team takes shot at conference title

Published 3:54 pm Sunday, April 11, 2021

MOULTRIE – The Colquitt County eighth-grade baseball team will be the top seed in the conference tournament that will be held next week.

The Packers are 14-2 as they prepare to meet No. 8 seed Valdosta at 4 p.m. Tuesday at Packer Park in the first round.

And as the top seed, the Packers will continue to play at home as long as they win.

Also in the first round on Tuesday, No. 2 seed Tift County (13-3) will be home against No. 7 Pine Grove (3-13); No. 3 Thomas County Central (12-4) will play host to Berrien (4-12); and No. 4 Coffee (12-4) will entertain Hahira (8-8).

The second round will be played on Wednesday. The championship game will be held on Friday.

Colquitt County played four games in the final week of the season because of a number of postponements because of bad weather.

The Packers will be coming off spring break, but Key said his team will have three days of hard practice before taking on the 3-13 Wildcats.

“Anything can happen and as I’ve preached to my guys all year, any team can be beat at any time and to play each game like it’s their last,” Key said.

The Packers had what Key termed a learning experience during the season when it was unable to hold a 6-1 fifth-inning lead against Hahira.

“That was a hard lesson learned, but a great teaching moment at a point in the season,” Key said.

The Packers have had a potent mix of dominant pitching and excellent hitting all season.

Brady DeRosso leads the team in hitting with a .478 batting average; Jaxon Chambers leads the in hits with 17; and Adam Beverly has the most runs batted in with 18.

Cole Holder and Cook Tompkins each have five doubles and Robert Garner had three triples.

Garner and Holder each have a home run.

Tompkins leads the team in runs scored with 19 and stolen bases with eight.

The pitching staff has been formidable all season as well.

Garner has not allowed an earned run, holding opponents to a .031 batting average while striking out a team-high 52 batters.

Ethan Allegood is 3-0 and Christian Hill leads the team with 20 innings pitched.

The roster also includes Jake Walker, Dylan Chapman, William Garner, Cam Harden, Gabe Eubanks, Rylan Howell, Harrison Powell, Hayden Hembree and Brayden Bell.

“This is an extremely talented group of players,” Key said. “In my 19 years of coaching varsity and middle school sports, this is by far the most talented and enjoyable group that I’ve coached.

“I am super proud of each of them, the determination, dedication and pride they have put into each practice and game.”

Key is hoping that those attributes will lead the team to “hoisting a championship trophy next Friday.”

And, he added, “I am looking forward to seeing the progress and growth they make over the next four years of their Packer baseball careers.”